Page 3585 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 19 October 1993
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Quality of life depends not only on individual circumstances but on conditions in the wider community. Families are mostly small but social networks are wide and vigorous, providing care and support for people in need.
These are important aims. I would like to think that we could have that sort of social environment before 2020, and anything that I can do towards that, as a member of this community and of this Assembly, I will be doing. I think that they are very important goals. They are goals that can be measured and they are goals that matter. The report continues:
Social justice issues are accommodated in all aspects of life. Principles of equity, access, participation and rights are natural elements of society.
What a wonderful thing to aspire to. Mrs Doobov, from the Council on the Ageing, said in her submission:
Education (is) considered lifelong with retired people being more involved in tertiary education and facilities such as the University of the Third Age.
That is a great thing to aim for. The report says:
Goal: To foster an education and training system that allows people of all ages, backgrounds and capabilities to reach their potential. Education, training and retraining are pursued throughout people's lives.
That is yet another thing that I think is very worthy of trying to attain. I think people in this place should be turning their minds to trying to get to those things, rather than having a light-hearted, flippant sort of attitude towards these important aspects of these documents. The main impression that I get from reading these reports is that there are some things in here that probably will not be attained. There are some things in here that I hope we do not attain, quite frankly; but, in the majority of cases, these generally are comments that I would wish, in the most part, upon any society on this Earth. I want, very quickly, to refer to one to indicate what I mean by that. The report says:
In 1996, the ACT Government launched the annual Canberra Prize, which was funded by the private sector, for the most outstanding international contribution to the promotion of human learning and development. This helped to consolidate Canberra as a world centre for education and human development.
What a great aim to have written down somewhere. I think we need to remind ourselves in the future that this report exists and trot it out occasionally to see how we are measuring up. What I think is most interesting and most topical in terms of today is the reference to the famous Mabo decision. I heard some rather wonderful comments on AM this morning, first of all from a person whom I think this country is going to hold a great debt to, the current Prime Minister. The program mentioned the work he has put into the Mabo decision and the reconciliation that he has begun. I found the total negativity of the conservative spokesperson on the same issue absolutely disgraceful. This report says:
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