Page 2454 - Week 09 - Thursday, 17 September 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
from the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. I might say that in this budget it is a little hard to disentangle Commonwealth funding from ACT funding in some cases; but, putting that to one side, that is a welcome initiative. We have seen a targeting of domestic violence in the budget. There is a $43,000 initiative to assist victims.
There is money for a mental health tribunal. We are seeing some attempt to address some of the consequences of Paying the Price, with $180,000 for mentally ill people who are in the criminal justice system. I cannot let this opportunity pass without saying that the really big problem in Corrections in the ACT is the need for new facilities. It has not been addressed. The $2m budget blow-out we saw in Community Services this year, most of which comes from Corrections, will undoubtedly come back again if we do not fix the basic problem, and that is having an obsolete, ramshackle and inhumane Belconnen Remand Centre.
Madam Speaker, regrettably, there are more things to be said about what is missing than about what is there. We were promised in the last election a number of things that are not really too expensive but which we have not really seen brought out in this budget. Where, for example, is pubcard? It is not all that expensive. In fact, it ought to pay for itself. When are we going to do something about pubcard and deal with what you, Mr Berry, have been talking about - actually it was Ms Follett - the serious problem with under-age drinking in the ACT? Pubcard would deal with that.
Mr Berry: Who promised pubcard?
MR HUMPHRIES: Your Minister for police services, the Attorney-General, Mr Terry Connolly, the guy who sits behind you.
Mrs Grassby: No, he didn't. He never did.
MR HUMPHRIES: I am afraid that he did, Mrs Grassby. I will be happy to show it to you during an adjournment debate if you really doubt that. I do not think that he would deny that he was going to bring in pubcard. We have seen nothing on the safety houses scheme promised in the last election. Most importantly of all, we have not seen a thing about police on the street, when we know that there are serious problems with rising crime, as demonstrated in yesterday's MPI.
There are some initiatives in the budget. There is going to be a $50,000 allocation for a crime-fighting strategy. That, I understand, basically is to be in the form of a caravan which will move around ACT suburbs and which, I am sure, will give criminals an enormous fright, especially in suburbs where the caravan does not happen to be on a particular day. I do not want to be too sarcastic. It has some benefit; but, frankly, I think it is a little bit tokenistic. We were looking for a major reallocation of funds, away from administration in police services and into the pointy end of crime-fighting. I make the point that I have made before. We have not actually seen in the ACT - the Minister has just come back into the house, the Minister who is not in favour of pubcard, we are told. (Extension of time granted) Apparently you are not in favour of pubcard any more, Minister, so I hope that you have reconciled that with the caucus. It is a bit of a shocking revelation to encounter; but, do not worry, we will work it out afterwards.
Mr Kaine: He is apparently suffering from amnesia.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .