Page 2542 - Week 08 - Thursday, 30 August 2007
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MR STEFANIAK: Will you shut them up?
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Mr Barr and Mr Stanhope!
MR STEFANIAK: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Again, it is disappointing that the government did not commit funding to build a new police station and give certainty to the people of Belconnen that a station will be built in the next few years. Again, there is no forward funding there. I am pleased to see that there is to be a review of police ranks. The review will be tabled in the Assembly.
The government also needs to take action to address the very serious problems with its administration of justice and community safety, particularly with the administration of emergency services, which you have so capably dealt with, Mr Deputy Speaker, and with corrective services, which is becoming a real problem and will become an even bigger problem as the prison nears completion and then starts operation. I commend those truncated comments to the Assembly.
I now table, with consent of the attorney, my speech on the legal aid commission and the public trustee and ask that they be incorporated in Hansard.
Leave granted.
The incorporated documents appear at attachment 1 on page 2560.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo–Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (11.22): Mr Speaker, I thank members for their contribution on this item, the Department of Justice and Community Safety. I wish to respond to only a few items and to reassert the government’s position. In relation to FireLink, we have had that debate a number of times this week already. All I would say on that is that the government rejects the assertions of the opposition. Our position is quite clear and we believe it is reaffirmed by the Auditor-General’s comments and her recommendations.
This is a good budget for emergency services and a good budget for the justice portfolio overall. When it comes to emergency services, it is fair to say that volunteers are the big winners. They are big winners because we see $6.5 million for a firefighting vehicle replacement program, a quarter of a million dollars for driver training for ACT RFS volunteers—
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Chief Minister and Mr Barr, I have asked you three or four times to keep the chatter down. Next time it will be a warning.
MR CORBELL: There is also upgrading to ACT SES and ACT RFS unit and brigade sheds as part of a $1.6 million upgrade program, $394,000 for remote area firefighters, and a quarter of a million dollars for incident control system training—a very significant increase in funding. The government’s funding for vehicle replacement alone is very significant. We are looking at 32 new firefighting vehicles as part of this program. It includes 19 light units, nine bushfire heavy tankers, one large bushfire water tanker, as well as an additional heavy pumper for the urban fire brigade, a command vehicle and a recovery tilt tray. That is a very significant increase
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