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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Wednesday, 31 March 2004) . . Page.. 1439 ..

MRS BURKE: I do not see that you have built houses yet; you are building a few. We have not heard about the progress on that great stand on youth before the last election—and what you were going to do was nobody’s business—but here we are now proposing to you that there is a problem and you are saying, “No. Let’s wait for another report.” I say that we do not need more studies; we need to move. We need action for young people.

Mr Wood: That was the problem with Kate Carnell’s government. It was just do this, do this, without thinking; and that was the problem with it.

MRS BURKE: You just did not like the pro-activeness of Kate Carnell; that is the problem. The problem with this government is that it does not like people who are energetic and want to get out there and do the job, Mr Wood, and you know that to be true.

Ms Dundas mentions a 10 to 12-bed facility—about $400,000 I think you said, Ms Dundas. I think that that figure would have been known for a long time and, no doubt Mr Wood, as you are sitting there probably feeling quite embarrassed, that report is going to show you that is what it was. You could have had this home and hosed and done a long time ago, because this is not a new issue. I am not going to use the words that this is a complex issue. This seems to be a stock, standard saying coming from the government seats over there.

Mr Wood: Did I say that?

MRS BURKE: No, you have not in this instance actually, so I am just saying it for you. It is quite simple. There are people who need homes at night, who need roofs over their heads; they need to be dealt with. There is a gap; you have acknowledged that already in some of the words that you said yourself; there is an unmet need. We have talked a lot about unmet needs.

We need a service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some would notice that I and, in fact, the youth information referral resource service refer to that; they talk about a crisis line for young people, Canberra-based. This was my whole reason in raising that when I did about a Canberra-based crisis line pulling together all services.

Young people do not know whom to call, do not know whom to go to in times of crisis. We are not making that very clear, and that is something this government could have done much better. It could have used somebody like Lifeline, funded them and resourced them properly over two years ago when it knew the problem existed. That may have helped young people. That may have helped resolve some problems and got them some solutions. That was over two years ago, and there is still no assistance for youth at risk or homeless in our city.

There are things being done. You say money is going to it, Mr Wood. I would argue: where is it going? Into administration? Where is it going? It is certainly not going into accommodation. We are still waiting for the boarding house out at Gungahlin that was promised. Yes, that is a long, dim, distant thing in the wherever. A commitment is needed, a front-end funding, instead of band-aid solutions.

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