Page 1705 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 4 June 2014
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These amendments add references to the fact that the ACT budget maintains support for vulnerable groups in our community and provides important measures to protect the environment. These are two areas I would like to add some comments on because it is important that we remember that government should take the long and broad view as to what it should be doing to assist the community. This includes how we look after all members of the community not only through a range of structural measures already covered by other parts of this motion but also what we need to do for specific groups and even individuals. It means we look after those who are disadvantaged, and I would like to highlight some specific measures that I think are worth noting in the context of this discussion.
This budget does not lean on the poorest and most disadvantaged to achieve artificial surpluses. There is a range of sensible, long-term and evidence-based initiatives in this budget that will have deep and positive impacts for vulnerable Canberrans, initiatives that to date have not perhaps had the attention in the media they deserve. In particular, I would like to mention justice reinvestment. This is a concept and a methodology that is sometimes hard to explain but nonetheless worthy for that. In its simplest terms, justice reinvestment works directly with the common and known causes of criminal behaviour. This approach will see smart investment in targeted employment, education, training and health programs. It will enhance mental health responses and increase drug and alcohol strategies.
It is by no means a silver bullet or a panacea for all ills, but it recognises that, for many, the best crime prevention strategy is to reduce social and economic disadvantage and by doing so we are creating a fair and egalitarian society where those who need support can get it and where those that want opportunities can have them. I think this is at odds with the tone and reality of the federal budget that both directly and indirectly cuts off access to essential services for those that most need it. The justice reinvestment funding in the budget is particularly important, and I would like to emphasise for the Assembly where it sits.
We have, of course, in the budget seen a significant capital investment in the expansion of the Alexander Maconochie Centre. As I have discussed in this place before, this is something that is clearly needed based on the significant population pressures we have seen at the AMC. But at the time when I updated the Assembly on that, I stressed that the government was taking a multifaceted approach to responding to this. I am pleased to be able to come back to that point today in light of the budget funding and reflect on the fact that the government has a very clear objective to minimise the number of people who go to jail, not only in terms of ensuring that the capacity we build now lasts for a long time but also because it plays out for the benefit of the entire community. By reducing crime rates we obviously provide a safer community and we also minimise the number of people going to jail and, ideally, provide them with a series of better life opportunities that see them having productive and happy lives and not lives that see them ending up in incarceration.
The budget also allows for important projects such as the parliamentary agreement item Common Ground to progress. This project will support some of the most vulnerable people experiencing chronic homelessness. It will see them offered a home
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