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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 2277 ..
MS DUNDAS
(continuing):I am also mystified as to why Volunteering ACT was singled out for mention in the budget papers, as it appears that no other community group that receives funding from the ACT government has been singled out for their own line item in the budget. But to single them out and say that this is an initiative, when Volunteering ACT has been receiving money from the government for a number of years, is quite mystifying, as I have said.
The government mentioned in its response to the Estimates Committee's report that it is working with Volunteering ACT on that. Hopefully, it will work through the problems, because Volunteering ACT provide a special service to the ACT community and they do need government support to be able to continue to do that.
The amendment moved by Mr Smyth seeks to withdraw $250,000 from the appropriation for the Chief Minister's Department. As Mr Smyth has stated, it is specifically to do with the initiative about whole-of-government communications. I am quite clearly on the record in a number of different forums as not supporting the increased expenditure on whole-of-government media communications. I believe that this line item in the budget is excessive. I believe that the money could be better spent elsewhere.
I do think that it shows, again, a skewed set of priorities and does not do anything to reaffirm or actually promote the good work that this place is trying to do for the community. It reinforces the view that many people in our community hold that politicians are nothing but spin, that we do not listen to them, and that we are always trying to pull the wool over their eyes. I do not want to see that kind of attitude continue. I do believe that this reinforces that.
I seek to use my second set of time.
MR SPEAKER
: Proceed.MS DUNDAS
: Ms Tucker did raise some important questions about how budgets are presented, how government sets priorities and about the role of the Assembly in debating and providing input to those priorities. There is concern that, if this amendment is passed and the Chief Minster's Department's appropriation is reduced by $250,000, the government will find some other way of funding the proposal and some other project will miss out on funding, which would be going against what the Assembly is saying.It is quite clear that the $250,000 that Mr Smyth is seeking to remove from the Chief Minster's Department budget is specifically in relation to the whole-of-government media initiative. If this amendment is passed, the government should take note of the words that have been said in this debate and not implement the initiative. If this amendment is passed and the government chooses to ignore what has been said by this Assembly, as has been done in the past, it will show a worrying trend in how interaction takes place in the role of government and the role of this Assembly.
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