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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 07 Hansard (Tuesday, 29 June 2004) . . Page.. 2914 ..

This is a very tired looking government that has produced a very tired looking budget. They have produced a very tired initiative that I like to call the community slush fund rather than the Community Inclusion Board, because all it is is a pot of money that somebody will the tell Chief Minister where to spend. If he does not have the ideas, the drive or the initiative to work out for himself where this money should go, then perhaps he should not be in office.

I note that active ageing is listed as one of the big initiatives and we are told that positive ageing is being promoted through programs such as the ACT seniors card. I know you have got a lot of interest in this issue, Mr Deputy Speaker, and you have been an advocate for ACT seniors in particular for a long time.

It is interesting to pick up on a matter concerning computers that Ms Dundas raised in question time. The government is keen on the aged being active but it does not want them online. When we were in government we initiated work to make online access available through public libraries. We realised that there was an enormous unmet need out there, particularly to get seniors online as a way of keeping them actively involved and engaged with their community, with loved ones, with friends and with world events—with what was going on.

A program that put computers into the ACT library system to give the public access to the Internet was initiated and it has been virtually booked out ever since. You have got to book on for time; you have got to book on for lessons. But we find that this is the budget that logs you off if you are an older Canberran. It will be difficult to re-engage once you get logged off and shunned by a government. I think the unfortunate thing is that the minister responsible was not even aware that this program is to be diminished. He does not know what the effect will be or what needs to be done to compensate for this move.

What sort of commitment does the government have to the aged? The government’s lack of interest in concessions, their lack of interest in the ACT seniors card, their lack of interest in negotiating reciprocal transport arrangements with other jurisdictions and their lack of interest in processing a DA to open up another aged care bed facility in the ACT, are compounded by the final insult of the aged being told, “It’s time for you guys to log off, you’re too old.”

There is still interest in the dragway. The conundrum is that we have a government that on one hand says they are committed to the dragway and motor sports in the ACT and yet everything they do indicates that they have no interest in making it happen. This is sham money. It is put there to allay some people’s fears but in doing so I think it has actually raised within the community a great deal of ire. The $8 million has been welcomed—it is $8 million that we will spend after October if we are elected. But it is money that will not be spent by this government. They have put so many obstacles in front of themselves, obstacles to trip themselves up, that you really do have to question the Treasurer’s commitment to the dragway.

I think it is quite important that we look at business and tourism. We have a white paper, costing close to $1 million to produce, that is severely lacking in serious targets and certainly timelines. I think you will find that this budget is seriously lacking in commitment to actually make things happen. If we talk first and foremost about tourism,

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