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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 4 Hansard (28 March) . . Page.. 913 ..
The Assembly met at 10.30 am.
The Clerk: Pursuant to standing order 6, I wish to inform the Assembly that the Speaker will be delayed today, 28 March 2000, and that until his arrival the Deputy Speaker, Mr Wood, will, as Acting Speaker, perform the duties of the Speaker.
MR ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Wood) thereupon took the chair and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.
MS TUCKER (10.33): Pursuant to order, I present the following report:
Education, Community Services and Recreation - Standing Committee - Report No. 5 - 2000-01 Draft Budget of the Department of Education and Community Services and Related Agencies, dated 27 March 2000, including a dissenting report, together with a copy of the extracts of the minutes of proceedings.
I move:
That the report be noted.
I think that the committee has produced a good report, given the timeframe in which it was working. A budget is a major policy statement of government and I am concerned about this draft budget process, as I said in this place in the original debate - not that I wish to reflect on a vote of the Assembly. A point of view was put very clearly then by a number of members, including by me speaking from the Greens' perspective. The view which was expressed then and which has to be repeated at this point was that a serious commitment to taking on the views of the community at a draft budget stage must allow for comments about whole-of-government expenditure and revenue issues. Therefore, the majority of the committee rejected the notion that it could only make recommendations which would improve or maintain the bottom line within the portfolio area.
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