Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 6 Hansard (17 June) . . Page.. 1651 ..

MR KAINE: No, I cannot confirm that we will not employ young people. We probably will. The fact is, however, that we will not necessarily employ the same 45 or 60 as were employed in this fiscal year. The idea of the graffiti removal program was, first of all, to serve the valuable social purpose of getting rid of some of the graffiti; and, secondly, to introduce some young people to some work practices that they would find - - -

Mr Berry: Where are they going to get a graffiti job if you will not employ them?

MR KAINE: Mr Berry demonstrates, by that sort of question, his total inability to understand what is involved in removing graffiti. What we propose to do in the second phase of the graffiti removal program is use private sector master painters and people of that kind who, in the process of removing graffiti and rectifying the damage done by it, will be imparting to these people some skills in a trade that they can later use. To suggest that we simply put 45 young people on the payroll, indefinitely removing graffiti, is a rather short-sighted view of what the graffiti program is about. It is not an employment program; it is a graffiti removal program. I made the point - if you did not jump in boots and all you would have heard - it is essentially a graffiti removal program. Do you remember? It is about removing graffiti. In the process we give some people, hopefully young people, the people that these folks over here pretend to represent, a job for which they get paid. It is a training process so that at the end of the period of time they have perhaps learnt some skills that will allow them to fit into the broader work force.

Of course, you can see what this lot is on about; you can see what they would be doing. They would simply be pumping people into this program, giving them a few dollars a week to keep them quiet and not teaching them a thing; and, at the end of the time, they would be no better informed and no better qualified to go into the work force than they were before they started. That is not our program; it is not our objective. We will continue to provide some employment for a limited number of people. It is about $700,000, again this year, which is the same as it was last year, from memory. At the end of the day we will have imparted, hopefully, to some of these people some useful skills that they did not have when they started.

Mr Berry: And then we will withdraw the place where they can practise these skills.

MR KAINE: Have you not ever heard of a painter? Of course, you would not know; you are a fireman. You would not know anything about painting.

Mr Berry: I think they have to do an apprenticeship to be a painter.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Ms Reilly asked the question.

MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, the question, as is so often the case, demonstrates a complete lack of understanding on the part of the Opposition of the fact that this Government is trying to actually achieve something and is not just spending some money in the hope of making the problem go away.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .