Full Day Hansard Transcript (Legislative Assembly, 13 May 1999, Corrected Copy)

Mr Speaker (The Hon. John Henry Murray) took the chair at 10.00 a.m.

Mr Speaker offered the Prayer.

Motion by Mr Whelan agreed to:

That standing and sessional orders be suspended to allow:

(1) the introduction and progress up to and including the Minister’s second reading speech of the Walsh Bay Development (Special Provisions) Bill, and

(2) the Minister for Public Works and Services, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship to speak to the bill following the second reading speech.

Bill introduced and read a first time.

Dr REFSHAUGE (Marrickville - Deputy Premier, Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister for Housing) [10.02 a.m.]: I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill aims to provide certainty for the Walsh Bay redevelopment project. It does this by validating development consents and approvals already granted to the development and by protecting future decisions. It conforms to government policy for economic development and job creation. The bill is designed specifically to validate Walsh Bay consents already granted by the Director-General of the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning and related approvals given by the Heritage Council. This will effectively terminate the court action by the National Trust.

The Government announced its intention to legislate along the lines outlined at the court hearing and as a result of this the hearing was adjourned. The benefits of the redevelopment are clear. If the project does not proceed New South Wales will lose an average of 350 jobs per annum over the next seven years and 1,970 full-time jobs on completion of the redevelopment of the precinct. The loss to the New South Wales economy would be $70 million per year. The wharves at Walsh Bay are deteriorating mainly due to termite infestation. The longer refurbishment and development are delayed the greater the need for government to carry out stabilising works.

The direct cost to government, if it had to stabilise the wharves, would have been $25.8 million in 1998. The cost of government not proceeding with the current proposal is some $41.25 million. This included the immediate repairs and maintenance to the wharves, the provision for ongoing site security and the need to commence a new tendering process. The development of Walsh Bay will revitalise a rundown city precinct. It will provide a new theatre to enrich Sydney’s cultural life. It will create a continuous public thoroughfare, 1.2 kilometres long, connecting Dawes Point with the northern end of Darling Harbour.

The development will establish one of the most attractive and vibrant waterfront precincts in Australia. This will be a unique example of adapting industrial archaeology in a residential and recreational area - The Rocks, a highly popular and successful area. The Government does not believe that a project that has been through so much assessment and that promises so many benefits should be jeopardised at this late stage. This bill will implement the commitment of the Carr Government to this project after an extensive process of community involvement. The Government listened and the project was modified. We responded to the community’s argument for greater protection of heritage values.

It is important to emphasise that all future development applications will be advertised for public comment. The approved master plan consent continues to be the framework for future development approvals. Any changes to it will also be advertised for public comment. On 29 August 1998 the Director-General of the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning gave planning consent under Sydney regional environmental plan No. 16 - Walsh Bay to a master plan consent. This was
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the first of a series of staged development consents under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. The master plan consent approved the concept for redevelopment but did not allow any actual work to take place.

Two further approvals were needed, one heritage and one planning. This is because the area is subject to a permanent conservation order [PCO] and the Heritage Act voids a planning consent to the extent that it is inconsistent with any Heritage Council decision under a PCO. The Heritage Council gave approval for works that included demolition of wharves 6 and 7, and it was this decision that was challenged by the National Trust of New South Wales in the Land and Environment Court. It is that court case that has now been adjourned.

The second thing the bill will do is protect future development by removing the appeal rights under both the Heritage Act and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. Future development consents will have to be consistent with the planning framework set up by master plan consent or by any modifications subsequently made to that consent. The legislation does not remove the right of the community to comment on the design and heritage issues in each future development application. For clarity and consistency the legislation makes the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning the consent authority for all modifications to existing consents and all future development applications in Walsh Bay which are already lodged. This includes development applications for wharves 6, 7, 8 and 9 that have been exhibited but are not yet determined.

State environmental planning policy No. 56 for Sydney Harbour foreshores and tributaries already makes the Minister the consent authority for all future development applications in Walsh Bay. The legislation also protects any decisions the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning may make on the modification of the master plan consent by removing the appeal rights and standing provisions to challenge these modifications and associated approvals of the Heritage Council. Again, it does not interfere with the public consultation process but provides a means to protect decisions once they have been made.

This project has a long history. Attempts have been made since the early 1980s to redevelop Walsh Bay. These attempts were unsuccessful and highlighted the difficulties inherent in this project. Early in 1996 Walsh Bay Finance Pty Ltd was selected as the preferred tenderer following a call for expressions of interest. A master plan development application was exhibited. Then detailed site investigations carried out by Walsh Bay Finance Pty Ltd revealed a level of dilapidation and deterioration of the wharves that exceeded all expectations and resulted in the proposal put forward by Walsh Bay Finance Pty Ltd not being viable. The proposal was reconsidered.

On 24 October 1997 Walsh Bay Finance lodged both a revised master plan development application and a development application for wharves 6-7 and associated shore sheds. The master plan development consent for redevelopment was announced on 21 August 1998 with the Government stressing that the project protected the heritage values of the precinct and provided substantial direct and indirect economic benefits to New South Wales. In summary, this legislation allows a major project of great economic and heritage significance to proceed. I commend the bill to the House.

Mr IEMMA (Lakemba - Minister for Public Works and Services, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship) [10.09 a.m.]: I support the bill. It will end 17 years of frustration and delay in attempts to do something about Walsh Bay, a forgotten and neglected important heritage precinct of this city. In particular it will end 3½ years of delay and frustration regarding the proposal of Walsh Bay Properties. As my colleague the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning outlined, the development is an important part of the Government’s plan for this city post the Olympics.

The bill is about job creation, heritage preservation and reopening this area of the city to the public for the first time since 1915. The necessity for the legislation derives from a long period of frustration and delay in trying to progress the proposal, brought to a head by the legal challenge mounted by the National Trust earlier this year. That challenge is now before the courts. Had the bill not been introduced, the proposal for the project would be in jeopardy. Walsh Bay Properties has made it clear that continuing uncertainty about the future of the project would render it at risk. Therefore the Government must have special legislation to provide certainty for the project, so that finally something can happen in respect of the Walsh Bay precinct. Work on the project has stopped as a result of the court action.

Of major concern is not only the current court action that has necessitated the bill but the fact that special interest groups are on record as saying that they will continue to fight and frustrate the project, and that they will use every means and mechanism to that end. A number of development and consent
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approvals have to be obtained for the project, not just the one that is the subject of the current court action. Indeed, up to 20 further development approvals could be necessary for the project. Given the documented statements of special interest groups - the major one being the National Trust - even if the current court case is determined in favour of the developer, potentially there could be any number of challenges to the proposal.

As the companies have stated, work has stopped, and if there is no certainty in the project they will walk away from it. That would be quite disastrous for this city and for the Walsh Bay precinct. I want to emphasise the consequences of the proposal falling over. It would probably mean the loss of our last chance to do something about Walsh Bay, with a consequential flow of costs to the Government. At the moment, wharves 6 and 7 are beyond salvation. It would cost nearly $25 million just to stabilise those two wharves and stop them from falling into the harbour. If the companies walk away from the project, the Government will incur the cost of carrying out works to preserve the heritage value of the Walsh Bay precinct. So we cannot sit back and allow the proposal to fall over in the face of challenge and frustration.

The development proposal has been in the public arena for 3½ years. It has been through probity checks carried out by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. It has been the subject of public consultation, with more than 100 public meetings. The master plan for Walsh Bay has been subject to examination by the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, the Heritage Council, from which it received approval, and the City of Sydney Planning Committee. The master plan has been through an exhaustive process of examination, environmental assessment, heritage assessment, public consultation, modification and examination by the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning.

The proposal having gone through the examination, assessment and checking process, the point has been reached at which finally the Government must make a decision so that we can get on with the job of doing something at Walsh Bay. The investment and the jobs flowing from the project are critical to the Government’s post-Olympics plan for New South Wales. For the construction industry, the post-Olympics period is critical. We want to ensure investment of some $650 million at Walsh Bay and the thousands of jobs that flow from that after the Olympics. The Government wants to ensure that as much as possible of the current level of activity in the construction industry is maintained after the Olympics, because that will benefit the whole State.

As far as the heritage aspects of the issue are concerned, the proposal has been the subject of much complaint from its opponents. Those people do not, however, tell us what their alternative plan is if the proposal falls over and Walsh Bay Properties walks away from the proposal. They want to retain 82 per cent of the heritage value of the whole precinct. The proposal is for a 1,000-seat public theatre, five new public parks and a promenade to link the Circular Quay area to Walsh Bay. In addition, as I said at the outset, for the first time since 1915 the people of this State will have access to this important but long forgotten harbourside area of this city.

Wharves 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9 will be restored to their original state. The shore sheds and the bond stores will also be preserved. Only the areas around wharves 6 and 7 will be replaced, with the buildings being no higher than the existing structures. There will not be another building similar to that which has been called "The Toaster" at east Circular Quay. The master plan, which, I repeat, has been through exhaustive heritage examination, will secure the heritage value of the Walsh Bay precinct. Those mounting the court challenge to the proposal are in fact fighting to ensure that the heritage value of the Walsh Bay precinct cannot be protected. The Government cannot allow that to happen. That is why it has taken the decision to introduce special legislation.

This measure to remove third party appeal rights is one that the Government has not taken lightly. However, it is an action that has precedent in the Port Kembla smelter development, the Blue Mountains development at Leura and Raleigh Park at Randwick - all projects considered to be of State significance. When projects of State significance are put at risk by unnecessary and endless delay and frustration by those who would pursue an ideological campaign, particularly when they place on the public record their determination to pursue every possible avenue simply to defeat a proposal, then the Government must act, as governments have acted in the past. In this instance the Government has acted to secure post-Olympics jobs and the heritage value of the area, as well as preserving and opening up the Walsh Bay precinct to the public, access and use denied to them for many decades. I support the bill.

Debate adjourned on motion by Mr Brogden.

Mr WATKINS (Ryde - Minister for Fair Trading, and Minister for Sport and Recreation) [10.20 a.m.]: I move:

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That this House:

(1) acknowledges the second anniversary of the historic motion by this House condemning the Armenian genocide of 1915;

(2) recognises 24 April 1999 as a day of remembrance and as the eighty-fourth anniversary of the Armenian genocide; and

(3) joins the New South Wales Armenian community in honouring the memory of the 1.5 million people who died in the first genocide of the twentieth century.

I make it clear that this motion should in no way be interpreted as a reflection on our fellow Australians of Turkish background, whose enormous contribution to New South Wales and Australia members on this side of the House are proud to acknowledge. Two years ago on 17 April this House passed an historic motion condemning all genocide, in particular the Armenian genocide in 1915, and designating 24 April each year as a day of remembrance of this tragic event. It is important therefore that again this year we take the opportunity to remember the occasion and to condemn all acts of genocide so that we never forget its ever-present danger.

The recent religious and ethnic conflicts in Indonesia should also draw our attention to the fact that acts of genocide are still part of the human experience. The motion is particularly pertinent this year having regard to the recent events in Kosovo with the forced removal of Albanian people from their homes. I am pleased that once again Australia has opened its arms to families scarred by war. It is a measure of our humanity that we will welcome 4,000 men, women and children who have been living in refugee camps in Macedonia. I join with the rest of the community in welcoming them, and I hope that in the future they will be able to return home to their families and friends, free to live again in their homeland.

Events such as these remind us of the need to be vigilant and to stand up publicly against all atrocities committed against the human family, whenever and wherever they occur. This year I had the opportunity to speak at the annual Armenian Genocide Commemoration on 24 April at Willoughby Town Hall. Few other events draw such a broad range of political, social and religious communities together. It is a solemn ceremony of remembrance, but it is also a celebration of the Armenian culture and spirit. At this commemoration I had the pleasure of hearing Professor Colin Tatz speak. His work and research at Macquarie University at the Centre for Genocide Studies is important in revealing to modern Australians the tragic reality of genocides that have occurred throughout history. His opening remarks were a salient reminder of what has occurred this century. He began by saying:

April is not the best of months. In April 1915 the massacre of Armenians began. In April 1945 some 73,000 survivors at the two camps of Buchenwald and Auschwitz were liberated, but by which time some 5.9 million were dead at Nazi hands. In April 1994 the Rwandan genocide began. In April 1999 the cleansing of the Kosovars was fully under way. What this also tells us is that the nineteenth century - the age of reason and the high point of the enlightenment - led to the production of both ideas and the technology that produced the low point in human history, the twentieth century, the century of mass death and genocide.

I thank Professor Tatz for his ongoing commitment. He is an intelligent and passionate advocate for the rights of the dispossessed and witnesses to genocide, and is totally committed to educating people on the reality of genocide this century. The Armenian genocide took place under the guise of World War I and began on 24 April 1915 with the arrest and murder of more than 200 political, religious and cultural leaders. Over the next few years more than half of the 2.5 million Armenians were killed. Many were executed in their homes. Others were forced on death marches into the deserts of Syria and many were worked to death in detention camps. These men, women and children were without power and were persecuted cruelly because of their race.

The mass of displaced survivors were traumatised and were left with no other choice but to leave their ancestral lands to save themselves from further destruction. More than 500,000 of these people had to flee to any country that would take them. Australia, to its credit and also to our community’s long-term benefit, took thousands of them. Today more than 35,000 Australians of Armenian descent live here, including descendants of the survivors. I am pleased that a large number of them live in my electorate of Ryde. They bring great benefit to my local community. These Australian-Armenians are committed to this nation and its future. Their contribution can be seen in their involvement in economic and political life and in the way they have excelled in the business and professional fields.

For too long this genocide was a forgotten tragedy of the twentieth century. In 1997 this House acknowledged the tragedy in a motion condemning the genocide of the Armenians, honouring the victims, recognising the need to remember and learn, condemning acts to distort the historical truth and designating 24 April as a day of remembrance. Earlier this year the Parliament placed a permanent memorial in the garden on level 9 of Parliament
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House. It is an Armenian khatchakar with a plaque inscribed with the Armenian genocide commemorative motion that was passed unanimously by the Parliament in 1997.

The memorial will serve as a permanent reminder of this Parliament’s commitment to condemning genocide in all its forms. The plaque is also a symbol of the resilience, courage and spirit of the Armenian people. For Australian-Armenians it is a silent reminder to our community that the act of genocide should never happen again. It is indeed a sacred and special memorial. The honourable member for Willoughby will be speaking to the motion. Over the years he has shown a strong commitment to the issue of genocide and has forged strong links with the many Armenians who live in his electorate. I look forward to hearing his speech. I commend the motion to the House.

Mr COLLINS (Willoughby) [10.26 a.m.]: On behalf of the Opposition and, in particular, as the member for Willoughby and a friend of the Armenian people and community in Australia I support the comments of the Minister for Sport and Recreation. I want to refer to the progress of this motion. I moved a motion two years ago recognising the Armenian genocide of 1915 and designating 24 April as the date of remembrance of the first genocide of the twentieth century. The then member for Gladesville supported that motion, and our double act continues today. The member for Gladesville is now the member for Ryde and a Minister. I congratulate him on his elevation to the ministry and on his continuing support for the Armenian people.

There will be no dissent or opposition to the motion in this Parliament. How could there be? It seeks to recognise not only the Armenian community and the suffering of its people, which began on 24 April 1915, but also the first genocide of the twentieth century - an event that we should well remember. I acknowledge that the Government has honoured its commitment to establish a memorial in the Parliament House precincts. The memorial has a particular message. Although it deals with the Armenian genocide, the Armenian people would be the first to acknowledge that they are not the only ones who suffered genocide in this century.
One of the most enduring indictments of the twentieth century, this enlightened information age, is that it has become the century of genocide. This is the century in which the travesty of genocide has been entrenched and woven through the history of many nations, and is being woven through the history of nations as I speak. This is not about condemning the Turkish people - and I am aware of the presence in the gallery of the Turkish Consul-General. All Australians recognise the Turkish people as people of great courage; they fought courageously against Australians at Gallipoli. This motion is about acknowledging that in 1915 the Turkish Government began a process which was to become a devastating mistake. Unless one actually admits mistakes, any mistake, one cannot really move forward.

The thing that binds us together as human beings should make that acknowledgment possible. This motion is about acknowledging the suffering of the Armenian people which began in 1915 and acknowledging the suffering of different ethnic groups and different religious groups around the world. Different races and different religious groups have been singled out. They have been killed because of the colour of their skin or their religious beliefs, or sometimes simply because they subscribed to a particular culture. Their only crime was that they were what they were. This is an important motion. Some members of this Parliament have asked why we recognise the Armenians in particular. We recognise them in particular because Armenia is where genocide began in this century.

As we reach the end of this century we should remember all of those who suffered and resolve to make the next century better and genocide a thing of the past. That is the central thrust of this motion. I repeat the appreciation that I feel as a member of Parliament for the Government picking up a motion which I originally moved two years ago. At that time my electorate had the largest Armenian community, and I suspect that is still the case. The Minister who spoke earlier probably has the next largest Armenian community in his electorate. That fact binds us; and this motion should bind every human being of every faith and every nationality for all time. I commend the motion to the House.

Mr ARMSTRONG (Lachlan) [10.33 a.m.]: On moving this extremely important motion the Minister said that it seeks to acknowledge a similar motion, the founding motion, that was introduced into this House last year. At the time of that first motion, and the recommendation that a plaque be erected in this place to recognise the alleged genocide of the Armenians by the Turkish community, I wrote to you, Mr Speaker, and expressed my extreme concern and my wish that no such plaque be erected in this place. Australia is a young country, a country that is made up of people of all races. Our own history has been fiercely debated over the past 12 months or so, and it will continue to be debated for the remainder of this year
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as we discuss whether we will become a republic or remain a monarchial system. This country prides itself on being historically free of racial vilification and disputes between those who come to our shores as visitors or to take up residency.

This Parliament, the oldest in Australia, and arguably the longest-serving Parliament in the British Commonwealth, has set itself a dangerous precedent by bringing historical disputes between nations before it and before this country. I cannot understand why this debate is taking place at all. As with most conflicts of war, whether over religion, colour, or anything else, there are always at least two views. That is one of the problems with moving those sorts of motions in the Parliament. There is no black and white answer to these conflicts. I remind honourable members of the speech made by the honourable member for Auburn on 18 June 1998 in which he said that there is no conclusive report, no conclusive evidence in history, that this genocide occurred in the magnitude or manner in which it has been presented in recent times.

I do not want to get into an argument about the veracity of the genocide. I join other members in condemning genocide in principle, but I make the point that I am not prepared to take sides in a matter that is demonstrably unproven. I therefore ask that the House reject the motion on the basis that it is unnecessary and that it is improper to move it in this place. To agree to the motion would establish a precedent that we as members of this Parliament may live to regret. I believe that those who come to our shores from other countries and take up our nationality, our flag, our laws and our Constitution should be allowed to have their own history. We do not have to prove the veracity of the historical events. Therefore, I ask that this motion be withdrawn. I have expressed my personal opinion as the member for Lachlan, Ian Armstrong, in this matter. I object to the motion.

Mr HARTCHER (Gosford) [10.37 a.m.]: I support the motion. I place on record my appreciation of the Armenian community of New South Wales for the contribution it has made to this State over many years, and I acknowledge the terrible events that happened in 1915 to the Armenian people. The date 25 April 1915 - Anzac Day - is significant for Australians and even more significant for the Armenians. That is the date on which the genocide commenced. More than 1.5 million Armenians were to die in the most terrible circumstances; men, women, and children were degraded and as a people every effort was made to destroy them. It was the first major genocide of modern times and set the historic precedent for the holocaust against the Jewish people in the Second World War. The famous remark of Adolph Hitler, when discussing the destruction of the Jewish people, is often quoted. He said, "Who speaks today of the destruction of the Armenians?"

The Armenian people are among the most ancient civilisations. They were the first to embrace the Christian faith; it was an Armenian king who accepted Christianity long before it became the religion of the Roman Empire; it was the Armenian people who maintained a high degree of civilisation in the Middle East, until subjugated by the Byzantines and eventually by the Ottomans. Despite the centuries of subjugation they maintained their culture, faith and language. They spread as Diaspora throughout the Ottoman empire and became famous as wonderful traders, businessmen and pillars of commerce and integrity in their communities. That integrity and ability in commerce aroused the envy and hatred of the Ottomans.

When war broke out in 1914 and the Russian empire entered the war against Turkey, the Ottomans saw an opportunity to destroy a people whom they had always envied and despised, a people whom they had been unable to subjugate in 500 years. As the war progressed and the Dardanelles campaign approached its climax, on 25 April - the very day chosen by the allies to land on the shores of Anzac Cove - the Ottomans commenced the genocide. The Ottomans have never acknowledged that genocide. A statue commemorating the pasha who organised it still remains in Istanbul. Nowhere else in the world is there a statue of a person who organised and planned a genocide.

The Armenian people have every right - indeed they have a responsibility - to preserve the memory of those terrible days. They have a responsibility to ensure that people are aware of that genocide and that genocide and its perpetrators will always be brought to justice. If we are to do anything to commemorate the memory of the Jewish people and the memory of the Tutsis who were destroyed in 1997, we must start by acknowledging the terrible events against the Armenian people in 1915.

It behoves everyone who is a believer in human rights and dignity to acknowledge those events and to be aware of the wonderful contribution that the Armenians have made. In Australia Armenians have conducted themselves well. They have advanced throughout the Australian community, brought up their families and
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distinguished themselves in all walks of Australian life. Armenians are one of the many ethnic groups that have contributed to the wonderful fabric of our multicultural society. On behalf of the Liberal Party I salute and acknowledge them. I am proud to say that Armenians are some of the finest representatives of ethnic communities in this country.

I return to the gist of the motion moved by the Minister for Fair Trading, and Minister for Sport and Recreation and supported by my colleague the honourable member for Willoughby, who has had a long record of supporting the Armenian people, many of whom live in the Willoughby electorate - and their church is located in the Chatswood-Willoughby area. Their adherence to their faith, which they embraced so willingly some 1,700 years ago - the first people in the world to acknowledge the Christian faith - has kept them together. The Armenian church has been their standard-bearer for an extremely long time. Everyone should salute them and should deplore the terrible events of 1915. All honourable members should express their determination, along with the Armenian people, that similar events will never happen again. That can be assured only if people are determined to maintain the memory of what happened, to deride those who brought it about and to salute the survivors, the Armenian people of today.

Debate adjourned on motion by Mr Anderson.

Mr J. H. TURNER (Myall Lakes - Deputy Leader of the National Party) [10.43 a.m.]: I move:

That this House:

(1) deplores the fact that Tourism New South Wales omitted the New South Wales towns of Maitland and Cessnock from a map published in the Sunday Telegraph supposedly mapping the main tourist attractions in the Hunter Valley;

(2) calls on the Minister for Tourism to acknowledge the existence of these towns and their vital contribution to the tourism economy in New South Wales;

(3) calls on the Minister for Tourism to rectify this appalling slight upon the residents of Maitland and Cessnock by ensuring the cities of Maitland and Cessnock are recognised on Tourism New South Wales maps for the Experience It campaign and any subsequent publications;

(4) determine whether the omission of the heritage city of Maitland was the reason that the Member for Maitland admitted to this House yesterday that "getting used to the name of my new seat has taken its toll".

I preface my remarks by applauding Tourism New South Wales for the campaign that is the subject of this motion. I do not intend to take anything away from the thrust of the Experience It campaign. It is important that Tourism New South Wales promotes and publicises this type of campaign. That is all for nought if principal towns such as Cessnock and Maitland are omitted from the map showing the attractions in the Hunter Valley, the very device used to tell people where to go and what they can do. I am pleased that the honourable member for Cessnock and the honourable member for Maitland are present to listen to this debate. I am sure they will be as appalled as I am that the cities of Cessnock and Maitland have been left out of this important program.

The fact that my home town of Cessnock was left off the map is of personal concern to me. The people of Cessnock have worked extremely hard over a long period to develop its tourism potential. Historically Cessnock was a coalmining town, and before that a timber-getting centre. Timber was a bigger income earner than coal for some time. Whilst coal is still considered to be an important heritage matter for Cessnock, the town, being the gateway to the vineyards, has moved significantly into tourist activities. In earlier days a great deal of hard work was done to remove what, unfortunately - and I do not say this derogatively - was perceived to be a stigma: that Cessnock was a coalmining town with mines at the end of the main street.

It is now a town that prospers from tourism. I well remember that when I served as a member of the Cessnock City Council it was difficult to get some councillors to understand what tourism was all about and the potential of that industry. Ultimately the daughter of one councillor who had been opposed to the vineyards obtained a job in the vineyards and he then thought that tourism was wonderful. Things then tended to change. Cessnock City Council developed an expertise in promoting tourism. I interviewed the first tourism officer for Cessnock. I served as a member of the Lower Hunter and Lower North Coast Tourist Authority. Cessnock has survived the downturn in the coal industry and is doing extremely well from tourism.

Regrettably, the promotion by Tourism New South Wales, which requests people to travel the two hours from Sydney to the Hunter region, has omitted Cessnock from the map. That is a pity and it should not have occurred. I am very familiar also with Maitland. My law practice was situated in East Maitland. Maitland is classed as a heritage city and has many attributes that would be of great interest to people and have been promoted actively by the people of the town.

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Maitland no longer has a local council, but when the Maitland City Council was active it promoted tourism and was one of the leaders in the marketing of tourism in the Hunter Valley, well before tourism became the force it is today in that region and, indeed, in New South Wales. From memory, Maitland had a tourist officer 25 years ago. Again it is regrettable that Maitland has been omitted from the Tourism New South Wales map. An inquiry should be held into the reason for the omission of the two cities from the map showing sites of tourist attractions in the Hunter Valley. I return to my initial remarks. Tourism must be encouraged, especially as people now take shorter holidays - and that may be the subject of another debate.

I speak in this debate in my capacity as the shadow minister for tourism and as shadow minister for Hunter development. The Hunter Valley is accessible and easy to reach. The omission of these towns from the map requires an explanation. Tourism New South Wales should make additional funding available to ensure that Maitland and Cessnock are given more coverage than they were given in the article in the supplement in the Sunday Telegraph. Any further maps that are published promoting the Experience It campaign must include Maitland and Cessnock. If I might be permitted to be parochial, Foster and Tuncurry are twin towns, and therefore Tuncurry should also be shown on the map. My electorate office is at Tuncurry but I reside in Forster, just to be equitable. Extra funding needs to be given to Cessnock and Maitland to offset what has happened in this publication.

The Sunday Telegraph claims to be the most widely distributed paper in New South Wales, if not Australia, so the omission of Cessnock and Maitland from the map would carry weight. As shadow minister for Hunter development, I say that we need to not only ensure that Maitland and Cessnock are included on the map but we should refer specifically to the Hunter Valley in the overall promotion of tourism in New South Wales. The region from Newcastle to Murrurundi is a microcosm, with snow, beaches, heritage areas, vineyards, and beautiful scenery in the Gresford area and many other areas. The Hunter is a vitally important area. It does not do Tourism New South Wales proud to omit towns like Cessnock and Maitland, which are central to tourism in the Hunter Valley, from its maps. I commend my motion.

Ms NORI (Port Jackson - Minister for Small Business, and Minister for Tourism) [10.52 a.m.]: I am sure the shadow minister for tourism is keen to start out on the right foot, but I am not sure that this motion is the best way for him to make his mark. I will tell the House something about this supplement that the shadow minister is pouring scorn on, because I believe it is really good news for tourism in regional New South Wales, for the Hunter region and for Maitland and Cessnock.

Let me refer first to the last part of the honourable member’s motion - his totally gratuitous calumny about the honourable member for Maitland. Speaking as a member who won a new seat for Labor after a redistribution, I well remember the short period of adjustment in responding to my new title and I remember how pleased and proud I was to have won my new seat. I know the same is true for the honourable member for Maitland following his tremendous victory in winning his seat for the Government.

The main thrust of the shadow minister’s motion refers to the supplement entitled "The Ultimate Guide to a NSW Motoring Holiday", which appeared in last Sunday’s Sunday Telegraph as a 16-page "Travel Extra" liftout. The entire liftout was dedicated to promoting tourism in regional New South Wales, and that is an aspect of my portfolio which I take very seriously. It featured articles on holiday experiences available in regional New South Wales in winter - events, places to go and things to do. I am sure this exciting promotion will work very well.

Tourism New South Wales sponsored the feature for $90,000. This cost was fully met by the Government; no town or region was asked to contribute. I stand to be corrected on the exact amount but I understand that had we paid for the promotion totally it would have cost $480,000. We have done very well and achieved value for the taxpayer. I consider that a pretty good deal for tourism in regional New South Wales - including the Hunter. Furthermore, the Sunday Telegraph promoted the liftout on radio and television in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, so the total value of the promotion for regional New South Wales is even more than the figure quoted.

The shadow minister complained about a map that was part of the 16-page liftout. The purpose of the feature was to promote touring by car through the regions of New South Wales, so the map was an indicative map which portrayed the State’s 17 tourism regions and the main highways. Because the objective was to increase awareness about the regions, they, rather than individual towns, were emphasised. It was not meant to be a Gregory’s or a State road map.

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I experienced a similar problem during the election campaign when I wanted to draw a map of my electorate and write in all my achievements. I had well over 100 and I was most disturbed when the typesetter told me that I could fit in only 47. At times there are problems working out exactly how much can be put on a map; the product can be destroyed by cluttering it.

However, I believe the map could and should have featured such important tourism towns as Maitland and Cessnock, and I have already let Tourism New South Wales know my views for future reference. In fact, I have told Tourism New South Wales that I expect a tighter co-ordination on issues such as this and that I will be watching closely to ensure that this happens. Having said that, let me give the shadow minister a little lesson on tourism promotion. It is this: maps do not sell holidays; experiences do.

I have been with all the regional tourism officers this morning; they are holding their quarterly meeting in Sydney. They are delighted with the campaign. I am advised by Tourism New South Wales that the phone calls, inquiries and bookings are rolling in. Let us be clear: this promotion is already working and will work very well in promoting regional tourism, including tourism in the Hunter.

It is the other 14 pages of editorial content and photographs in this supplement that will promote tourism in regional New South Wales. I invite the shadow minister to take a proper look at the supplement and see this for himself. I hope that when he had his briefing with Tourism New South Wales he was shown some of the videos. If he was not, he should make sure he sees them. He will be very excited at the prospect of travelling throughout New South Wales. The campaign promoting his electorate and his town is an absolute ripper.

Mr Fraser: That’s only because the locals did it.

Ms NORI: That is not right. It was a co-operative campaign, funded 50:50 by Tourism New South Wales and the tourism industry in the electorate which is, I might say, showing great leadership and understanding of the need for regional tourism. The honourable member should look at the advertisement; he will love it. As for Maitland and Cessnock being overlooked, let me provide a few facts and figures. Within the 14 pages of the supplement the Hunter and its tourism attractions were referred to 87 times.

Let us be specific. Cessnock, and tourism businesses in the Cessnock local government area, were mentioned 25 times. I am sure that the honourable member will check up on this. Maitland and/or tourism businesses in the Maitland local government area were mentioned 11 times. In addition, there were three photographs of the Hunter: the vineyards at Pokolbin; Cintra guesthouse in Maitland; and Cyprus Lakes golf course, which is, of course, near Cessnock. Even the shadow minister must admit that the Hunter was very well represented in this liftout.

I have been asked by the shadow minister to acknowledge the existence of Maitland and Cessnock and their vital contribution to the tourism economy of New South Wales. It does not take a request like this for me to acknowledge the Hunter in general and Maitland and Cessnock in particular. As Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business I travelled regularly and extensively to the regions, including the Hunter. That included hosting a tour of consuls-general and trade consuls to show off the attractions of the Hunter, including its tourism attractions. We visited Coffs Harbour on other occasions, so the honourable member for Coffs Harbour should not start whingeing.

