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still paying taxes will find an increasing burden which we must find a better way to deal with. Along with that, again, the ageing felt the depth of prejudice against the elderly. I guess there is a projection of fear; that nobody wants to be frail, nobody wants to be infirm, nobody wants to face that part of their life, and they feel that in many of the ways that they then deal with the bureaucracy and the community.

The other area of great interest which will be continuing is the perception of consultation. It is a vexed question and one on which both sides of the house, and everyone in between, will be able to throw bricks, abuse and criticism. At the end of the day the issues that were raised by the various groups in terms of consultation are of profound interest. There are only 17 of us. No-one can understand, know or be on top of the entire range of issues that confront the community, nor to the depth and complexity that the community groups that are dealing with the issues have, and their rightful role in being consulted, in informing government, in informing the Assembly, is one that in some way or another, collectively, we have to grapple with and assure the community at the end that at the appropriate place, at the appropriate time, their voices are heard.

The $90m question then becomes: What do you do with those people who feel that, no matter how long you have listened, you have not heard and, because you have not done exactly what they have wanted you to do, you have therefore failed them?. Our test as politicians is how we interpret what we hear and then put it into action. That, to me, seems to be the test of what this report offers us all. It is a snapshot of a range of views given very early in this new Assembly. It is an insight into the perceptions of a pretty large variety of groups as to the problems that assail our community. It is an expression of the concerns, the frustrations, the pain, the joy, the complexities of life in the ACT as it grows up and changes and comes to deal with the political process. I see the report as a very good check list against which we can all look at the various things that we do in the Assembly and say, “Have we collectively done anything to help the families who have children with disabilities who, every school holiday program, find themselves without an adequate service?”. If we have not, who has? Who is responsible? Why should people leave their jobs, which people have done, because, at the age of 12 or 13, suddenly their child who had been able to go off to a school holiday program is no longer eligible? Surely someone in this Assembly ultimately has the responsibility to see that those needs are met.

Similarly with the perceptions and prejudices that still make life difficult for so many people. Surely we collectively have some role, as leaders in the community, to play in changing those. Then there are the structural questions that are being asked about the nature of consultation, the nature of interaction between the community and government, the nature of interaction between our decisions and their promulgation, and the nature of interaction of individual with community and with government. These are profound questions that are being challenged day by day.

I found it overall a very useful survey. It is by no means comprehensive. I was very concerned about the groups that did not appear, even more than about the groups that did. We did not hear a lot about women’s groups or domestic violence. We did hear a lot about child abuse but not a great deal about the parent help groups or the ways that people are dealing with that. There are clear gaps in the information; but the survey sets

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