PARLIAMENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
1994
FOURTH SESSION OF THE FIFTIETH PARLIAMENT
___________________
QUESTIONS
AND
ANSWERS
No. 19
WEDNESDAY 11 MAY 1994
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[The Questions and Answers Paper published for the first sitting day in each week will contain, by number and title, all unanswered questions, together with questions to which answers have been received on the previous sitting and any new questions. On subsequent days, new questions are printed, as are questions to which answers were received the previous day. Consequently the full text of any question will be printed only twice: when notice is given; and, when answered.]
[Pursuant to the Sessional Order adopted by the House on 1 March 1994, Members shall be permitted to lodge 3 questions on notice per sitting day accumulative over one sitting week, provided that the Leader of the Opposition shall be permitted to lodge 4 questions on notice per sitting day. Ministers shall lodge answers to questions on notice within 35 calendar days after the question is first published and such answer shall be published.]
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| PUBLICATION OF QUESTION | ANSWER TO BE LODGED BY |
Q. & A. No. 10
(Including Question Nos 740 to 781) | 17 May 1994 |
Q. & A. No. 11
(Including Question Nos 782 to 798) | 18 May 1994 |
Q. & A. No. 12
(Including Question Nos 799 to 887) | 19 May 1994 |
Q. & A. No. 13
(Including Question Nos 888 to 902) | 24 May 1994 |
Q. & A. No. 14
(Including Question Nos 903 to 930) | 25 May 1994 |
Q. & A. No. 15
(Including Question Nos 931 to 1013) | 26 May 1994 |
Q. & A. No. 16
(Including Question Nos 1014 to 1027) | 7 June 1994 |
Q. & A. No. 17
(Including Question Nos 1028 to 1050) | 8 June 1994 |
Q. & A. No. 18
(Including Question Nos 1051 to 1093) | 9 June 1994 |
Q. & A. No. 19
(Including Question Nos 1094 to 1105) | 14 June 1994 |
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Notice of Question given on the date shown
12 APRIL 1994
(Paper No. 10)
*760 DIRTY WATER TESTING—Mr Markham asked the Minister for Land and Water Conservation representing the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing—
(1) When the Water Board receives a complaint from a householder about dirty water, are tests carried out in every case to:
(a) Determine whether water is safe to drink?
(b) Measure water colour?
(c) Measure turbidity?
(d) Determine whether tap water meets the National Health and Medical Research Council and Australian Water Resources Council guidelines?
(2) If so:
(a) What tests are carried out?
(b) How are these tests implemented?
(c) Are householders advised of results of these tests?
(3) If not, why not?
I have been advised by the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing that the answers to the honourable member's questions are:
(1) The Water Board despatches a reactive work crew to flush the mains upon receipt of a dirty water complaint.
(a) It is not common practice for the Board to test water quality with every dirty water complaint. If a customer requests a sample be taken and tested, the Board usually complies at its own cost.
(b) and (c) The Board measures water colour and turbidity on a daily basis at the Avon water treatment facility. It is not common practice for the Board to measure water colour or turbidity at a dirty water event.
(d) The Board carries out routine testing of the water distribution system in accordance with National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines.
(2) (a) and (b) The Board carries out a stratified random sampling program to assess overall mean water quality at both house tap sample sites and service reservoirs. The key characteristics for water quality assessment and reporting are temperature, total combined chlorine residual, chlorine species, total coliforms, faecal coliforms, heterotrophic plate count, true colour, turbidity, pH, total iron, total aluminium, total manganese and fluoride.
(c) It is not common practice for the Board to provide householders with the results of NHMRC guideline monitoring. The Board's monitoring program analyses the entire distribution network and is not focused on particular customers.
Where a dirty water event has occurred, and the customer has requested the Board sample and test their water, results from such testing are made available to the customer.
(3) See answer (2) (c) above.
Page 1014
*766 PARRAMATTA RIVER—SWIMMING REPORT—Mr J. H. Murray asked the Minister for Land and Water Conservation representing the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing—
(1) Did Concord Council receive advice from the Water Board relating to appropriate swimming areas in the Parramatta River?
(2) Was this advice provided to councillors at the council's meeting of 22 March 1994?
(3) Can he make this report available to the Member for Drummoyne?
(4) If not, why?
I have been advised by the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing that the answers to the honourable member's questions are:
(1) The Water Board provided Concord Council with the results of water quality testing at its sampling site in Hen and Chicken Bay with regard to faecal coliform bacteria concentrations during the sampling period December 1992 to May 1993. This information was provided to council in October 1993 in response to a council request regarding Bayview Baths.
A final report summarising baseline conditions for a range of water quality parameters at a number of sites in Port Jackson, Middle Harbour, Lane Cove River and Parramatta River, collected between December 1992 and March 1994, will be available by 30 June 1994. The report will be available to local government and other agencies. In the interim, data related to particular sites has been supplied in response to requests from local councils to meet their specific needs.
