Page 3626 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
If I may just briefly depart from the notes and say it has been disappointing to see Mr Wall trying to beat up these concerns and to frighten people rather than to help them. To use his own words:
If loaded, misinformed commentary is the only way to get answers … I will continue to do so.
And loaded and misinformed commentary is usually the cause of the problems and not the solution. This is a significant and complex reform process that we are going through but as the Canberra Times said on 9 October:
… uncertainty must be confronted and sorted, not used as an excuse for delay.
What I have announced today shows that by putting in place the right arrangements, focusing on what people need and keeping them informed every step of the way, we can confront these issues and they can be sorted.
In closing, I welcome the six successful tenderers as providers of early intervention services ready for school year, term 1, 2015. I present the following paper:
Early intervention services in the ACT—28 October 2014.
I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
MR WALL (Brindabella) (10.26): This announcement from the minister today does hopefully bring some relief to the many hundreds of families in Canberra that are relying on these services both this year and into the future. It is, though, sad that this is information that I and other members of the opposition have been calling for since June of this year. But, as they say, better late than never. I think it is fair that we now give those families an opportunity to digest what options they do have available for them next year, talk with the service providers that have been selected through the tender process and work out what is going to be the best suit for them. I will note, though, that a number of organisations that have been held up over the last four months as beacons of what options will be available here for families, such as AEIOU, House with No Steps or Aspire, seem to be absent from the list of service providers announced by the minister today.
I think one thing that will still be of concern to many families is the location of where these service providers will be operating from. In a geographic sense, if they are all based on one side of town it is going to be prohibitive for some families to travel large distances on a daily basis, but that is an issue that we will keep a watching brief on as the time progresses and will raise it where appropriate if needed.
I would also like to raise the point that hopefully the minister and the government have learnt some valuable lessons in the changes to the early intervention space and as they embark on ceasing to provide other services in the disability sector, as they are closed down over the next couple of years towards the end of 2016, better
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video