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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 07 Hansard (Wednesday, 30 June 2004) . . Page.. 3047 ..

financial year. They will be assessed within government and advice will be sought from the community inclusion board on the proposals that should be funded.

The partnership element of the fund will be crucial. Delivering effective services to assist the most vulnerable in our community is not, should not be, and cannot be, the responsibility of just one part of our community. The government cannot do it all; nor should it be left to community groups to carry the load on their own. We all bring important skills and resources to the table and the community inclusion fund will be a very important part of the government’s contribution to that partnership. Although, as we all know, ours is a relatively prosperous community there are always areas of need. This is reflected in the strong community interest in the fund since I announced its establishment. That is why I have been very keen to get it up and have it running as soon as possible.

Despite that strong community support, I have some concerns about the sole source of negative comment about the community inclusion board and the community inclusion fund. That sole source of negative comment of course is from the Leader of the Opposition and some of his colleagues, who have described it variously as a complete waste of time, a slush fund and a hollow log.

It seems that neither the Leader of the Opposition nor the Liberal Party believes in addressing the needs of the most vulnerable in our community. The Leader of the Opposition does not believe in the government working for vulnerable people in the community. They did not manage to achieve it themselves in seven years of government and they do not believe in governments working in partnership with the community. It is not something they are interested in and it is not something they ever did.

Even as late as this morning the Leader of the Opposition was quoted in the Canberra Times as remarking, during the debate on the budget yesterday, that the community inclusion board—we assume he meant the community inclusion fund, or perhaps the Times got it mixed up, but I know what I would think—that it is just a pot of money for people to tell the government where it should be spending it. That is how he described it—in highly derogatory terms—as just a hollow log, a pot of money for people to tell the government what it should know itself.

It seems that Mr Smyth was not even prepared to give the community inclusion board or community inclusion fund a go. But, Mr Speaker, my fears were misplaced; they were unfounded. The Leader of the Opposition, despite his trenchant public criticisms of the community inclusion board and the community inclusion fund, is happy to give it a go. He continues to criticise it and he continues to put it down.

Even in today’s Canberra Times he is out there putting it down. But, of course, I did misread him. That is not what he meant at all. I have a letter from the Leader of the Opposition that contradicts the position in the Canberra Times this morning. It contradicts all the negative spieling we have had about what a grievous waste of time and effort the community inclusion board is; that the government should just get on and do the business of government; you do not need these community inclusion funds; you do not need to work in partnership. Mr Smyth has written to me in the following terms, along with his colleague Mr Pratt, on behalf of Valley FM, a community radio station

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