(2) At its meeting of 22 March 1994, Concord Council considered a letter from the Board responding to its request for advice on appropriate swimming areas abutting the Parramatta River.
(3) A copy of the data supplied to council will be forwarded to the member for Drummoyne's office.
(4) Not applicable.
14 APRIL 1994
(Paper No. 12)
*839 ILLAWARRA CHEMICAL WASTE COLLECTION DEPOT—Mr Markham asked the Minister for Land and Water Conservation representing the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing—
(1) Did the Water Board operate a temporary depot in the Illawarra this year where residents could dispose of unwanted household chemicals and pharmaceuticals?
(2) If so:
(a) How many people deposited household chemicals and pharmaceuticals at the depot?
(b) What types of household chemicals were deposited at the depot?
(c) What types of pharmaceuticals were deposited at the depot?
(3) Will he support the establishment of a permanent depot in the Illawarra to receive unwanted household chemicals and pharmaceuticals?
(4) Will the Water Board act in conjunction with the Environment Protection Authority to set up a permanent collection depot in the Illawarra to collect unwanted household chemicals and pharmaceuticals?
(5) If not, why not?
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I have been advised by the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing that the answers to the honourable member's questions are:
(1) Yes, on 26 and 27 March in J. J. Kelly Park, Wollongong, and Shellharbour Tip, Dunmore.
(2) (a) 226.
(b) Oil, paint, insecticides, batteries, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, intractable waste, e.g., DDT, chlordane, non-chlorinated pesticides, etc.
(c) The types of pharmaceuticals are unknown as they are placed in separate bins for disposal. Staff do not check the contents of the bins for safety reasons.
(3) This would have to be looked at in the context of the future of chemical collections and the Minister cannot comment at this stage.
(4) and (5) The collection of household chemical waste is not part of the Water Board's core business. The Board's role is to educate the community on the potential hazards to the sewerage system and the environment resulting from the inappropriate disposal of these types of wastes. Responsibility for a permanent facility of this type would need to be decided by relevant agencies, including local government, EPA and WR&PS.
*847 DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING RENTAL PAYMENTS AT POST OFFICES—Mr Mills asked the Minister for Land and Water Conservation representing the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing—
(1) When will the system of payment of Department of Housing rentals at post offices commence?
(2) Will post office staff be briefed to deal with rental inquiries from tenants?
(3) Will tenants experiencing difficulties with rentals, for example arrears, be obliged to attend first at their local housing office before going to make payment at a post office?
(4) Will any Department of Housing staff be made redundant as a result of the new system of payment of rents at post offices?
(5) If so:
(a) How many?
(b) At which offices?
I have been advised by the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing that the answers to the honourable member's questions are:
(1) The Department of Housing ceased collecting rental at all regional or local offices on 29 April 1994.
(2) Australia Post staff will not be required to deal with Department of Housing rental enquiries from tenants. The agreement between Australia Post and the Department of Housing concerns the collection of rentals. Department of Housing staff will continue to deal with rental enquiries and other tenancy matters.
(3) Tenants who wish to pay additional rental payments can do so at any post office. They do not need to state the payment is for arrears.
The tenant may be required to contact their local Department of Housing office to determine the balance of their account or to make arrangements to repay arrears.
(4) Using the services of Australia Post will not result in the closure of any Department of Housing offices or the loss of any permanent staff.
(5) (a) and (b) See answer (4) above.
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*848 AWARD INQUIRIES—HUNTER OFFICE—Mr Mills asked the Minister for Industrial Relations and Employment and Minister for the Status of Women—
(1) Why did it take more than 3 days for businesses making inquiries about awards, including penalty rates and staff conditions, in the week prior to Easter, to get through to speak to advisers in the Hunter Regional Office of the Department of Industrial Relations and Employment?
(2) How many calls were made on this subject to the Hunter Regional Office of DIRE in each of the months January, February and March 1994?
(3) How many staff were allocated to this function in the Hunter office during March:
(a) Permanently?
(b) Temporarily?
(4) Will she ensure the appointment of additional staff to this DIRE function to ensure timely information to small business and the protection of employees?
(1) The Department can offer no explanation as to why someone would need to wait for 3 days to speak to an officer about their inquiries on an award. Monitoring of waiting times for the Awards Enquiry Service show an average of 6 to 7 minutes.
The service from the Newcastle office continued to operate during the period in question, as evidenced in answers (2) and (3).
The telephone number of the Newcastle office in question has the capacity to queue up to five calls, although there is a possibility that, in peak times, the number of incoming calls could exceed the number of lines.
(2) January 1994 3,051
February 1994 4,274
March 1994 4,015
(3) There are two full-time officers dealing with telephone and counter inquiries. Inquiries are also answered from time-to-time by the five industrial inspectors at the Newcastle office.