Since the election I have made two further trips to the Hunter. As the shadow minister well knows, the Hunter was the site of an early Cabinet meeting. Why? Because the Government readily acknowledges the outstanding contribution the Hunter region makes to the State in many ways, and one of the most vital industries in the region is tourism. It generates considerable economic benefit for New South Wales, especially the very real value added by Cessnock and Maitland. The Hunter region attracts 3.6 million visitors a year and they generate expenditure of more than $721 million. Cessnock and Maitland combined draw in excess of 560,000 visitors who inject $250 million into those local economies.

On the day of the Cabinet meeting in the Hunter I announced that 13 Hunter wineries would play an important role in the Feast of Sydney - one of the State’s premier food and wine events, attracting over 220,000 visitors. The Feast of Sydney is sponsored by Tourism New South Wales. The Government realises that the Hunter is one of the many jewels in the New South Wales tourism crown and has actively encouraged, guided and funded growth in the Hunter in partnership with the Hunter Regional Tourism Organisation and other industry stakeholders.

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The Deputy Leader of the National Party specifically asked that the Government give more money to Cessnock and Maitland. In addition to the regional tourism supplement my predecessor, the Hon. R. J. Debus, announced earlier this year a major tourism advertising campaign for the Hunter Valley at a cost of $360,000. Although I am always open to suggestions to spend more money in tourism and to promote regional tourism, for the time being Tourism New South Wales has done its bit to promote that area. However, I am sure that as the value of the "Experience It" campaign becomes evident, we will continue to think of other areas that could benefit from such a campaign. This Government, in its first term, spent double that spent by the Coalition when it was last in government on the budget for tourism marketing. We raised it to $106 million.

With such a comparison, I wonder that the shadow minister would dare to stick up his head with such a complaint. In line with the Government’s commitment to country New South Wales, since we came to office in 1995 we have increased funding to regional tourism by more than 40 per cent to $7 million, which supports a network of 16 regional tourism organisations. We have also increased the available funding for co-operative regional marketing to $8 million, and we have attracted another $8 million from industry. The Hunter has significantly benefited from the Government’s marketing and advertising program, with funding totalling $1,234,664 channelled through the Hunter Regional Tourism Organisation to introduce a wide range of tourism promotions and publications targeting key international and Australian markets.

Mr PRICE (Maitland) [11:02 a.m.]: I wish to add a few comments to the Minister’s excellent explanation of the progress and commitment of Tourism New South Wales to the promotion of this State, bearing in mind that tourism is probably the industry that has more potential than any other to expand. I thank the Minister for her comments regarding my getting used to the name of a new seat. After being a campaign director in Waratah for 10 years and a member for 15 years, one gets used to the term "Waratah", and it took a couple of hours to adjust to being the member for Maitland. However, I can assure honourable members that the adjustment has been absolute.

In line with its commitment to country New South Wales, the Government, through Tourism New South Wales, is committed to supporting sustainable and profitable tourism growth to develop the economic and social structure for regional and rural communities of New South Wales. The master plan of Tourism New South Wales underpins all the planning and development for tourism in New South Wales and sets a future direction for tourism in each region. The Government’s regional tourism strategy provides a framework for the creation of a stronger, well-marketed tourism product or products and destination. Funding under the Government’s regional tourism strategy now stands at a record $7 million, which is 40 per cent more than that expended in 1995, and more than 310 per cent more than the previous Coalition Government allocated in the 1993-94 financial year.

The main plank of the strategy is the establishment of 15 regional tourism organisations bringing together private sector, local businesses, tourist associations and local governments to create a strong force in regional local development. The regional strategy provides a range of subsidies for marketing projects, including opportunities for co-operative advertising and marketing campaigns in mainstream media, regional co-operative programs to market destinations interstate and overseas, and the marketing of a tourism region. We introduced the regional flagship events which, since May 1997, have supported 84 events across the State. This program identifies and develops events that express the unique qualities of their regions, which have the potential to increase visitation.

In addition, Tourism New South Wales supports an $8 million tourism advertising and marketing campaign known as "Experience It". Significant funding is given under level eight of the regional tourism strategy for the co-operative "Experience It" advertising. "New South Wales Holidays" is a Tourism New South Wales product wholesale program. It promotes significant regional product and is sold through 4,500 travel agents nationwide. Regional product is contained in the current "Beaches", "Short Breaks", "Outback" and "Family Holiday" product brochures. The Hunter is a prime destination included in all these materials except, of course, "Outback".

Maitland is now on course as the heritage centre of New South Wales. The Government’s most recent contribution to the heritage objective was the handing over of the historic Maitland gaol to the local council which, with the support of a commercial committee, is considering how to work that significant heritage building into the tourism and commercial activities of the city. The town of Morpeth is within the Maitland city area which, of course, was the most significant port in New South Wales outside of Sydney until the 1920s. Historic houses in the area are well known. We have heard
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of Cintra, which is already in the publication referred to in the motion, and other places such as Anambah House. The Walcha waterworks is a significant heritage building in the area and features on the front cover of the local telephone directory for 1999.

The heritage value of Maitland city is recognised. The map, which indicates "Hunter" as a general term, could be forgiven perhaps for missing out individual towns because the Hunter has so many great spots to visit. If you get the brochure on Hunter you will read about all of them, and that is the most important aspect of the Government’s program: promoting the area as a region. It is based on regional activity and regional support. I am very glad that the Minister has confirmed that. I am concerned that others in this House have not understood that the omission was not intentional, but rather a precursor to ask questions, such as have been asked today. [Time expired.]

Mr J. H. TURNER (Myall Lakes - Deputy Leader of the National Party) [11.07 a.m.], in reply: I am very pleased that the Minister has agreed with my motion. She clearly stated that she shared my concerns that Maitland and Cessnock were not on the map. I am pleased to think that we can work in a bipartisan relationship for tourism, which is so vital to New South Wales. The Minister quoted from somewhere that, "Maps do not sell holidays; experiences do." It is a great quote! But if you do not have the map to get there, you cannot experience it. That is one of the problems. We really do need a map.

Mr Scully: You're lost, are you?

Mr J. H. TURNER: No, my home town of Cessnock and my work area of Maitland are very well known to me. Unfortunately, the Government does not seem to know them. The Minister also said that all the towns could not be put on the map because only towns on the main roads were included. Maitland is actually on the New England Highway, which is a fairly main road; in fact, it has been a Federal highway for some years. But Maitland was not on the map. I would have thought that it was probably more important to put a place like Cessnock on the map because it is not on the main road. You actually have to get off the main road to go to Cessnock.

To say that the map has only places that are on the main roads is illogical, because one is and one is not, and neither of them are on the map. The Minister also stated that Cessnock was mentioned 25 times and Maitland 11 times in the brochure, and that it contained three photos. I do not know about mentions - that might help - but I guess if people take the brochure, the photos would be of some assistance because they could drive around in ever-decreasing circles until they could identify the place in the photograph and then link it to either Cessnock or Maitland, because they were mentioned. I am concerned that the Minister and the honourable member for Maitland mentioned the sum of $7 million for regional tourism. I have in my possession documents containing ALP promises of $8 million for regional tourism, yet both members opposite have mentioned $7 million. I can only presume that that promise has been broken.

Ms Nori: No, you did not listen to my speech properly. The $8 million is for co-operative regional marketing campaigns, and that is different.

Mr Price: We have spread it around like you would not want to know.

Mr J. H. TURNER: But is it the same money? I will not pursue that matter any further except to say that I am concerned about those figures. Considering that the former Minister has given $360,000 for promotion of the Hunter Valley and there was supposedly a $106 million overhaul and promotion during the term of the previous Government, surely if $7 million or $8 million has been provided, some of that money could make up for the omission of Cessnock and Maitland from this very important promotion of Tourism New South Wales.

Motion negatived.

Business called on, and postponed on motion by Mr Slack-Smith.

Mr HUNTER (Lake Macquarie) [11.10 a.m.]: I move:

That this House congratulates the Government on the establishment of the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area during its first term of office.

Certainly it was a great day on 22 November 1996 when the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area was officially declared by the former Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Pam Allan. The Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area consists of six parcels of foreshore bushland around Lake Macquarie. The declaration was very important for
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the lake and its surrounding environment, which has been in the spotlight for the last few years. It was important for these parcels of 650 hectares of bushland, covering 16 kilometres or approximately 10 per cent of the Lake Macquarie shoreline, to be protected. It was appropriate for the then Minister, Pam Allan, to make the official declaration because for approximately eight years she had been part of the negotiations to bring this State recreation area to reality.

I pay tribute to two community groups in the Hunter and Lake Macquarie area, one of which is the Northern Parks and Playgrounds Movement. For many years Doug Lithgow and other members of that movement have been aware of the benefits of protecting foreshore bushland around Lake Macquarie. The other group is the United Residents Group for the Environment of Lake Macquarie [URGE]. In 1991 the then Labor Opposition adopted the URGE proposal for a Lake Macquarie foreshore park. URGE spent many years preparing this proposal, and I participated in those endeavours. Many local community groups were brought together to work out a plan to ensure that bushland around the foreshore of Lake Macquarie was protected. I was proud, and I still am, to be a member of the United Residents Group for the Environment of Lake Macquarie.

I congratulate the members of that organisation on their success. I refer particularly to people such as Greg Piper, who is now a councillor of Lake Macquarie City, Leif Lemke, Peter Morris and Jack Shield. Those people and many others have been involved for many years in putting together the State recreation area proposal. In 1991 the then Labor Opposition adopted the proposal for the State election. I brought the proposal to Parliament after I was elected. Unfortunately, Labor did not form a government and I put forward a private members bill based on the URGE plan. After much debate in this Parliament and opposition from the Greiner Government and Fahey Government -

Mr Scully: Don’t remind me.

Mr HUNTER: For seven long years the Greiner and Fahey governments opposed protection of the foreshore of Lake Macquarie. I remember that during the debate on the proposal the former Deputy Premier, Mr Murray, referred to a parcel of the land which included some of the former Wangi power station land adjoining Lake Macquarie on the southern side of Wangi near Myuna Bay. It was obvious during the debates that the former Deputy Premier had not done any research because he said that the land had been reserved for a future power station and that I was alienating the land - or at least, that is what he implied. At that stage, the power station was on its last legs and, other than for the presence of a maintenance crew, it had closed. His comments revealed his failure to recognise the importance of the Lake Macquarie environment and its protection. It is history that the previous Government opposed the bill.

I congratulate the Independents who were members of Parliament at that time because they supported the bill and it was passed by the lower House. With their support, numerous amendments were able to be staved off when the previous Government tried to gut the bill. The bill was sent to the upper House, but, unfortunately, Parliament was prorogued before the 1995 election and the bill was unable to proceed. Prior to the 1995 election, Labor again promised the creation of the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area. A few months after the election, I approached the new Minister for Environment, Pam Allan, and asked how we were going to create the State recreation area. She responded by appointing a National Parks and Wildlife Service officer, Mr Ken Ayres, to work with me during the next 12 months to negotiate with, rather than to force, local governments and government departments to establish the park.

