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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 5 Hansard (8 May) . . Page.. 1757 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

policy areas so that the government's policy decisions would be based on sound information.

The Greens support that approach and believe that, if you have evidence-based policy with a long-term perspective, there is some hope of reversing some of the negative trends that are being witnessed in this country and in many other countries. I understand the pressures of the electoral cycle on any government and the nature of the political debate is not one which does facilitate a long-term perspective being taken. I am concerned that this tension is being resolved in the shorter term in some areas, particularly the environment and some social areas.

In some ways, the unanticipated bushfires presented the government with a second honeymoon period in which it was called upon to show leadership in its response to the devastation, and in many ways it has risen to the call. This budget heralds the government's delivery period in which the community will see how the government invests their money and delivers on its agenda.

The Greens said that we wanted to see leadership, even courage, and a strategic addressing of the real challenges in protecting the environment and reversing the trend of further social isolation and disadvantage. We were looking for the budget to be a real investment in these areas. In saying that, I believe that we were reflecting the hopes of a broad part of the community. This budget was the government's opportunity to show how it would lead, invest and deliver.

Our feedback from the community suggests that we are now entering the reality bites stage where people are coming up against considerable unmet expectations, disillusion at being consulted and then finding that it is more of the same or business as usual, and in some cases bitter disappointment at complete policy backflips.

I am not saying that the government is not delivering. It is delivering some good things in this budget. The government's reinstituting of public development of land is an example of a courageous initiative which we have supported. But the measure of that is the benefits it delivers to the community in terms of quality services, affordable housing and the protection of our environment.

In this regard, the budget delivers some very inconsistent and, in some cases, quite retrograde measures that could well shake the community's confidence in this government. This trend has not come out very much yet, with the media and community groups broadly supporting the budget and with little attention so far being given to some of the budget's limitations, missed opportunities, inconsistencies and even environmental travesties. But it is these things that will now characterise the next period of this government and the government's budget has largely set the framework for what will and will not be delivered in this term, although there is still a pre-election budget to come, of course.

On the question of sustainability, we now have an Office of Sustainability within the Chief Minister's office with an across-government role in assisting the integration of economic, social and environmental considerations into the decision-making processes of government. In March, a glossy sustainability policy was launched by the lake. Among the vague generalities contained in that policy document, we are told that the

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