Page 1895 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 1992
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MS ELLIS (11.38): This debate seems to be a question not so much of the Opposition moving this disallowance because they cannot amend the regulations - I do not see any point in amending them anyway - but of a basic lack of philosophical agreement on exactly what SAAP is and what it does. One of the many policy issues that hold this Government apart from the Opposition is its commitment to a workable and widespread social justice strategy. Without this strategy and the support of our colleagues in the Federal Government, Canberra would be a much harsher and more inequitable place in which to live.
Mr Cornwell insists on singling out these people who most need our support and our understanding. All people who use SAAP-related funds are members of our community. They have as much right as any other member of our community to access adequate and appropriate housing as needed. I am not required, and I do not believe that any other member of this Assembly is required, to consult with the community if I choose to rent or buy accommodation. I do not believe that other members of our community should have to do that either. Given the problems these people have in needing support, they should be getting our support and our encouragement instead of this sort of action. Of course, in some cases it can be very useful to advise neighbours in a consultative way of a SAAP-related program, and when that is considered necessary it is done.
Mr Cornwell appears to be a bit ignorant of SAAP, so I feel obliged to inform him of some of the facts. A variety of needy members of our community are assisted through the SAAP program: Young people, isolated elderly, abused women and their families, people recovering from substance abuse, and so on. Australia-wide, SAAP provides accommodation and support services for over 10,000 people each day. Of these, about 50 per cent are women and children escaping violence in the home, 25 per cent are homeless young people, and the rest are homeless families and individuals, including aged people. Whilst providing a safety net for the most severely disadvantaged in our community, SAAP focus is to assist clients to move from a dependent to an independent status.
Mr Cornwell may not believe that these people are equal members of our community, but thank goodness this Labor Government does. SAAP operates well and cooperatively under both Labor and Liberal State and Territory governments throughout the country. Perhaps Mr Cornwell could chat to some of his colleagues in New South Wales to see truly the benefit of this program. Mr Cornwell knows, I believe, of many SAAP accommodation services in Canberra. I think it is worth mentioning that, when the Chief Minister and I and other members of this Assembly attended the recent official opening of the house in Tuggeranong that I believe Mr Cornwell has mentioned in debate, a number of neighbours of that house were participating happily in the celebrations.
There is another instance I would like to mention to the Assembly. A short number of years ago I was involved in some representations from a community group in a southern suburb of this town who had been consulted about an impending SAAP program in their neighbourhood. They disputed it. They fought tooth and nail to prevent that SAAP program from going ahead in their neighbourhood. It took an awful lot of convincing, of talking, of controlling them, to make them understand that it was going to be fine. That is a reverse instance of what can happen when consultation does take place. It is a worry.
Mr De Domenico: It is a worry!
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