We sat down and discussed the benefits and any problems that the two local councils, Lake Macquarie City Council and Wyong Shire Council, could foresee. We also spoke to various Government departments that were custodians of the land at that time. Both Wyong Shire Council and Lake Macquarie City Council should be congratulated on agreeing, after lengthy consultation, to give up their trusteeship of foreshore land. I particularly thank the Lake Macquarie City Council and its members - including my brother, Councillor Alan Hunter; Councillor Lorre Manning; and Greg Piper - for their support and for agreeing to the National Parks and Wildlife Service taking over control of the Wangi Point area, which was the site of a large caravan park and cabin facility operated by the council.

Part of the agreement concerned the council being able to continue to run that facility under a long-term lease. That was certainly a good outcome for the council and the agreement also provided protection for the land around the lake. While I had been working with Ken Ayres over a period of approximately 18 months we obtained agreement from all the participating groups. Cabinet supported the proposal, culminating in the Minister declaring the park open on 22 November 1996. It was only in January of this year that the final parcel of the
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foreshore park was gazetted, which was the Morisset Hospital land. That was only achieved after a great deal of discussion with the Department of Health to ensure that the patients at the Morisset Mental Hospital and also at the Kanangra facility run by the Department of Community Services were fully protected.

The agreement provided for public access if an approach was made to management to obtain access to the various bushland settings which have always been part and parcel of the hospital facility. An additional benefit is that the agreement allows the Health Department to take over ownership of the land on which the hospital is situated whereas previously it was a trustee only of Crown land. I thank the local Aboriginal community for participating in the negotiations. They have been granted a large chunk - approximately 1,000 hectares - of the Morisset Hospital site.

Again, I thank the former Minister, Pam Allan, for agreeing to my request to set up an advisory body comprising a number of community representatives, including members of the Wangi Peninsula Advisory Committee who have been working for many years and who are now being assisted by officers of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Members of the Awaba Bay Landcare Group have done an excellent job in the Awaba Bay portion of the State recreation area between Marmong Point and Bolton Point. In February this year the then Minister for the Environment, Pam Allan, visited the area and announced funding of $158,000 for the second stage of a foreshore walk through that portion of the land.

The honourable member for Wentworthville, Pam Allan, is present in the Chamber. Prior to the 1991 election, over two days, Pam Allan and our former colleague Tony Doyle, shadow minister for planning, visited all the sites proposed for the foreshore park and met all the community group members, who gave ringing endorsement of the proposal. I am sad that Tony is not here to see the project come to fruition. I thank Pam Allan on behalf of all the people of Lake Macquarie who worked for many years to have the foreshore land protected.

Ms ALLAN (Wentworthville) [11.20 a.m.]: Mr Acting-Speaker, I take this opportunity to congratulate the honourable member for Liverpool, who is in the chair, on his appointment as Acting-Speaker. I have known you for many years and I have never seen you looking more distinguished than at this moment. The important motion moved by my colleague the honourable member for Lake Macquarie has been on the notice paper of this Chamber for about four years. It may seem a little unusual that three or four years since the creation of the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area we are congratulating the former Government on its declaration. The Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area was one of 179 parks and recreation areas created by the former Government. In many ways it is a microcosm of how parks and State Recreation Areas [SRAs] should be created and what should happen to them after they are created.

As the honourable member for Lake Macquarie has already said, the SRA was created as a result of the commitment by the Government to honour pre-election promises, but it would not have come about without support from a number of groups within the local community as well as local councils and officers of government departments. The honourable member congratulated numerous councils on their energy in promoting the creation of the SRA. He also referred to various community groups such as the Awaba Bay Landcare Group.

I particularly note the efforts of the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the manager of the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area. It was a great achievement of the Government not just to create all the parks but also to provide the resources to manage them well. As a result of the persistent efforts by the honourable member for Lake Macquarie the National Parks and Wildlife Service has appropriated the resources to ensure that the State recreation area is well managed. Excellent management practices are in place, new walking tracks are being established and there is adequate staffing to service the areas.

As the honourable member also said, other government bodies have played an important role in the creation of the SRA. For example, the Department of Housing waived rights to land at Bolton Point to enable the SRA to be created. The Health Department allowed the Morisset Hospital site to be incorporated in the SRA. I congratulate those departments on their co-operation. I also congratulate local Aboriginal groups that played a role in establishing the SRA. The Lake Macquarie SRA would not have been created without the strong support of the local member. His campaign was supported by the local community. Many environment groups around Lake Macquarie have been active on the issue. There is one thing that I have learned as a Minister and that is that a diligent local member can achieve a great deal. An example is what has happened with the creation of the Lake Macquarie SRA and the adequate resourcing which the Government now provides.

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Mr MILLS (Wallsend) [11.25 a.m.]: I am very pleased to speak to this motion congratulating the Carr Labor Government on establishing the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area during its first term. One of the reasons the Labor Government was returned so well and why Labor’s vote in the Hunter region was so strong is that on a series of important local issues such as this the Carr Labor Government kept its promises and delivered to the Labor heartland area, and Lake Macquarie is part of the Labor heartland area. I appreciate what the Carr Labor Government did in its first term in establishing the State Recreation Area [SRA]. A Labor government was needed to get that through. A very determined local member was also needed. I congratulate the honourable member for Lake Macquarie, Jeff Hunter, on his determination to pursue this issue since becoming a member of this Chamber in 1991.

The proposal was under development before Jeff came here and I commend Merv Hunter, the former member for Lake Macquarie, for his efforts in pursuing the issue. A key person was the honourable member for Wentworthville, Pam Allan. When I became a member of Parliament following the death of my predecessor she had just become the shadow minister for the environment. One of my first duties as a new member was visiting with Pam sites proposed for inclusion in the State Recreation Area. I also acknowledge Tony Doyle, former member for Peats and shadow minister for planning, who sadly has passed away, for the part he played in progressing the issue.

The dream of stopping the destruction of the bushland on the foreshores of Lake Macquarie had been alive for more than 50 years. I met some wonderful people who told me of their struggles in the early days to stop bushland being knocked down for residential and industrial purposes. By the 1980s there were not many areas that could be formed into the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area. I suppose we got there just in time. If the early environmentalists had been able to save more of the bushland there could potentially have been a much bigger park. The honourable member for Lake Macquarie mentioned URGE, the United Residents Group for the Environment of Lake Macquarie - I am proud to have been a member for many years - and the Northern Parks and Playgrounds movement, the much earlier organisation supporting the cause.

When Reid sailed a ship looking for the mouth of the Hunter River in about 1800 he stumbled upon the entry to Lake Macquarie. For quite a few years the district was known as "Reid’s Mistake". In the more than 100 kilometres of Lake Macquarie shoreline outcrops of coal were found, as in the Hunter River. The shoreline was also found to be wooded with excellent timbers and timber getting became a local industry. Reverend Threlkeld is famous for studying and documenting much of the Awabakal Aboriginal language of the area. Many of the early residents hoped to preserve much of that beautiful country but they did not set in place the structures to do so. The dream finally became a reality thanks to the combination of factors that I have mentioned, but particularly because the Carr Labor Government honoured the promises that it gave to the people. Unlike the Greiner and Fahey governments, the Labor Government proceeded to establish the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area. We did it. Congratulations to the Government.

Mr HUNTER (Lake Macquarie) [11.30 a.m.], in reply: I thank my colleagues the honourable member for Wentworthville and the honourable member for Wallsend for their support for the motion. For me the creation of the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area was the realisation of a dream. I had advocated its creation since becoming a member of State Parliament and, prior to that, on behalf of the local environment movement. Its creation was the realisation of a dream I had had for many years. When one looks at past photographs of the Lake Macquarie area, one can see now the amazing amount of development that has gone on in and around the lake.

That is why it was necessary for the Premier to establish a task force last year to look at the environmental problems of Lake Macquarie. It is also the reason the Government has committed in excess of $7 million to the area over three years. Lake Macquarie City Council and Wyong Shire Council will be raising funds and contributing to the rehabilitation of the area. Part of that rehabilitation has been the creation of the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area. Many areas of the foreshore land were earmarked for development. They will now be protected for future generations and, of course, foreshore bushland will filter out urban residential intrusion into the lake.

I again commend the honourable member for Wentworthville for the creation of the advisory committee. It is chaired by Councillor Greg Piper, who is a passionate advocate for the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area, and its members include representatives from various community groups around the lake. I again point out that the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area covers slightly more than 650 hectares, or 16 kilometres, of foreshore land. That is approximately 10 per cent of the Lake Macquarie shoreline. Public use of the area
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ranges from highly organised activities at Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre, Morisset Hospital, as I mentioned earlier, and Wangi Point Caravan Park to more passive recreational uses such as bushwalking and picnicking.

I believe that about $200,000 a year is being spent on the ongoing maintenance of facilities, for fire management works and pest control, for the erection of signs and fencing of areas, and for rehabilitation. As I mentioned earlier, the Awaba Bay Landcare group will receive about $158,000 to continue its foreshore walk. The group has already done an excellent job in the Awaba Bay area. Lantana bushes some 13 or 14 feet high have been removed. The National Parks and Wildlife Service has only praise for the group. I mention particularly Tim and Jenni Watkins of the Awaba Bay Landcare group and Robert Hertogs, who originally dreamed of clearing that parcel of land. To everyone involved in the creation of the Lake Macquarie State Recreation Area, particularly the former Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Pam Allan, I say: a job well done.

Motion agreed to.

Pursuant to sessional orders debate interrupted.

Mr HICKEY (Cessnock) [11.34 a.m.] (Inaugural speech): I am honoured to represent my party and my electorate of Cessnock in the New South Wales State Parliament. Today is a very significant day for me: it is the occasion of my first speech in the oldest and one of the most important parliaments in Australia. I take this opportunity to give recognition and credit to those who have greatly helped me in my successful campaign at the recent polls. First and foremost is my wife, Nadine. Nadine held the fort, and singlehandedly looked after our three children, Arna, Britt and Gareth. She was there to doorknock with me. She was an optimistic sounding board. When times were tough she was there to support me. To Nadine I offer my heartfelt thanks.

