Page 3997 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 23 November 1993
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One recommendation has to do with the review of the base funding of this Assembly. I asked that that be done, and I make no apologies for it. We are all looking for restraint in public spending, but when restraint gets to the point, in any government agency, where the agency is being hamstrung in doing what it is established to do one really has to have a look at the budgetary base. In the case of the Assembly itself, the budget base was established by some well-meaning public servants before the Assembly was ever in existence, and we have never to this day questioned that.
We have assumed and accepted that it was okay, and up until recent times it has been. But, when members are told that they cannot travel freely or that they have to travel at a lower standard than what was established as a reasonable standard, I think that it is time to have a look and ask, "Did somebody make a mistake somewhere? Is it time to review the budget base?". People will say, I am sure, "Politicians are always trying to feather their own nests". I make no apology for it. I think that the Assembly and the community have had a good return on their money from me. I do not advocate spending money unnecessarily. I never have. As Chief Minister and Treasurer, I exercised the restraint in public expenditure that I expect this Government to exercise - - -
Mr Connolly: But you vote against us every time we do it.
MR KAINE: No, I do not. I will vote against you if you are spending money unnecessarily. I have not told you to reduce your budget, despite your assertions that I have. I have not asked for that. I have simply said, "Spend the money that you have better". I am not asking you - - -
Mr Berry: Where would you like us to spend it, then?
MR KAINE: That is your job. Somebody else told you earlier today that it was your job to do that. That is what you are paid for, Minister. As a member of the Estimates Committee, I can and do hold you accountable. That is what this process is about. But I do not think that we, as members of this body, ought to allow ourselves to be put into the situation where there is insufficient money for us to do the job that we were elected to do. I repeat that I make no apology for that. I think we have reached that point where there is a danger of our being unable to do what we were elected to do, and I have suggested that the budget base be reviewed. Again, I assume that the Chief Minister will take that in the spirit in which it is offered. If she does a review and she decides that the budget level is okay, that is fine; but I think it is time that it was reviewed.
The only other recommendation that I want to comment on, Madam Speaker, because it is of particular interest to me, is the recommendation for advisory councils to consider the needs of families, the aged and people with disabilities. With all of the good things that government has done in the ACT in the last four years, we really have not yet addressed the question of the disabled and disadvantaged in our community. The Chief Minister constantly talks about the fact that the aged are an increasingly large sector of our community, yet year after year budgets are brought down and there is virtually no provision made for this increasingly large sector of our community. Real needs have been identified in at least two major reports, the most recent one chaired by Ms Ellis, which identified the need for dementia accommodation, convalescent care, all sorts of things that this element of our community needs; yet nothing is done about it.
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