Page 2924 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 September 1994
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power and influence - community 'leaders' are used as the local power brokers to have 'command' or power over others, engendering an asymmetrical relationship. The influential can assume status by controlling or owning resources, through political affiliations, by offering their judgments through their contribution to the community, or as representatives of a symbolic function. The general community influence decisions through their access to the local power brokers. The role of the bureaucracy is to maintain social order.
methods of working with the community may be through community development, social planning, community organisation, information and advice, and participation. Self help is encouraged.
preferred consultation techniques and strategies in the main include collecting information through surveys, public meetings, submissions and formal letters of concern. Consultation is seen as a one way process, with the public feeding information into the decisionmakers.
I think anyone could actually see from an examination of the Government's document Towards a Consultation Protocol that this is, in fact, the case. In fact, I will highlight several areas of the document where I believe this philosophy comes through. I refer to the heading on page 5, "A Definition of Consultation". It is stated there:
... consultation is about providing an opportunity for the community to influence decisions. The final responsibility for decisions rests with Government.
Further, on page 7, there is the heading "Why a Consultation Protocol?". A similar rationale is espoused in that section. Further into the document, under the heading "The Proposed Consultation Protocol" there are further examples of this particular approach. On page 11, there is the subheading "Purpose of the Consultation Protocol". Again, it has similar words to what I referred to earlier. On page 13, under "Consultation Methods", there is this example:
Choosing whether to consult with a few peak groups or more broadly, will depend on a number of factors.
Again, this relates to the power and influence that I was referring to earlier. On page 14 there are the headings "Seeking Advice on Consultation Methods" and "Use of Existing Consultation Forums". Again, there are espoused the principles I referred to earlier that are included in the bureaucratic and elitist approach to consultation.
Madam Speaker, I believe that the Government is still consulting with community groups regarding this protocol. We heard from the Chief Minister this afternoon that there was still some way to go with that consultation process. I know that there has been a lot of discussion and debate about it. Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, it has taken the ACT Government three years to get this far, and it is obvious that it still has a long way to
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