Page 3072 - Week 08 - Thursday, 25 June 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
the amount of indexation in 2009-10, from four per cent to 3.15 per cent. It shows that we have a government which does not have its priorities right.
One of the issues that we have in this portfolio is that there is so much crossover and so many unclear lines of communication—the crossovers between Health and Disability, and between Disability and Child and Family Support. I think that we are not getting the best value we can out of hardworking public servants who want to do the best, and hardworking people in the public sector who want to do the best for vulnerable people in our community.
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (9.27): Turning to the issue of Indigenous affairs, we know that there is a real problem in the ACT and across Australia for our Indigenous people. It is across some real areas of need—health, education. Today you have probably seen in the media reports about corrections. Ten per cent of prisoners in the ACT are Indigenous and the rate across Australia means that you are 13 times more likely to be in jail if you are an Indigenous person. That is disgraceful, I think.
There is no room for politics to be played when it comes to Indigenous people. I have not done so; I will not do so. In this area I want to work as cooperatively as I can with the government to make sure that we get the outcome that is needed.
There are some areas of funding in the budget that are identified, which we welcome. There are a number of election commitments which are outstanding—the genealogy project, Indigenous leadership grants and the grandparent carers fund which I believe has been rolled into another program but I am yet to see the detail on that. So there is a lot of work to be done. We will hold the government to account and scrutinise it but will not in any way play politics; we will work as cooperatively as we can to achieve the result.
We welcome the money to facilitate the Indigenous elected body. I have met with them. I actually signed a letter today advising them that we will have a shadow cabinet meeting with them in order to support them in their endeavours to help to make sure that we close the gap between our Indigenous and our non-Indigenous people in the ACT.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (9.28): Along with community groups, we are concerned about the lower level of indexation this financial year for the community sector. We have raised this with the Treasurer and note it has been raised in estimates hearings. The impact of lower level indexation has a direct impact on the ability of the community services sector to attract and retain staff. They are not able to compete with other employment sectors. Traditionally there has been a wage gap between the community and public sectors. In the short term, this is not being addressed, and concerns among the community sector are very real that this will not be addressed as we are moving into budget deficit.
We are all well aware of the fact that the community sector is experiencing a high level of demand for services in the current economic climate. At post-budget information sessions, ACTCOSS and Uniting Care voiced their concerns about increased demand and, since the budget, a number of other community organisations
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .