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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 2020 ..

MS REILLY (continuing):

which is great; she is independent within the community, living alone; she does not need a lot of support. She used to get two hours a week to assist her with house cleaning, as she no longer finds it easy to bend. That two hours a week, which you would think would be important to a woman of her age to help with those matters, has now gone to two hours a month. For anybody to wait so long to have their house cleaned is quite difficult. For a woman of her age, I am sure that it is quite distressing at times. We need to look at the money that goes into these programs and at what priorities we give to our community, to our older people and to people with disabilities who need assistance, to ensure that they have some quality of life.

I would just make a comment on the COOOL project, which seems to have taken an awfully long time to get into action. We have reached the situation at the end of this financial year where only one house has been built. I thank the Minister - I think it was Mr Stefaniak - who arranged for me to go and visit the one at Macquarie. It looks great. The landscaping is excellent. I understand that a lot of money was spent on that, and that is good, because this is these people's home. They do not have the opportunity to go to other places as easily as you and I can. So, we have this great plan; but by this time - in fact, by about February this year - we were supposed to have two of these houses. There were considerable delays on the finalisation of the site at Fisher for the preschool - - -

Mrs Carnell: It was not because of that.

MS REILLY: I know that we have been given the excuse that the people involved could not agree. I was given that excuse for weeks and weeks, as well, Mrs Carnell. But I found out that, in fact, other parts of the Government were out negotiating, discussing and consulting with the people at the Fisher shops and with the people in the retirement village about having an alternative type of development there. It was apartments and offices. It was not disability housing.

Mrs Carnell: No. That is rubbish.

MS REILLY: Are you suggesting that residents in the retirement village did not know what they were being consulted about? Are you suggesting that the people in the shops at Fisher did not know what they were being consulted about? Are you calling those people liars, Mrs Carnell? I have spoken to them and they have said that there was no talk about housing for people with disabilities; it was to do with high-class apartments and offices. That might have been successful; but, at the same time, you were telling people that that site was going to be used for a house for people with disabilities. I think that is very unfortunate. But now that has delayed it. These people will not have the opportunity until next year to move into that house.

Mrs Carnell: Which people? There are two people.

MS REILLY: So, two people are not important? But can you imagine - if you were a younger person living in a nursing home, living with a whole lot of people who are considerably older and a number of whom have dementia and the other problems associated with that - having to wait to get this house that was promised to be set up a long time before?

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