Page 3615 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 25 August 2009
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poor record of managing budgets, who has such a poor record of delivery for the people of the ACT. But when it comes to it, that does not matter to this government or to this Labor Party any more because in the end the right is in control. It has been acknowledged and they will call the shots. We have a Chief Minister simply unable, even if he was willing, to actually do anything about it.
This is a government that should get back to focusing on delivering for all Canberrans, on delivering the basic services that they expect of their ACT government, rather than focusing on their own internal troubles which have been spilling out so often, so loudly and so embarrassingly in these last few weeks. (Time expired.)
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (4.34): A key element of the ACT Labor and Greens parliamentary agreement is to ensure an accountable and transparent government, public service and parliament that are responsive to the community. It is obvious that to do this there is a need for appropriate high-quality community consultation in the decision-making processes of the government. This is something that has not always been done well in the past with the ACT school closures and the Griffith library closure being prime examples.
It seems that with the recent examples of changes to the EPIC board and the moving of the fringe festival without speaking to the director of the festival first, it would be fair to say that there is a need to understand and adhere to the current community consultation processes that exist. The Greens strongly believe that the ACT community expects and deserves better from the government on consultation. The government has delivered on another element of Labor-Greens agreement in re-establishing the community engagement unit in the Chief Minister’s Department. The Greens are pleased with this move.
It is essential within all levels of government that it is understood that ensuring inclusive Canberra community, consultation on major issues is integral to achieving this. To date we have yet to see a significant difference in community consultation since the community engagement unit moved into the Chief Minister’s Department. It may be that it will take some time for the unit to get up to full capacity.
The re-establishment of the unit in CMD was an item in the agreement and was welcomed by many including ACTCOSS. The purpose of this move was to enhance communication and consultation between the unit and the community, and thereby the government and the community.
ACTCOSS in their 2009-10 budget submission Prioritising people stated:
In order to effectively engage with the Community the Government must ensure people are made aware of Government funded services and programs, that consultation processes are appropriate and that people are made aware of what decisions are made and the reasons for them.
We have also seen the value of conducting community forums around things such as the kangaroo management plan, the transport plan, master plans, plastic bags and the solar farm construction. We look forward to hearing the views of the community in
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