Page 1928 - Week 05 - Thursday, 6 May 2010
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I was also interested to see that dedicated funding has been provided for an Indigenous liaison officer at Legal Aid. I note that the funding for that officer at Legal Aid amounts to $48,000 per year. At estimates, we will look to get the details on what type of position can be funded with that sum of money.
The Greens were interested to see the release of the government’s 2010 access to justice initiative in conjunction with the budget. The government’s proposal is to create a third tier in the court system with the creation of a virtual court. The Greens welcome the government’s contribution to the ongoing debate around unmet legal need and access to justice. We want the 2010 financial year to be a year of action on this issue. However, any actions taken must go directly towards reducing the time people wait to have their cases heard or reducing the numbers of people falling through the gaps and going without assistance when they need it most. The Greens remain to be convinced that a third tier in the courts will actually achieve either of these key outcomes. We acknowledge that a virtual court is an innovative idea brought forward by the government and look forward to participating in the consultation and debate that is to take place.
I would like to turn now to two key staffing issues raised in this budget: police and ambulance staff. The Greens welcome the 10 extra late-night police included in the budget. These police will need to take the lead role in enforcing the new liquor laws which we hope will be in place for next summer. The 10 new positions will, in part, be funded from the revamped licensing system for pubs and clubs. The Greens support this approach to raising funds for the dedicated police team. It guarantees the funding for the positions, and should the number of venues increase in the future the funding will also increase.
For those 10 police officers to have the best impact on a safe and vibrant Canberra nightlife, they need to be actually entering pubs and clubs and observing the service of alcohol. This is where we can get the most positive impact on behaviour. The alternative is to wait until patrons are drunk later in the night and enforce the laws from the kerbside. This is a reactive approach that does little to tackle root causes of the problem. The exact role and responsibilities of the police need to be made clearer, and the Greens will be pursuing this during estimates.
The Greens welcome the new funding and staffing for the Ambulance Service. The government have been told in the Lennox review that they should consider increasing the capacity of the communications centre. The centre can help to relieve demand on the front-line ambulance service by delivering medical advice and diverting non-urgent calls. The government have acted on this recommendation in the budget. However, the government were told in the same review to consider increasing the numbers of front-line ambulance staff. The Greens see this as an equally valid and necessary step. Front-line staff must be resourced well enough to attend those calls they are directed to by the call centre. The Greens are concerned to ensure that the government keep this option open during the next 12 months and at the next budget.
To conclude, there are some good moves made in this budget on justice and community safety. There are, however, key unanswered questions, some of which I
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