Page 3347 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 21 August 2018
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who are unsure what support might be available and where they should be looking for it. There are too many people with chronic illnesses that do not fit neatly into a category that reflects current arrangements. But they do not deserve to be treated like a football and bounced between Health and Disability ACT and federal agencies.
It is four years since the NDIS pathway was chosen and, as the first jurisdiction to transition, we should be closer to getting it right. I look forward to the day that we, as a jurisdiction, can say that we are there.
MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (5.27): I speak to the veterans element of the budget and I would like to say some nice things about the budget. Where recognition should be provided, the opposition will. And where the government is, I think, doing a good job, I am happy to provide that acknowledgement. I welcome the specific initiatives in the budget. The fact that there are grants and initiatives like the vets employment strategy is good.
As members would be aware, this comes after a lot of lobbying from the opposition. For a while the Chief Minister liked to make much of the fact that we have a new government—and that is true—so it is good when the opposition, through its lobbying and through the pressure it applies in this place, the media and elsewhere and working with the community, can actually achieve outcomes for constituents. In this particular situation, the constituents we are talking about are veterans and their families.
We now have a minister, we have a Veterans Advisory Council, we have specific initiatives and we have grants. And it is good to see that there is now a bipartisan approach to these issues in the Assembly.
Part of a democracy, as well, is turning up and I commend Mr Ramsay for the fact that he does turn up to these events. I think that is a good thing. I encourage him to do so. I am sure that he is welcomed by the veterans groups as he attends those events. Certainly Mr Ramsay was there on Saturday at the Vietnam Veterans Day. It was about six degrees and raining. But it was well appreciated that he was there.
There is always more to be done. It is an important area and I offer the government bipartisan support in this and I encourage them, now that they have started down this path, to continue and to look for more ways that they can provide support for veterans in our community.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Community Services and Social Inclusion, Minister for Disability, Children and Youth, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (5.29): The 2018-19 ACT budget is a demonstration of ACT Labor’s commitment to build a stronger, fairer, more vibrant and more inclusive city. One of the nation’s fastest growing regions is right here in Canberra. This ACT Labor government is ensuring that our growing city has the services and supports it needs.
This budget has been shaped by Labor values. These values are what drive members on this side of the chamber: a commitment to fairness, to equality and to inclusion.
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