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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 12 Hansard (12 November) . . Page.. 3462 ..

MR WOOD (Minister for Urban Services, Minister for the Arts and Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services) (4.50): I will necessarily be brief. It is appropriate that we have this debate today because, at lunchtime, I was at Ainslie Primary School attending a very pleasant function as we signed up to deliver $800,000 that we had promised, before the election campaign, would be returned to the Institute of the Arts as part of the $1.6 million that those people over the road, when in government, took from it. So we were returning, in one area, what was taken by the former government.

I did not hear you mention that. Nor did I hear you mention the very considerable extra amount this government gave to the arts in its last budget. I intend to table the notes of the achievements in the areas under my two departments. I will say something about housing-and I appreciate Ms Dundas raising it.

As it turns out, we did not make any monetary commitments to housing in our election campaign. I would not have minded if we had made monetary commitments, but we did not. Since that time, however, we have probably spent and raised something that, over two years, would be well over $16 million for safety issues.

The affordability task force is about to report. So we have given more than we had promised in housing.

Mr Speaker, I table a list of achievements in my areas. I present the following papers:

Labor Government-achievements-First year in office-Urban Services (including environment, arts and heritage) and Disability, housing and Community Services.

MR SPEAKER: You have one minute, Mr Stefaniak.

MR STEFANIAK (4.51): I will take a quick point with Mr Wood. Mr Wood, if you look at your budget, I think you will see that there is some $3 million less for housing. You will also see that you allocated about $3 million in a sort of slush fund. I know you probably hope to use it, but there are some real needs now. I have been pressing about the issue of people in our community are regularly sleeping rough-and Ms Dundas also has a great interest in this.

Mr Wood: Welcome to the debate.

MR STEFANIAK: There is a real need, Mr Wood.

Mr Wood: Welcome to the debate! I am delighted to have you in the debate at last.

MR STEFANIAK: There is a real need for another men's accommodation centre.

MR SPEAKER: Order! The time for this discussion has concluded.

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