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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 2 Hansard (1 March) . . Page.. 456 ..
MR KAINE (continuing):
to achieve very much for the people who need the assistance, the people Ms Tucker has been speaking for and the people Mr Wood has spoken for.
I do not think that those people are going to come out of it too well no matter which way I vote on the issue, because the government has no intent and has no goodwill in terms of satisfying the basic needs of these people. I would like to see Mr Moore responding more fully to the specific issues raised in Mr Wood's motion so that we can get a better feel for what is the government's overall position on this issue, rather than saying, "We haven't got any money; therefore, we can't address the problems of those living in poverty in our community. We are going to move in our public housing area to make it even more difficult for some of them."
That seems to be the government's intention, because it has not got any money in the budget. As I said earlier, there seems to be plenty of money about. It is just a question of the government determining that it will spend some of it. I would like to have some assurance from the minister that he will spend some of it addressing the problems inherent in the matter that Mr Wood has brought before us today.
MR WOOD (11.33): Mr Speaker, may I speak to the amendments without closing the debate?
MR SPEAKER: Yes, as long as you address your remarks specifically to the amendments.
MR WOOD: I understand the debating forms and I would close the debate, save, I understand, Ms Tucker is seeking to move an amendment and is taking some time to do that. Speaking specifically to the amendments, there is a concern that, in voting, members who may not have heard all the debate would think that Mr Moore has proposed, as he said, a consensus, that he is considering this matter and has come to a compromise.
Mr Moore: I was very specific in telling you that this actually removes all your concerns. I was very specific about that.
MR WOOD: No, it does not remove all my concerns; but, as Mr Kaine said, it relates to one, only one-
Mr Moore: My amendment removes all your disallowances.
MR WOOD: Yes, exactly, and I-
MR SPEAKER: Order, please! I do not want a debate across the table, thank you.
MR WOOD
: Exactly, it knocks off the disallowances and makes a change to one element, just one element. Mr Kaine was well able to point out that it was just one element, but it does not fix necessarily all the likely ramifications of that one matter. Mr Moore said that it would ease the matter for a relatively small number of people who may be on youth allowance or the like, but that is not the only ramification that ought to be considered. What of the case, and I am sure that there are some there, of older
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