Second, I sincerely thank my joint campaign directors - my predecessor, Mr Stan Neilly, the former member for Cessnock and the Hon. Bob Brown, the former Federal member for Charlton. Their expertise, know-how and friendship is and always will be treasured. I hope I can be as good a member as Stan Neilly; he was an excellent member for Cessnock and knew his job well. He was held in high regard not only by his electorate but also by all of his colleagues. It is a great privilege to have read Mr Neilly’s inaugural speech and to learn where his first concerns lay. I was astonished to read that he was most concerned that the Government was not employing or encouraging the employment of apprentices and about the impact this would have in general on the youth of New South Wales. He recognised that if apprenticeships were increased they would provide opportunities for the youth and benefits would flow through to rural and regional New South Wales.

I am proud that on the second day of this Parliament Mr Carr launched the legislation to provide tax concessions for employers of apprentices in New South Wales. A total of 4,000 apprentices employed under group schemes already benefit from the concession, whilst the scheme presented yesterday will provide concessions for a further 38,000 apprentices in New South Wales. The scheme, which will commence on 1 July this year, will save employers around $4 million each year and will apply to existing apprentices. The bill not only assists employers of apprentices; it also provides all employers with a reduction in payroll tax to 6.4 per cent. The Treasury expects that this will create up to 5,000 new jobs and benefit 20,000 companies. It is great that the Carr Government is going into its second term and that its election pledge to create new jobs will get up.

Third, I extend thanks to all the workers in my campaign teams, and to those who manned the campaign offices. Those who worked on the campaign worked particularly hard. I make special mention of Mr Fred Brown and Mr Owen Partridge, who are Cessnock branch members and grassroots Labor men tried and true. They stuck by me through thick and thin. One cannot forget our leader, Mr Carr, and the gallant way in which he led from the front. I thank Mr Carr for all he has done for me and the Labor movement. My vote of 72.6 per cent is attributable to Mr Carr and the determination and effort he put into the Labor campaign. All the people I have mentioned are truly great people. I will always pay tribute to great Labor people because of what they stand for and because of the fact that Labor would never turn its back on its heartland.

I was born and raised in one such Labor heartland. It was a small rural community village called Paxton, west of Cessnock. It was a great place to live. I was more fortunate than the youth of today. In that small rural community I had not only my parents but hundreds of parents, as everyone looked after the kids. They took a vested interest in all children. They nurtured the potential that burned
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in each and every child. There was always someone there to keep the kids on the right path, or someone who could drag an unwilling child back to the right side of the tracks. Some people look on their childhood with disdain. I do not. I look at my childhood and sometimes wish it had never ended. My wife thinks it has not.

My father was a miner and the breadwinner in our family, as in those days mothers usually did not work. My father was cavelled-out in the 1960s and did many jobs in the timber industry - at that time it was a flourishing industry - before finally obtaining a job as a truck driver at Allandale Hospital. My mother went into the work force when I was eight years old, so I know what it is like to be called a latchkey kid. I can relate to the issues, the dilemmas and the dramas that latchkey kids have to deal with. I also recognise the problems associated with parenting children.

I attended school in Cessnock, obtained my school certificate and could not leave school quickly enough. I took up an apprenticeship at BHP, Newcastle. I was an adventurous young man. I went out on my own as a tradesman and I left the safety net of that big company to obtain more skills for my trade. However, in 1983 I was caught up in the downturn in the heavy metal industries. I and a number of my colleagues were looking down the barrel of retrenchment. I turned to the milk industry and became a milko for the next 16 years. Throughout that period I held various positions in the Hunter Valley Milk Vendors Association and was active within that organisation. I held the positions of delegate, vice-president, president and State franchise councillor.

In recent years I have watched the deregulation of the milk industry with horror. To all those who would listen I and others have explained that deregulation was not in the public interest. This has only just been realised by most people in New South Wales. They realise that prices will not drop and that the only changes to the price structure will be forced on them by those who can effectively drive down the cost, namely, the supermarkets. They say that they are cutting out inefficiencies in the industry, but the milk vendors still continue in their trade. Industry recognises the important role that milk vendors play and the great marketing tools that they are and will be for a considerable time. As the member for Cessnock I now stand as a voice for the community and for my electorate.

I am unable to understand why the price of coal is falling when there is more demand than supply. The demand is evident from the number of ships sitting outside the port of Newcastle. Mineworkers are currently being told that their future lies in them becoming more productive. However, in the last 15 years of production growth has never been lower than 5 per cent per annum. That is more than double the national average. In 1997 the production growth in Queensland and New South Wales was 22 per cent. What has been the reward for mineworkers? Their rewards have been continual rounds of retrenchments and longer working hours. Rather than retrenchments being the last order of the day, they are now the first order of the day for most mine managements. The vast amount of dollars that the Government has collected from these workers and communities has kept New South Wales in good stead for many years.

The heart is currently being torn out of many rural communities as each job lost from the mining industry multiplies with further job losses in the region. My electorate is copping it at both ends. We are suffering a downturn in manning levels in the coal industry and the closure of BHP is having an effect on jobs. We, as a community, are suffering in silence. Our unemployment rate is high, and the one light on our horizon is an industrial estate which is currently being pushed by Cessnock City Council. The State Government can play a leading role by allowing this project to come to fruition and by helping the council in its funding and planning procedures. I am glad that the Minister for Gaming and Racing, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Hunter Development is present in the Chamber, as I will be calling on him to help with these planning procedures. There are many paths to go down and a lot of doors to knock on if a project of this size is to come to fruition. I hope that by the end of this parliamentary term this industrial estate will be established in my electorate. Like all other honourable members, I want the best for my electorate.

The police issue, an issue which was raised at the last election, has been a big concern throughout the Cessnock electorate. Detectives from Cessnock have been clustered to operate from Maitland. That might seem like a great and commonsense idea, but every time a case is heard at Cessnock it takes police officers 30 minutes to travel to Cessnock and 30 minutes to travel back. Is this an effective and efficient utilisation of our resources, especially when the Cessnock corrective centre has been upgraded to maximum security? Many people in our community are concerned about the police issue. One of these concerns is that the holding bays for offenders in Cessnock police station have extremely poor visual aspects. Cessnock police station is also in poor condition. [Extension of time agreed to.]

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The biggest problem and a matter of major concern is that offenders have to walk from the station to the adjacent courthouse for hearings. It is not cricket when police stations at Maitland, Port Stephens, Wallsend and Newcastle all have corrective service prisoner officers looking after the holding bays, while Cessnock has to utilise the few police it has on hand to do this job. In 1990 the 24-hour manning levels at Singleton station were looked upon favourably by the then Minister for Police, Mr Pickering. In 1991 he rescinded his direction immediately after the election.

In 1995 the Minister for Police, the Hon. Paul Whelan, visited Singleton and spoke to the mayor and general manager of Singleton council. In essence, the Minister committed the Government to progressively moving towards 24-hour policing without stipulating a specific timetable. The recognition and fulfilling of that commitment is vital. We must get the right transport infrastructure throughout the Cessnock electorate. By that I mean that we must understand the transport structure and the complex transport problems facing the community. Cessnock council has been given an assurance that it will have its bypass around the town by the year 2002. I hope that project comes to fruition. I know also that the Kurri Kurri corridor - it is known as the Seahampton to Branxton link from the F3 to the New England Highway - is of paramount importance to all persons in my electorate.

The lack of rail transport in the city of Cessnock is a problem. I have a vision of a rail corridor extending all the way to Pokolbin vineyards, which could be utilised effectively by many tourists. The local media in my electorate has recently referred to an assault by youths in Kurri Kurri park. This problem is related to alcohol and youth. I am currently working with the Minister for Gaming and Racing, the Hon. Richard Face, to negotiate an accord to deal with this problem. But the problem is not restricted to the confines of my electorate; it is a real problem throughout rural and regional areas. That is why Labor is keen to push jobs, jobs, jobs, to try to overcome the problem of youth boredom and low self-esteem.

There are many problems throughout my electorate, but the most dramatic one would be the lack of economic diversification and the way that communities are trying to overcome the past and embrace that diversification. That is something rural and regional New South Wales has to do so that there will always be jobs. The Government has established task forces to deal with this problem and it has made a commitment to implement tax concessions, so most of our concerns are already in hand and will be adequately addressed. I make a commitment to the people in my electorate to work with them and to obtain the best possible outcome for them. As a grassroots member I am and always will be accessible to all the people in my electorate. I will also attempt to obtain as many benefits as possible for my electorate.

Mr BARR (Manly) [11.50 a.m.] (Inaugural speech): It is a great privilege to represent the electorate of Manly in this Chamber. It is often said that Manly is seven miles from Sydney, a thousand miles from care. In fact, it is said so often that I will not repeat it. The boundaries of the Manly electorate extend from the southern end of North Head up to Curl Curl to the south of Dee Why. Manly is a special part of the world, as millions of interstate and overseas visitors will attest. Many people from the Sydney metropolitan areas visit Manly every weekend, particularly in summer. This small geographical area, particularly in comparison to the size of other electorates, has a varied topography that includes isthmuses, peninsulas, headlands, ocean beaches, Manly Cove and Manly Dam, which creates all sorts of interesting environmental and urban planning issues.

This is the third election in a row in which the seat of Manly has been won by an Independent. The first time, in 1991, Dr Peter Macdonald defeated a sitting Minister, and Dr Macdonald retained the seat in 1995. This time I won as an Independent and it is fair to say that Manly has become a blue ribbon Independent seat. The electorate of Manly is proud to be represented by an Independent, and I am honoured and proud to continue that tradition. The fact that many electors wanted an Independent was an important and favourable feature of my campaign. The major parties should take note that the election of Independents will become a trend in many electorates in the future.

Dr Macdonald was an outstanding and highly respected representative for Manly for eight years. I am indebted for the goodwill that he created during those years. His success was due in no small measure to his open-door policy, his high level of integrity, his moral courage and his well-considered position on many issues. His endorsement of me as his successor greatly benefited my campaign.

I thank the community groups who supported my campaign - Dee Why Residents Action Group, Manly Vale Residents Action Group, Harbord Safety First Committee, Residents and Friends of Manly and Brookvale Valley Community Group. An Independent cannot win against the big players
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without volunteers. I especially thank the 250-plus volunteers who worked on my campaign. They were prepared to work long, hard hours to get an Independent elected. They handed out leaflets and conducted mail drops. To give an example of the logistical difficulties, my campaign office conducted a direct mail drop to 44,000 electors. Only the localities of voters were able to be accessed from the system, so 44,000 leaflets were sorted firstly into streets and then into addresses and were then hand delivered. That is how Independents win. The major parties cannot often boast about that kind of community support.

I especially thank my family - my wife, Elizabeth; my elder son, William; my younger son, Christopher; and my daughter, Annalisa. Going into the election campaign my initial impulse was to quarantine my family from the hurly-burly and the slings and arrows. However, they thrived on the campaign; they enjoyed it and worked hard. I am deeply indebted to them for their continuous support. That support is terribly important.

