Page 434 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 2 March 1994
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Mr De Domenico: But the PSU has.
MR KAINE: The Public Sector Union has and a number of other people have. How do we know that what the Chief Minister is proposing will generate a public service that does all the things she talks about here, one that has clear values and standards and the like? We have nobody's word for it but hers at the moment. Everybody else in the world seems to know about this. The Public Sector Union and the Trades and Labour Council all know what the Government is proposing, but it is not proper for this Assembly to be informed. It is inappropriate that we be told. The debate has to take place in this Assembly, so I hope the Chief Minister changes her mind at some time in the near future. Finally, we are told:
There will be no froth and bubble, none of the empty effervescence and populist politics that we have come to expect from the Opposition.
This is nothing but populism. It talks about all the good stuff the Government is "gunner" do, maybe by Friday, but which it has not delivered on in the last three years.
MR HUMPHRIES (5.01): Madam Speaker, I must say that I share the view of Mr Kaine and Mrs Carnell about the incredible shallowness of the statement we heard the other day from the Chief Minister. I could have written the statement myself. It is so familiar to us - all the familiar shibboleths and platitudes about being concerned about the elderly, concerned about the young, concerned about the jobless and people from non-English-speaking backgrounds, concerned about the environment, concerned about people in multicultural situations. The question really has to be asked whether the concern of Ms Follett or her Government about any of these matters is translating itself into action which any of those people can feel confident is helping them.
Mrs Carnell referred to the problem of the young jobless in this community. That is a problem which has become much worse in the days since this Government resumed office about two-and-a-half years ago. Between 1990 and 1993, the number of Canberra teenagers in full-time employment dropped from 5,000 to 2,800, a drop of 40 per cent in the space of just three years. I do not think those people are going to think that things are getting better for them. That is a great program! Tremendous progress is being made there! I bet Ms Follett thinks those are wonderful achievements. The number of Canberrans receiving unemployment benefits has jumped by 21 per cent in the last year alone, compared with an average increase across Australia of just 6 per cent for the same time.
This Government trades on the strong financial position it inherited when it took office - and I do not mean just from the Alliance Government; I mean from years of strong, careful decision making by successive governments. This Government is trading on that; but at the same time it is eroding that strong base, and the future of the ACT is very much gloomier than was the case before.
Mr Wood: What is our credit rating at the moment, Mr Humphries?
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