Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a number of comments that I want to make. I want to start off, as did Mr. Yakeleya, by commenting on the increase in the number of single window service centres. I think it is an excellent program. The fact that we are expanding to cover 18 of our communities is excellent progress. I think we will have succeeded when we can get a single window service centre in every one of our communities.
I would also like to mention, in terms of devolution, I think kudos need to go to the staff who have worked above and beyond, I think, in the last probably year, but I noted, particularly over the summer when the rest of us were able to enjoy some time off so to speak, I don’t think there were a lot of staff working on devolution who had any time off. My heart went out to them and I want to congratulate them on the hard work that they did do.
I have a number of concerns, one of which is the transfer of the Status of Women advisor to Aboriginal Affairs and I can understand the rationale that we have been given and the fact that we are taking on a bit of a bigger role nationally and so on, but I am concerned that we are going to lose
some focus on increasing, sort of highlighting women and increasing the role of women in our communities and in our territory and also increasing the leadership of women in our communities and territory by having that person within DAAIR as opposed to within the Executive. I would suggest to the Minister that perhaps we ought to be considering maybe half a PY but somebody who puts a bigger focus on women within the territory alone, if we are going to be focusing more on national sort of work, so to speak. I would have preferred that that position stay within the Executive, but there we are, it’s done and it is over with.
The other move that was made that I do disagree with is moving the program review office into the Department of Finance. Now, I think the Minister has heard this already. Certainly the committee made some comments several months ago, I think we run the danger of having the program review office become too much of a budgeting tool and not enough of a fully functioning review office. I think there is a danger that the focus will narrow to just look at money and the review office should not just be about money. It should be about efficiency, which maybe generates into money, but efficiency in terms of providing better services and programs, which doesn’t always relate to money. Sometimes we get better services and programs and simply provide a better product but we don’t necessarily save money.
I put that out there as hoping that Finance is listening and that, you know, there will be some consideration for the focus of the program review office as it settles into its new position.
Lastly, I spoke yesterday about family violence and I asked some questions of the Minister of Justice on what is in the works for the Coalition on Family Violence and I didn’t get a good sense that it sits within the Department of Justice. It has been previously in with the Department of Executive and I don’t see anything in the budget, I didn’t see anything in the Premier’s remarks which talked to the Coalition on Family Violence. I don’t get a sense that there is any money in this budget to assist the coalition with the 19 recommendations that came forward I think in 2012. So that’s my one question. Who liaises and where does a connection to the Coalition on Family Violence sit in the 2014-15 budget? Thank you.