Page 4092 - Week 15 - Thursday, 17 December 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Madam Speaker, no matter what changes to the GST Dr Hewson might make, we are faced with some basic facts here. We have also the experience of the GST in both Canada and New Zealand, where it has been a disaster. There is no doubt in my mind that Dr Hewson's proposals will hit Canberra the hardest. Indeed, they are designed to do so. Fightback, Madam Speaker, is the ultimate in Canberra bashing. As far as the Federal coalition is concerned, they have literally promised to turn Canberra into a ghost town. The Canberra community, I believe, has a right to this information. They have a right to this information in order to make an informed choice at the time of the next Federal election. It is my view that they will choose to vote for jobs rather than for the GST.
Aboriginal Advisory Council
MR HUMPHRIES: Madam Speaker, my question is to the Chief Minister. I refer the Chief Minister to her Government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Infrastructure into possible use of the casino premium - the one that she presented yesterday - and, in particular, her response to recommendation No. 1, in which $2.5m of the premium is recommended to assist in the provision of an Aboriginal keeping place cultural centre. The Minister says:
The Aboriginal Advisory Council, once established, will be asked to provide detailed advice on the implementation of the proposal.
I ask the Minister why she intends to set up such an Aboriginal Advisory Council when there already exists the Bogong Council, the local representative body elected by the local Aboriginal community to represent their interests and one of the bodies which put up the proposal to the committee in the first place. Are they now to be excluded from the decision making process?
MS FOLLETT: Madam Speaker, of course the Bogong Council is not to be excluded from the decision making on the Aboriginal keeping place proposal. In establishing an Aboriginal Advisory Council for the ACT I have, in fact, consulted with the Bogong Council and with the Aboriginal Education Council, which is another representative body in the ACT. I have invited both of those bodies to be represented on the Aboriginal Advisory Council. As members might know, I have recently advertised places on that advisory council and called for people to put forward their names. Madam Speaker, it is my earnest hope that both of the organised Aboriginal groupings in the ACT will take a full part in that advisory council. So, there is no intention whatsoever to exclude the Bogong Council from that decision making. I hope that they will play an active role, as, indeed, they are entitled to do.
Madam Speaker, members must be aware that the Bogong Council's representation extends beyond the borders of the ACT and does, in fact, operate on a regional basis. I feel that in the case of the casino funds, which have been set aside for an ACT project, it is appropriate that we set up an ACT body to advise on that expenditure. It is my intention, as I say, to ensure that all appropriate groups are represented on that body, and I also intend that that body comprise entirely Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, because it is up to them to tell not just the Government but the community of Canberra how they wish to see this money spent.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .