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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (22 February) . . Page.. 220 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

I talked to Mrs Carnell this week about the statements that you have put out regarding the budget and budget consultation. She says that you do not have the CSOs developed yet but you will soon. We are looking forward to seeing those. I think you have made it quite difficult, in a way, for the community to have real input into the budget if this sort of information is not put down as well. There is the overall question of the growing inequities in our community, the rich and the poor. We are hearing John Howard talk about it; we are hearing Paul Keating talk about it; everyone is talking about it. But where do you see strategies put in place to address these issues? I would like to see much more focus being put on that, and I have not seen it this year so far. The whole idea of community service obligations and how you cost them is part of the work that needs to be done this year, I suggest, and that has not yet been done.

Professor Quiggin, who has made a lot of very influential comments on the Hilmer reforms or the Competition Policy Reform Bill, points out quite a few very good examples of where social capital, if you like, has not been acknowledged as what will suffer from the imposition of this sort of blanket competition policy. It is part of the same concerns that I have just been talking about.

As people here who are speaking strongly for the environment, right through the Estimates Committee hearings we were concerned about the lack of concern for an overall assessment of the implications for the environment of business policy. That is why we were asking questions such as, "Where are the performance indicators here about the environment?", and, "What does sustainable mean?". You might remember, Mr De Domenico, that we had a few interesting exchanges on tourism and the impact on the environment, et cetera. The basic concern of the Greens is that we be able to develop a strategy which is longer than a three-year strategy. We have to develop, if you like, our own agenda 21. If you are not familiar with what that is, that came out of the Rio Earth Summit. It originated from agenda 21 of the United Nations document. It says this:

Local authorities -

I am sure that that is what we would regard ourselves as, to a degree -

construct, operate and maintain economic, social and environmental infrastructure, oversee planning processes, establish local environmental policies and regulations ... As the level of governance closest to the people, they play a vital role in educating, mobilising and responding to the public to promote sustainable development ... and by 1996 most local authorities in each country should have undertaken a consultative process with their communities and achieved a consensus on a Local Agenda 21.

I do not think that we are heading anywhere towards doing that yet in the ACT. I think it is a good challenge. I will get a copy of this to Mr Humphries because I think it is a very good basic document. It is actually a manual, if you like, for local government. It was put together by local governments, as well as the Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories. Perhaps we can have a more positive input into the work that you

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