(4) The Acting Director General, DIRETFE, has requested the Department's Regional Director, North-West Region, to review these arrangements and make recommendations, if appropriate.
*880 ILLAWARRA URBAN DEVELOPMENT—Mr Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment—
(1) Has he responded to revelations on the ABC TV program "The 7.30 Report", broadcast on 29 March 1994, regarding the statement that the Environmental Protection Authority has never seen a major urban development site in the Illawarra which came close to delivering the environmental performance required by approvals or even promised in EIS documents.
(2) If there has been a response, what was it?
(3) If not, why not?
(1) No.
(2) Refer to answer (1).
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(3) I have been briefed on this matter by the EPA and I am satisfied that:
(a) the Authority's comments were taken out of context; and
(b) the Authority is working vigorously and constructively with councils, developers and other State agencies in the Illawarra to achieve the best possible balance between environment protection and development.
10 MAY 1994
(Paper No. 19)
1094 AUTOMATIC FARE COLLECTION AUDITING—Mr Amery to ask the Minister for Transport and Minister for Roads—
(1) What system of auditing is in place in relation to the collection of moneys from automatic fare collection machines?
(2) Who collects the money?
(3) Who is responsible for checking the money received against the records contained in these machines?
1095 NEWCASTLE DISTRICT HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE LTD—Mr Gaudry to ask the Minister for Land and Water Conservation representing the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing—
With regard to houses purchased by the Newcastle District Housing Co-operative Ltd under the supervision of the Department of Housing—
(1) How much was paid for each of the houses purchased by the co-operative?
(2) How much was paid for repairs to bring the houses up to Department of Housing standards.
(3) Was Department of Housing approval required on the standard of the houses before purchase by the co-operative could proceed?
(4) If so, who authorised the approvals?
(5) Who carried out the inspections on each of the houses?
(6) In each case, what qualifications were held by the inspecting officers?
(7) How much was the co-operative charged for the inspections?
(8) What further costs will be incurred by the co-operative for work or inspections authorised by the Department of Housing?
(9) Has the co-operative been charged for return visits where unsatisfactory work on homes has been undertaken by the Department of Housing?
(10) In relation to the builders report on No. 10 Asher Street, Georgetown, why was the co-operative not able to utilise their seed grant of $5,000 to meet the cost of this report?
(11) In the event of the collapse of the co-operative, are the tenants classified as Department of Housing tenants or must they seek accommodation in the private sector?
1096 HUNTER PALLIATIVE CARE SERVICES—Mr Gaudry to ask the Minister for Health—
(1) Has he or the Department received a submission from the Hunter Area Health Service for the further development of palliative care services in the Hunter?
(2) Have funds been set aside by the Department of Health to enable this further development in New South Wales?
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(3) If so, what is the targeted amount for:
(a) 1993/94?
(b) 1994/95?
(c) 1995/96?
(d) 1996/97?
(4) How will funds be apportioned between the State's health services?
(5) How much is targeted for the Hunter in the years:
(a) 1993/94?
(b) 1994/95?
(c) 1995/96?
(d) 1996/97?
1097 THE JUNCTION AND BROADMEADOW SCHOOLS—CLEANING—Mr Gaudry to ask the Chief Secretary and Minister for Administrative Services—
(1) What hours of cleaning (weekly) were allocated to The Junction Public School in:
(a) 1990?
(b) 1991?
(c) 1994?
(2) How many cleaners provided these services at The Junction Public School in:
(a) 1990?
(b) 1991?
(c) 1994?
(3) What was/is the average daily cleaning time dedicated to each classroom at The Junction Public School in:
(a) 1990?
(b) 1991?
(c) 1994?
(4) What hours of cleaning (weekly) were allocated to the Broadmeadow School (formerly Broadmeadow High—2292) in:
(a) 1990?
(b) 1991?
(c) 1994?
(5) How many cleaners provided these services at the Broadmeadow School in:
(a) 1990?
(b) 1991?
(c) 1994?
(6) What was/is the average daily cleaning time dedicated to each classroom at the Broadmeadow School in:
(a) 1990?
(b) 1991?
(c) 1994?
(7) What was the area in square metres cleaned by the GCS at Broadmeadow High in 1990?
(8) How many classrooms and what other school facilities were cleaned by the GCS in 1990?
(9) What is the area in square metres cleaned by Tempo Cleaning Services at Broadmeadow High in 1994?
(10) How many classrooms and what other school facilities are cleaned by Tempo Cleaning Services in 1994?
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1098 PUBLIC HOUSING APPLICATIONS—CLASSIFICATIONS—ELECTORATE OF LAKE MACQUARIE AND HUNTER REGION—Mr Hunter to ask the Minister for Land and Water Conservation representing the Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing—
Currently—
(1) How many applications for public housing are there by persons residing in allocation zones covering the:
(a) Electorate of Lake Macquarie?
