XN000022-1992-10-09 — Page 15

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1992

QUESTION:

IN

MR

PATTEN, I

VERY APPRECIATE VERY MUCH YOUR APPROACHABLE STYLE AND I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU IMPLEMENT ALL THE PROPOSALS ONE THING. YOUR POLICY SPEECH, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU TO DO

AMOUNT OF WILL YOU TRY TO LIVE ON THE AMOUNT OF $950 WHICH IS THE

CAN YOU TRY TO LIVE ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE THAT PEOPLE ARE GETTING NOW?

THE WITH $950

PRESENT ONE MONTH? LIVING STANDARDS?

FOR

EXTRAVAGANT.

AT THE PRESENT RENT LEVEL,

YESTERDAY

AND IN COUNCIL

OF THE

AS

GOVERNOR:

CAN 1 REFER TO THE PROPOSALS I MADE YESTERDAY ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE AS WELL AS THE PROPOSALS I MADE ON OTHER THINGS.

THE LEGISLATIVE DOING So, CAN I SAY THAT, WHEN I SPOKE IN YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, I THINK THE FIRST QUESTION WAS FROM ONE

WHO

MY SUGGESTED

PROPOSALS

HAD BEEN THAT COUNCILLORS

BEEN EXTRAVAGANT, HE SAID THAT IF HE THOUGHT I'D I

WAS SHOULD START LISTENING TO SOME OF THE MEETINGS LIKE THIS WHEN I SURE THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE TELLING ME THAT WE HAVEN'T SPENT ENOUGH.

EDUCATION, WELL AS THE PROPOSALS WE MADE YESTERDAY ON SOCIAL WELFARE,

ON, I ALSO THE HANDICAPPED AND DISABLED, THE MENTALLY ILL AND SO BROUGHT FORWARD PROPOSALS FOR A COMPLETE RE-ORGANISATION OF OUR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES. AND, AT THE HEART OF THOSE PROPOSALS, WERE TWO THINGS. FIRST OF ALL, INCREASES IN BASIC RATES FOR FAMILY MEMBERS WHO A MONTH, HAVE IN THE PAST BEEN GETTING BETWEEN GOO AND 620 DOLLARS

THINK, WE'VE PUSHED THE FIGURE UP TO 820, WHICH IS AN INCREASE OF, I JUST OVER 30%. FOR THOSE, AS YOU SAID, LIVING ON THEIR OWN ON

WE PUSHED UP THE FIGURE ASSISTANCE, WE PUSHED UP THE INCREASE FROM

FOR A FAMILY OF FROM 825 TO 950, WHICH IS AN INCREASE OF ABOUT 15%.

ASSISTANCE, AND FOUR WITH OTHER ALLOWANCES, TOTAL INCOME ON PUBLIC

MONTH, THOSE OTHER ALLOWANCES AND SUPPLEMENTS, WILL BE ABOUT 5,500 A

RULE WHICH JUST OVER. IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE RELAXED THE ABSENCE WILL ALLOW A LOT MORE ELDERLY PEOPLE, FOR INSTANCE, TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH THEIR FAMILIES IN SOUTHERN CHINA, WHICH IS NOT A VERY

TRY ΤΟ SO, WE DID BUT CONCESSION,

I THINK AN IMPORTANT ONE. FORWARD IN PROVIDING MORE SOCIAL SECURITY, MORE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE. RECOGNISE THAT WE'LL GO ON BEING PRESSED TO DO MORE, BUT I HOPE WHO PRESS US TO DO MORE WILL ALWAYS THINK ABOUT WHERE, SHOULD CUT OTHER PROGRAMMES, OR WHETHER WE SHOULD INCREASE PAY FOR HIGHER PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.

-

PUBLIC

EXPENSIVE

PUSH

I

THOSE PERHAPS, WE

TAXES TO

/QUESTION: MR