I want to traverse a number of local issues, many of which would be relevant to other electorates. The first issue is the need for improved transport, particularly improved public transport. I am dismayed that an application is to be submitted to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal for an increase in public transport fares. Good public transport makes a city great. Without an efficient and reliable public transport a city suffers. That is evident in many overseas cities, and Sydney is also suffering. Externalities should be taken into account when considering fare increases. I know that government departments have to work to budgets, but in their decisions about public transport they do not factor in the externalities, such as the infrastructure required for extra cars on the road if there are not enough buses.

Somewhere along the line we must become more sophisticated in our economic reckoning of costs to be factored in. A decrease in the provision of public transport means an increase in costs for road infrastructure and air pollution evasion measures. Members know that 80 per cent of the air pollution in Sydney is caused by motor vehicle emissions. There must be a big push for public transport. Sydney has a strong need for improved public transport, as do my electorate and the northern beaches.

A further issue is the provision of affordable housing. Manly is becoming a wealthy area; in the past year real estate prices have soared. People on lower incomes are having difficulty finding affordable housing and councils do not have the means to deal with the issue. The State Government and local councils need to have a better working relationship in terms of the provision of affordable housing. Manly is one of the few areas on the northern peninsula with boarding houses. Boarding houses have served a great social purpose by providing people on lower incomes with a roof over their heads. However, those boarding houses are now being transformed into tourist accommodation for backpackers. That process comes at a social cost. To be vibrant and dynamic a community requires a mix of people. It should not be an enclave for the wealthy. A community needs a housing mix that accommodates all people.

The drug issue is an important matter for the Manly electorate, as it is for all electorates. When I refer to the drug issue I mean legal and illegal drugs. The criminal activities and antisocial and aggressive acts that result from alcohol consumption are an ongoing problem in the area. On any given night half of the police work involves alcohol-related criminal activity. We must not lose sight of the fact that the drug issue also involves the impact of alcohol.

I welcome the Premier’s initiative in calling the summit. I was especially pleased that was done before the election, as it pulled the issue away from what would have been a debased debate during the election campaign. Now that the summit is to proceed next week, I hope that significant progress will be made and that members of Parliament will have the courage to support the necessary remedies. Nationwide two young people each day die from drug overdoses, and in New South Wales I understand that the figure is roughly half of that number. Current policies have failed and it would be morally bankrupt to persist with them. The drug problems must be addressed seriously. I hope that the approach to the summit will be depoliticised and that honourable members will realise the social function they must perform to bring about drug reform.

Manly is a water-based electorate with water surrounding it. Water quality issues are therefore of extreme importance to the region. No-one has yet come to terms with the total catchment management policy. Manly Dam is a freshwater dam and the new housing development on the Ardel site will unduly impact upon the region. Traditionally the issue of total catchment management has not been taken into account. Proper consideration has not been given to the impact of what happens upstream on the area downstream. Curl Curl Lagoon and Manly Lagoon are highly polluted and are not suitable for primary contact. One swims in them at one’s own risk.

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I have always regarded the deepwater ocean outfall as being only a temporary fix. It was never a satisfactory solution to simply pump sewage a couple of kilometres out to sea rather than a couple of hundred metres out to sea. The Manly community is concerned about the Northside Storage Tunnel, which is regarded as an engineering fix to a problem that should be tackled in a more decentralised manner. The community is concerned that the storage tunnel will entrench the sewage treatment plant at North Head. I hope that in the medium term a more decentralised system will be introduced.

I should discuss in more detail the issues related to North Head and local government-State Government relations. The North Head site involves complex matters, and I shall run through the details briefly. North Head is a site of historical, natural and cultural significance. It is the gateway to Sydney Harbour and contains items of national historic importance. North Head is the home of a diverse array of native flora and endangered fauna. It is covered by large tracts of remnant bushland, some of which is classified as national park. Other parts of the site are privately owned or government-owned. The natural environment includes some of the last habitats of endangered species such as the long-nosed bandicoot and fairy penguins. The area has a colony of fairy penguins, some of which come up the harbour, clamber up a flight of about 100 stairs of a home unit block, waddle along the road and then go down to the undercroft of a house, where they nest. That is something of a secret, but most residents are aware of it. The fairy penguins are noisy and smelly creatures, but are quite charming and need to be protected. [Extension of time agreed to.]

The future of various sites on North Head is uncertain: the School of Artillery, the Quarantine Station, the police college, Manly Hospital and the St Patrick's estate. A number of stakeholders are involved with the sites: the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Commonwealth Sydney Harbour Foreshore Trust - which does not seem to be clear on who owns the old artillery site, whether it is Federal or State - the Catholic Church, which owns the St Patrick's estate; the Department of Health, which has control over Manly Hospital; Sydney Water; Manly Council; and private residential owners.

The St Patrick's estate is one of the key sites on North Head. It is the cradle of Catholicism in Australia and contains grand seminary buildings that are listed on the National Estate. The original seminary, Moran House, was leased to private operators in 1995 for the purposes of a hospitality school. The church, assisted by major developers Lend Lease, has plans to develop up to 400 homes on the site. That will impact on threatened species, on open space and on the amenity of North Head generally. In court proceedings Manly Council has succeeded in reducing the development by about 50 per cent.

How many great national estates does Australia have? Can honourable members imagine that any European countries would allow the national estate to be developed for housing? At one of the court hearings two photographs were tendered as evidence. One was a photograph of Kings Chapel from across the fields and the other of Moran House from across the fields. An oval in the area is proposed for development. Would the United Kingdom allow an area such as Kings Chapel to be used for housing development? That is what is being allowed to occur on one of these great national sites. That is a terrible shame. One of the matters that puts the area at even greater risk is State Environmental Planning Policy 5. Schedule 1 of that SEPP would allow the estate to be used for housing for the aged and disabled. That means housing for wealthy people who are 55 years and older.

The Quarantine Station has been a multi-cultural gateway to Australia for more than 150 years. It remains intact because it has been kept something of a secret; it is almost in its original state. There are plans to commercialise the site by signing a head lease with a private contractor for 44 years. That amounts to a de facto sell-off. Such a long head lease would virtually mean loss of control of that site for that period, and in the intervening years who knows what will happen. Head leases of such a lengthy period have a long tradition of lessees applying for extensions when things do not work out as was intended, or when they are so successful that they require more buildings.

Although Australia has the great folklore of the outback, it is very much a maritime nation. The Quarantine Station reflects that maritime history. It is a shame that this is not acknowledged. I venture to suggest that very few people know much about the nation’s maritime history. The maritime museums have a few interesting old boats, but no-one knows a great deal of the history and the stories that have been told about people who came to this country in the nineteenth century, some of whom perished at South Head after sailing thousands of miles from the United Kingdom.

The last issue on which I shall touch is State Government-local government relations. I was pleased that the Minister for Local Government
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allowed for a 2.4 per cent rate cap, which is above the consumer price index. I point out that we are in robust economic times and that wages have increased by about 5 per cent while the CPI has increased by 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent. A great proportion of the costs to be met by councils relates to wages. The revenue recovered in rates by Manly Council just covers wages. Of course the council has other sources of income. There must be a more sophisticated way of determining an appropriate funding arrangement and what the State Government will allow councils to do in determining rate increases.

In conclusion I point out, as an example of the impost that State governments are placing on local council areas, that there is a slather of statutes, all very worthy, but all of which require councils to do things; in other words, a cost is imposed on councils without adequate funding being made available. For example, the Waste Minimisation and Management Act, the Threatened Species Conservation Act, the Local Government (Ecologically Sustainable Development) Act 1997, the Contaminated Land Management Act, the Companion Animals Act, the Protection of the Environment Administration Act, the Clean Waters Act, the Noxious Weeds Act all require local councils to do things. They have to use staff, they have to find them, but no funding is available to do that. Many of these are very worthy, but unless there is an appropriate funding mechanism it will not happen. I look forward to the next four years and representing the people of Manly. I have an open-door office policy and people can come in at any time, although my staff jealously guard the diary - I am not allowed to touch it. I look forward to making a meaningful contribution to this great Chamber.

[Debate interrupted.]

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I draw to the attention of new members of the House that it is normal practice for the Chair to acknowledge the presence in the gallery of distinguished visitors. On this occasion I acknowledge the presence of the former member for Kiama, Bob Harrison, and his wife, Anne.

[Debate resumed.]

Mr BROWN (Kiama) [12.11 p.m.] (Inaugural speech): It is a great honour for me to present myself to this House as the member for Kiama. For me it is a lifetime achievement to represent the Labor Party and its values in a legislative capacity for an area and its people to whom I have a strong emotional attachment.

The seat of Kiama is diverse in both people and geography. The people of Kiama, particularly those in the northern part of the electorate such as Albion Park, Warilla and Shellharbour, have been, and continue to be, strong supporters of the Labor Party because they have seen that Labor governments have worked in their interests and the interests of working people above all else. The electorate includes the towns of Shoalhaven Heads and Berry to the south, and the towns of Robertson, Kangaloon and Burrawang in the Southern Highlands. The combination of the escarpment meeting the ocean with the picturesque dairy farms in Jamberoo and Gerringong make the electorate, in my opinion and the opinion of many others, the most beautiful in the State.

On 27 March I was convincingly elected to represent the people of Kiama in the Carr Labor Government - which was also convincingly elected - and I have hit the ground running. However, neither the Government nor I would have been able to achieve such a great result without the assistance of a great number of party members, supporters, friends and family. I humbly thank all those who gave something towards that election, many of whom are in the gallery this afternoon.

I seek the indulgence of the House to thank some of those who helped me significantly to be in a position to contest and subsequently campaign in the last election. Firstly, I thank my core campaign team, which consisted of my campaign director, Rick Gainford; my campaign co-ordinator and former boss, Neil Pragnell, who generously gave up two weeks of his annual leave to assist in the campaign and whose efforts contributed significantly to the result; and my most consistent campaign worker, strategist, pre-poller, letterboxer and floor sweeper - Syd Scroggy. You name it and Syd was doing it. Syd is a dedicated fighter for the ordinary person and the values of fairness and decency. I thank also Jeff and Julie Miller. Jeff and Julie are loyal, intelligent, hard-working and generous true believers. Thanks to Gerda Keast, an office assistant to be reckoned with. I extend my thanks also to branch campaign directors Mick Pilton, Matthew Badcock and Chris Scroggy. The time and organisation these men gave are much appreciated.

I wish to thank specifically two of my longest supporters and most objective critics, Debbie Brown and Scott Faddy. It was with the help of these two
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people that we were able to form the South Coast Young Labor Association [YLA], a forum that provided the young people in the southern regional area of New South Wales with an opportunity to come together and give a voice to the youth. It took a number of attempts before the YLA was formed, but it was eventually formed on Mother’s Day 1993. During the process I met people such as Mark Abib, Joe Tripodi, Reba Meagher and others who now hold significant positions within the administrative side of the party as well as seats in this House. I wish to thank Mark for being a mate and for his interest in my political career to date. I look forward to working with him in the future.