(b) Hunter region?
(2) What is the classification of these applicants?
(3) What are the eligibility dates of applicants presently being offered accommodation for each classification in each of the allocation zones in the Hunter region?
(4) As at what date is this information current?
1099 SCHOOLS BUILDINGS—ELECTORATE OF LAKE MACQUARIE—Mr Hunter to ask the Minister for Industrial Relations and Employment and Minister for the Status of Women representing the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Minister for Tourism and Minister Assisting the Premier—
(1) What is the timetable, if any, for construction of a new multipurpose hall at:
(a) Lake Macquarie High School?
(b) Coal Point Public School?
(c) Arcadia Vale Public School?
(d) Wyee Public School?
(2) What is the timetable, if any, for construction of a new administration building at:
(a) Wyee Public School?
(b) Wangi Wangi Public School?
(c) Arcadia Vale Public School?
(d) Fassifern Public School?
(e) Dora Creek Public School?
(3) What priority do the following schools hold on the waiting list for the construction of new permanent classrooms to replace current demountable buildings:
(a) Fassifern Public?
(b) Arcadia Vale Public?
(c) Wangi Wangi Public?
(d) Wyee Public?
(4) What is the timetable, if any, for construction of a new library at:
(a) Dora Creek Public School?
(b) Wangi Wangi Public School?
(c) Fassifern Public School?
(d) Booragul Public School?
1100 ABORIGINAL REGIONAL CO-ORDINATOR—Mr Markham to ask the Minister for Health—
(1) Is he aware that Iris McLeod, Regional Co-ordinator for the Illawarra Region for the Aboriginal Health and Welfare Service funded by the NSW Department of Health, also provides the same services to the South Eastern Region?
(2) In view of the unrealistic workload this involves, will he appoint a Regional Co-ordinator for the South Eastern Region for Aboriginal Health and Welfare Service?
(3) If not, why not?
Page 1020
1101 ABORIGINAL MEDICAL SERVICE WORKER—Mr Markham to ask the Minister for Health—
(1) Is the Aboriginal Medical Service worker, Irene Moran, funded through the AIDS Bureau of NSW Department of Health to work 2 days per week on the South Coast?
(2) Does the area covered by this Aboriginal health worker range from Helensburgh to Batemans Bay?
(3) Does funding for this position provide for a motor vehicle?
(4) Does the worker have a private vehicle?
(5) Is the Illawarra AIDS Task Force seeking full funding for this position?
(6) Will he provide full funding to the Aboriginal Medical Service so that Irene Moran is able to deal more effectively with the health problems identified in this extended region?
(7) If not, why not?
1102 ORIENT POINT ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY WORKS—Mr Markham to ask the Minister for Community Services, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister for the Ageing—
(1) Is he aware:
(a) That the local Aboriginal Land Council covering the area of Orient Point in the Shoalhaven is not operating and is under the management of an administrator?
(b) That Healthy Cities Illawarra employs an Aboriginal gardener at Orient Point and proposes to establish a much-needed playgroup and new playground in the area?
(2) When will the administration of the Land Council be returned to the Aboriginal community to facilitate work and community consultation by Healthy Cities Illawarra in order to establish the projects they proposed for the area?
1103 COAL COMPENSATION CLAIMS—Mr Price to ask the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries and Minister for Mines—
(1) How many claims are still awaiting evaluation and payment by the (freehold) Coal Compensation Board?
(2) What is the total number of:
(a) Corporate claims?
(b) Private (individual owners) claims?
(3) What is the estimated value of the outstanding compensation to be paid?
(4) What is the total compensation paid to recipients since the scheme was established?
1104 BERESFIELD POLICE STATION STAFFING—Mr Price to ask the Minister for Police and Minister for Emergency Services—
(1) What is the call-out rate for the Beresfield Police Station during the unmanned hours on a day-by-day basis from 31 December 1993 to 1 April 1994?
(2) What is the geographic boundary serviced by the Beresfield Police Station and what recognised suburbs and villages are included:
(a) During manned station hours?
(b) During unmanned station hours?
(3) When will the Beresfield Police Station be expanded to cover 24-hour operation and appropriate manpower be provided?
Page 1021
1105 ABORIGINAL RECORDS—Dr Refshauge to ask the Minister for Health—
For each district health service—
(1) How many Aborigines live within each district health service?
(2) What percentage is question (1) of the total population?
(3) How many Aborigines are employed by the district health service?
(4) What percentage is question (3) of the total staff?
(5) How many Aborigines are board members of the District Health Service Board?
(6) Do all their hospitals record Aboriginality on inpatient records?
(7) Do all their hospitals and community health centres record Aboriginality on outpatient records?
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Authorised by the Parliament of New South Wales