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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Wednesday, 31 March 2004) . . Page.. 1437 ..

That is where we are at. All this careful work acknowledging the problem has a purpose. We have the money; we will now have the clear direction; and we have the purpose. That is the path we want to be following. I think we can demonstrate, as I so often hear in this chamber, that we have developed a strategy on homelessness and then a detailed strategy, as a part of that, on youth homelessness. We have had extensive community consultation and consultation with the youth sector.

These are things I hear all the time in this place. We have done what you tell us to do; we have put in the money to go with it; we have started to spend that money in certain directions. So we have done all the things that this Assembly persistently asks for. I think that we are entitled to say, “Ms Dundas, hang on a minute; think about your motion. It may be that the result of all this community consultation and the strategy about youth will have exactly the same idea as you have here.” It may be. But it is a month or more before I can accurately assert that. And I would not want—in terms of what this Assembly wants in the way of consultation and strategy development—the Assembly to be going in what would be, I think, only a slightly different direction in terms of priorities.

I do not read this motion as absolutely requiring me to put something in the budget. Look, the budget is already done; we have just got to tick off the budget. As far as doing the budget for 2004-05 is concerned, it is too late anyway. I cannot adjust at this stage. But we have got the money there anyway—the money is allocated in the forward estimates—for homelessness, including youth homelessness.

I do not want us to be at odds. I believe that we have done everything that the Assembly requires us to do. So let’s not see a slight divergence here. I would ask you to think about withdrawing your motion because of what I have said to you—and I will report back to you pretty quickly—or adjourning it so that the fruits of all the work that I have done can come to bear.

Are we going to go in a different direction? It may be; it may not be. I cannot tell you that. I have seen the homelessness strategy—I have got it—but I have not seen Mr MacKenzie’s work. We could well be walking the same steps or there could be some divergences; I do not know yet. So let’s not compound the issue by passing a motion in which you say you want something in the 2004-05 budget. In any case, I cannot do that; we’re done. The budget is almost set in concrete now. I do not have the capacity to take new proposals to the budget process. So that is the story.

On this issue, more than most, we have responded absolutely properly, diligently and enthusiastically; consulted with everybody; and got the strategies. We have done it. And are you going to say to me, “Well, blow what we’ve said to you before in this chamber; forget about it. Don’t worry about what we’ve said before; we’re just going to overrule it”—if that was to be, and I still do not know that that is the case—“We don’t care what the community says; we don’t care about strategies; we’re just going to impose something off the floor of this chamber”? Not that that is relevant, because I think we both might be heading in the same direction, but I cannot guarantee that.

MR SPEAKER: The member’s time has expired.

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