Page 2425 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 22 August 2006
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have access to this sort of intellectual food. Consequently, that is a role that the Assembly should knowingly and consciously take on.
By bringing people into the Assembly to engage in debate or to learn new information about political and policy matters we are both supporting a stronger relationship between the Assembly and people engaged in politics and ideas and supporting that engagement. It is important that the Assembly sees itself as a parliament, but it is more than that as well. I would like to see it, as the home of local government, focused on making greater connections with Canberra people and supporting the work of MLAs who understand the importance of that process.
I note there is still no provision, even in forward planning, for secure bicycle accommodation. I am pleased that a carers’ room has been incorporated into the place and I trust that various members of my staff will take advantage of it, but I know that we are not alone in this building in riding our bicycles more often than we breast feed our babies. I also know that bicycles have been known to disappear from the car park and that secure bicycle accommodation at workplaces does encourage bicycle use by commuters. We have bike paths and cycle lanes, bike racks on buses and even showers. We need safe, secure homes for our bicycles.
MR PRATT (Brindabella) (11.25): The government’s appropriation of $10.034 million for the Legislative Assembly Secretariat sounds substantial but when we look more closely at what is going on within the Assembly, it is not necessarily adequate at all, especially if we look at issues such as building security, discretionary allowances, non-executive staff expenses and the like. I will get to these issues in somewhat more detail shortly. Inflation is riding at around four per cent and the increase in budget allocation to the Assembly from the previous year does not match inflation. Last year the Assembly Secretariat was given $9.973 million. This year the budget is $10.034 million. If the Stanhope government were to increase the Assembly’s budget in line with inflation, we would expect to see the budget appropriation increase to $10.371 million, about $370,000 more than it has appropriated this year.
No wonder MLAs and their staff and all of the staff who live, breathe, work and eat in this place find it almost impossible to get reimbursed for some items of expenditure. No wonder our staff and non-executive MLAs struggle to get legitimate travel, conference and meeting fees paid for. No wonder the security of this building is far behind what it should be, especially in the climate of increased terrorist threat. Without wanting to get pedantic or dramatic about that, Canberra is number two on Australia’s terrorist threat list. This building is an icon of authority in the ACT, so it deserves a certain measure of security. No wonder the committee office and other administrative arms of this Assembly are stretched thin and suffering a lack of resources. No wonder the airconditioning and heating systems in this building are ageing and in serious need of an upgrade.
This Assembly and its Secretariat are having to do much more with much less. During the estimates hearings we were advised that delays to the security upgrade of this building were caused as a result of the Assembly trying to get the cost of the upgrade contained within the budget allocation. What was meant to be a serious security upgrade has, in effect, had to be downgraded due to funding constraints. Therefore, due to a tight
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