XN000022-1993-10-07 — Page 19

18

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1993

FRED LI (THROUGH INTERPRETER):

I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU A PRACTICAL QUESTION, NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS. WELL, YOU CAN PROUDLY TELL US THAT OUR GDP PER HEAD HAS GROWN TODAY, IT HAS ALREADY OVERTAKEN AUSTRALIA AND THE UK, IN THE COMING YEAR, WE SHOULD DRAW LEVEL WITH CANADA. AND YOU ALSO DECIDED THAT STARTING FROM 1ST APRIL NEXT YEAR, THERE WILL BE MORE CHILDREN'S ALLOWANCES AND $100 FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, $100 PER MONTH. WE HAVE 23,000 SUCH CHILDREN RECEIVING THE ALLOWANCES. EVERY DAY THEY ARE RECEIVING $34 ONLY.

THEY WILL GET $3.30 MORE WITH YOUR PACKAGE AND THEY CAN'T EVEN BUY A HAMBURGER WITH ᎢᎻᎪᎢ . BUT WE ARE LIVING IN SUCH AN AFFLUENT SOCIETY, CAN WE REALLY ALLOW THESE CHILDREN TO ONLY RECEIVE SUCH A SMALL AMOUNT AS $34, AND THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR EVERYTHING WITH IT? NOW, YOU OF COURSE WANT THEM TO JOIN MORE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN PARTIES WITH THEIR SCHOOLMATES. I DON'T THINK THEY CAN DO THAT WITH THE MONEY THAT THEY GET AND I HOPE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FURTHER INCREASE THE ALLOWANCES GIVEN TO THEM.

THE GOVERNOR: AND

I HAVE FOUND MYSELF, IN THE LAST DAY OR TWO THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME LAST YEAR, TO MY GREAT SURPRISE ATTACKED FOR MY ALLEGEDLY INCIPIENT SOCIALISM FOR INCREASING SPENDING IN SOME AREAS. LAST YEAR, DIRECTOR LU PING ATTACKED ME AS A SOCIALIST, WHICH I TAKE IT AS A COMPLIMENT. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE HONOURABLE MEMBER AND SOME OTHERS SAY THAT I AM NOT SPENDING ENOUGH, I'M NOT BEING SOCIALIST ENOUGH. WHAT I AM TRYING то BE IS RESPONSIBLE, BOTH SOCIALLY AND FISCALLY. AND WHEN ONE IS FACED WITH SOCIAL PROBLEMS, SUCH AS THOSE ABOUT WHICH THE HONOURABLE MEMBER KNOWS A GREAT DEAL, THE INSTINCT OF ANY OF US IS TO BE AS GENEROUS AS POSSIBLE, ALBEIT, IF YOU ARE IN GOVERNMENT, WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY. BUT YOU HAVE TO BE GENEROUS, AND IN MY VIEW, PRUDENT AT THE SAME TIME.

NOW, LAST YEAR WE DID MAKE A SIGNIFICANT

INCREASE IN SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS. WE MADE AN INCREASE WHICH FOR INDIVIDUALS WAS TEN PER CENT AHEAD OF THE RATE OF INFLATION, AND THAT CAME IN LAST SUMMER. FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR THE INCREASE AMOUNTED ΤΟ THIRTEEN PER CENT AHEAD OF INFLATION. THOSE WERE, I THINK, IMPORTANT STEPS FORWARD, ALBEIT NEVER ENOUGH, YOU SAID IT WASN'T A POLITICAL QUESTION; I'VE BEEN IN POLITICS LONG ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND THAT ONE WILL NEVER BE REGARDED AS HAVING DONE ENOUGH IN THESE AREAS AND I UNDERSTAND WHY.

-

-

POINT

THERE

I

BUT I WOULD JUST LIKE TO MAKE ONE OTHER IN RELATION TO THE CHILDREN AND THE ALLOWANCE THEY RECEIVE. ARE, AS THE HONOURABLE GENTLEMAN SAID, ABOUT 23,000 I THINK IT'S 22,900, TO BE PEDANTIC WHO WILL BE IN RECEIPT OF THIS ALLOWANCE. HAD A LONG SECTION, IN AN EARLIER DRAFT OF MY SPEECH YESTERDAY, IN WHICH I SET OUT ALL THE OTHER GRANTS WHICH THESE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PROPLE WERE QUITE PROPERLY ENTITLED TO RECEIVE. IN THE INTERESTS OF MAKING MY SPEECH AS BRIEF AS POSSIBLE, I CUT THAT PARTICULAR SECTION OUT. BUT IT IS THE CASE THAT CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE ENTITLED TO THIS ALLOWANCE ARE ALSO ENTITLED TO ABOUT SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARSWORTH OF GRANTS FOR A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT COURSES: FOR TRAVEL, FOR BOOKS, FOR SCHOOL-MEALS AND RELATED MATTERS. I WILL SEND HIM, IF THE HONOURABLE MEMBER WOULD FIND IT HELPFUL, THE BIT OF MY SPEECH WHICH I LEFT ON THE STUDY FLOOR ONE NIGHT ABOUT A WEEK AGO. SO IT IS NOT JUST THE BASIC ALLOWANCE OF, NOW, $1,095 OR RATHER MORE THAN THAT IF THEY ARE DISABLED, IT IS NOT JUST THAT BASIC ALLOWANCE WHICH ONE IS TALKING ABOUT, ONE IS ALSO TALKING ABOUT A LOT OF OTHER GRANTS AS WELL, WHICH I THINK ONE HAS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.