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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 05 Hansard (Friday, 14 May 2004) . . Page.. 1971 ..

I put forward a motion that was supported by this Assembly calling for the establishment of a fund to cover the cost of excursions, camps and subject levies for kids missing out due to poverty. None of these proposals is funded in this budget. Schools do get extra funding in the area of information technology, but this spending will probably not make a significant difference—not in the way that is needed—to the range of educational outcomes among ACT public school students.

This budget is uneven in regard to the environment. I commend the government for putting a substantial investment into our bus system and for showing a commitment to get more Canberrans riding their bikes. But on the negative side, there was no commitment to light rail, and that is incredibly disappointing. That is something we need to be looking at. There should be money set aside for feasibility studies to start the groundwork for moving these things forward. How will we meet public transport targets when we do not truly look at who uses public transport, why they use public transport and how we can encourage more people to take public transport seriously?

The budget also disappoints in the areas of waste management and greenhouse gas abatement. There is no funding for kerbside collection of compostable waste. It seems that the no waste target of 2010 seems to have been forgotten or ignored by this government because the budget for the 2004-05 financial year does not take us closer to achieving that target. At the end of the 2004-05 financial year, the no waste target will be only four or five years away. The government needs to be doing better to achieve that target.

Also, there is no funding for retrofitting of public housing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There is no funding for measures to encourage private landlords to retrofit their properties with energy efficient measures or appliances.

There is also far too little money to implement the new ACT water strategy. There is nothing for new water recycling infrastructure. And there is no identified funding for capital works to reduce the flow of stormwater into our lakes and divert this water for irrigating playing fields and parks. Overall, this government has failed to deliver on the environment.

The community sector was understandably disappointed with this budget. They did not get the funding they desperately need to ensure the ongoing viability of community services. Although public service wage increases are accounted for in this budget, there is no corresponding commitment to wage increases for community sector workers, who for so long have suffered as they try to serve their community but struggle to look after themselves.

There is no funding to support training of the community sector workers. There is no money for ongoing minor capital works for the deteriorating accommodation that we put our community sector in. And there is no cheaper deal to help cover their extortionate software costs. And at the other end, we can still expect that the demand on the suffering community sector will continue to increase since systemic problems are not being addressed.

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