Page 20 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 16 February 1993
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Madam Speaker, the Opposition's criticism of our legislation program has sometimes created the impression that they believe implementation of the strict letter of the legislation program to be the only measure of the Government's overall performance. As members should be aware, of course, legislation is needed to implement only a small part of the Government's overall policy agenda. In that broader context, the Government's performance since the election a year ago, I believe, has been outstanding. In fact, I am pleased to say that a very substantial proportion of the Government's specific election commitments is in place or is the subject of substantial progress. We have demonstrated that this is a government that made realistic commitments to the public and has carried them out.
The Government's priorities for this year include continued work on those election commitments, but there can be no question that our major priority for this year must be to tackle the effects of the national recession. We can be proud that the number of people employed in the Territory increased by 11,600, or 8 per cent, between January 1992 and January this year. Despite this growth, the Government continues to be concerned about the rate of youth unemployment, which is far too high. The Territory is only a small player in the macro-economic life of the nation, but we will do what we can and we will look at the impact of the measures we have introduced so far and consider further action.
The Government intends to sharpen its social justice focus during the year. We will work towards the production of an overall social justice budget statement, either this year or next. The social justice budget statement will assist in understanding the social impact and the equity implications of all government programs. I also expect to make a major announcement this year about simplified and expanded concessions arrangements. The Government will study the development of environmentally beneficial industries and the potential for ecotourism. We believe that there is potential for industries that will create employment while at the same time providing positive environmental effects. We will attempt to make better use of the tourism potential of the Namadgi National Park while remaining conscious of the special features and values that must be protected.
The responsible management of the Territory's budget will continue to be a priority this year. The Government will focus on continuing the orderly process of transition to State-type financing while protecting services to the community. A lot of our effort this year will be devoted to the development of a separate ACT public service. This will involve substantial planning, research and development work to ensure that we meet our objective of an excellent public service which is efficient and responsive to the community. This work will involve consultation and negotiation with relevant unions and with the Commonwealth Government. I expect that we will be able to announce progress on many of the details as they unfold during the year.
Members are generally familiar with my intentions regarding the new electoral system for the Territory. I expect that later this year we will see the electoral boundaries determined by the ACT Electoral Commission. In the meantime, the Government will continue its work on developing stage 2 of the legislation, which will implement a Hare-Clark voting system, as determined by the voters of Canberra in the referendum.
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