I thank my mum, Anne French, and her husband, Paul French, as well as my dad, Tony Brown, who gave up 2½ weeks to put up signs and generally to give me his love and support during the campaign. I thank also his partner, Jan Piesse, who kept the troops fed on the day, and Garry and Brenda Langton. These family members gave their ongoing emotional, financial and baby-sitting support. Many other members of my family assisted greatly, including my Great-Aunty Joy and my sister, Sally Anne, who is teaching English in Japan. Due to the love and solid family support that has been provided to me I have not been afraid to take risks and venture into unfamiliar ground.

My son, the young man who was saying, "Toot, toot", my absolute pride and joy, Isaac James Brown, did not see me very much during the campaign. In fact, he saw more posters of me throughout the electorate and photos in the paper than he did of me. He took much delight in pointing out "Dadda" on fridge magnets and other election material whenever he saw them. I hope that Isaac will not suffer any long-term effects from seeing his father gazing earnestly down at him as he travelled in the car, and that the generous baby-sitters are as happy as I am to see the posters come down so that he can become a little less "Daddacentric".

My grandfather was a boilermaker in the coalmines of the Hunter Valley. From him, and particularly his wife, Heather - Ma - I developed an unquestioned affection for the Labor Party and the Labor movement as a whole. These great working-class Australians have always made me feel proud to be a working Australian, an Australian who wants above all to make life a dignified experience, with values of fairness, justice and compassion the prime motivators rather than hatred, greed and the attitude that, "If I’m all right, then who cares?" I would like to thank my staff, Pat Fowler and Carol Hughes. I thank also Neil and Faye Bell for their generosity and ongoing support. I thank Andrew Burgess for my preselection campaign material and my election drivers, Jae Choi and Alexander Currie.

I thank the former member for Kiama, Bob Harrison, and his wife, Anne. Both Bob and Anne have served distinguished careers in public life. Bob was elected in a by-election in 1986 and prior to that had served as Mayor of Shellharbour. Bob’s strong representation of his constituents and his dedication, commitment, hard work and integrity were outstanding. I will be most satisfied if I can conduct my political career in a similar light. It is an honour to follow you, Bob. I would also like to thank the partners and my work colleagues at my previous place of employment, Allen Allen and Hemsley. Without help from that firm and their training I might not be here today.

The Australian Labor Party is a party that responds to change. It is not bound by an immovable ideology. It is a party that has democracy as one of its core tenets. It is a party that will listen to the people and make life better for ordinary Australians and give people a helping hand when they need one. It is not a party of blame or retribution. I have every confidence that I will be able to look after the concerns of my constituents within the Labor Party.

Labor governments have always set the tone for change that affects people in a positive way. Labor governments are about achieving real results. There are many proud achievements of previous Labor governments and we should reflect on them and remember them. For example, under the leadership of Sir William McKell, a Labor Government established the Housing Commission of New South Wales, legislated for compulsory third party motor vehicle insurance, greatly increased funding for legal aid, doubled the number of weeks for paid annual leave, and brought electricity to rural New South Wales.

Under the leadership of James McGirr, a Labor Government was the first government in Australia to introduce the 40-hour week and long service leave, and to establish the University of New South Wales. Under the leadership of John Cahill, a Labor Government introduced equal pay for women, began construction of the Sydney Opera House, abolished the death penalty, and made major harbour improvements at Port Kembla. The governments of Neville Wran and Barrie Unsworth passed the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, constructed the Sydney Entertainment Centre and began construction of
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Darling Harbour, to name just a few of their achievements.

A number of issues arose in the campaign, and one was the siting of the sewage treatment plant for the Gerringong-Gerroa sewerage scheme. This scheme has been fought for by the local people - such as Kiama’s most recent citizen of the year, Dave Johnson - for many years. It is with great satisfaction that I can confidently say that, due to this Government, the people of Gerringong and Gerroa will have a state-of-the-art sewerage system, and one which is not located at Rose Valley.

Some roads within the electorate are coming close to being totally choked. I will work with the Minister for Transport, and Minister for Roads to ensure that the Kiama by-pass is constructed as well as the east-west link at Albion Park among other road projects that are required on the south coast. The Hon. Carl Scully took much interest in the Kiama electorate. I thank him for his support in the election as well as for the commitments he gave to projects such as rail line electrification to Kiama, addressing the black spots on the Princes Highway, especially between Gerringong and Berry, and the construction of the bus and rail interchange at Oak Flats. The commitment given by this Minister to help the Cockatoo Run to operate again was well received by many people, particularly those who live and operate small businesses in Robertson - and my son: that is where the "toot, toot" noise came from.

Accessibility to transport by the elderly, the disabled and parents with strollers is another issue that I will bring to the notice of this Chamber. Little things such as ramps at stations instead of steep stairs make all the difference to the lives of these people. I will also address the need for the people of Shoalhaven Heads to have a better functioning and more frequent bus service.

The proposed sand quarry near Dunmore Lakes is also a current issue. I hope to see a commission of inquiry set up to allow an adequate opportunity for the residents who may be affected by this proposed development to voice their concerns. As life is becoming more complicated for people, I believe it is up to governments to bring to the attention of people in clear, simple and unambiguous language some of the problems that they may face. Many of the residents in the Dunmore Lakes estate were not told that a sand quarry could be so close to their homes. Town planning issues have very important effects on the day-to-day lives of people, and much effort should be focused on making sure that we get it right.

In each of the past three weeks there has been the same number of accidents requiring the services of a helicopter in the Kiama electorate. Being an active surf-lifesaver and former beach inspector, I understand the need for a rescue helicopter with medical retrieval capability to be based somewhere in the south coast area. At present a review is under way to consider these issues. I urge the review committee to look at the options and come to a decision sooner rather than later. Lives have to be saved, and a delay could result in tragedy. I commend the surf-lifesaving movement and other emergency service volunteers for their continued dedication, and look forward to giving them my continued support.

There can be no better class equaliser than giving all people of this State an opportunity to attend a local school that has a good syllabus and enthusiastic, motivated and concerned teachers. My family and the local community have always encouraged acknowledgment of the benefits of a good education. I am indebted to Kiama High School, the University of Wollongong - specifically its faculties of maths and law - my friends, family, teachers and community. Without their help I could not have achieved my degrees in law, mathematics and gradings in saxophone, as well as the host of other awards and employment opportunities that were a result of this education. [Extension of time agreed to.]

I applaud the Government’s back-to-basics education policy. During the 1980s it was quite fashionable not to teach students the tools of English such as spelling, grammar and punctuation. This lack of rigorous teaching put me, along with a number of other public school students, behind the standard of education that was being received by students at private schools. When I entered university and subsequently my profession, I had the opportunity to attend courses to make up for the lack of formal teaching, and I was lucky in that regard. It is a shame that many of my former school friends were not so lucky.

To ensure that all students are provided with equal opportunity, young people should always be taught the technical tools needed to compete. We need to attract quality teachers to our education system and pay them a professional salary with full career opportunities. Good classroom teachers should be rewarded and encouraged to stay in the classroom rather than to take on more administrative roles to further their career. The service to the public high school system of my former mathematics teacher, Henry Barracosa, was an inspiration to students. I pay tribute to him on behalf of all the students who were lucky enough to have been taught and inspired
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by him. I thank also my music teacher, Nigel Edwards, for his generosity in helping to make my music education possible.

Unemployment statistics in the Illawarra district are not good for the young and the long-term unemployed. Illawarra’s unemployment rate is approximately 11.9 per cent, which is much higher than the national average of 8 per cent and higher still than the State’s seasonally adjusted figure of 6.7 per cent. The youth unemployment rate is approximately 30 per cent in the Illawarra district compared to the national average of 24 per cent. I am committed, as is this Government, to creating jobs in the Illawarra area, especially for the young. All types of jobs are needed, ranging from manufacturing, labouring and other traditional blue-collar jobs to new industries such as call centres, information technology and tourism.

It was not very long ago when many members of this Chamber who had completed their education would have expected to have found employment immediately: that would have been unexceptional. We all know that today this premise is not true. For my generation, obtaining the opportunity of employment is now a real challenge. The engendering of a fully functioning economy that is able to provide a high level of employment requires all of us to be vigilant. The price of economic freedom is eternal vigilance. Nothing is more important to working Australians than having the esteem of working to provide for his or her family. I will be vigilant in working towards that end.

It is a privilege for me to be the youngest member of this Fifty-second Parliament and that, even though I have just turned 27, the branches preselected me and the electorate voted for me. It is also a tribute to the Labor Party that young members such as Cherie Burton, the member for Kogarah and I, have been given the opportunity to represent our party and our electorates. Having youth on my side provides a chance for me to try to make young people feel a part of the political process and encourage them to work for themselves and for their communities. It concerns me that many young people do not feel that they are part of the democratic process. I believe that the introduction of the civics and citizenship syllabus into schools is a way of empowering our youth and addressing this concern.

It also concerns me that many Australians show little interest in the political process. Some people refuse to cast a vote or they vote for a minor party without directing preferences, and some people write some obscenity on the ballot papers - to the amusement of my scrutineers. At the same time as those small protests are being made in this country, there are many other people in the world who are putting their lives on the line to obtain a democratic system of government. Compulsory voting is a good thing. We do not live in isolation, and it is proper for us to put our minds to deciding on who will govern us.

Although the main parties do not often agree on how they should govern, at least to some extent there is agreement that the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, which has been inherited from the United Kingdom, is one of the best political systems in the world. It is a system that is, and should be, given a great deal of respect.

Those remarks lead me to make some comments on Australia becoming a republic. A particular passion of mine is that an Australian - one of us - should become the head of state for our country and our State. It seems to me that nothing could be more un-Australian than a requirement that the only way to become head of state in New South Wales is by birthright.

A monarchy is a system that is based on class. It perpetuates the belief of the born-to-rule mentality for those who have been lucky enough to have been born into the aristocracy or the rich. On a sadder note, it perpetuates a condition of despair and hopelessness for those who are born into any other type of family. If a person is not English, male - with the minor exception our present Queen - or Protestant, that person can forget right now about being the head of state for this country or this State. I will never accept this proposition.

The Australian people last year elected a number of delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The convention agreed that Australia should become a republic and that the method of choosing the head of state should be by a two-thirds majority vote in the combined Houses of Federal Parliament. This form of selection for the head of state would maintain all our present political, administrative and judicial institutions and processes. That is, in effect, everything would stay and work as it does now but the Governor-General would be called the President of Australia and would not be the Queen’s representative. He or she would be one of us representing only us and not having the conflict of interest that the present monarch does in being the head of state of a number of nations.

Constitutional change is difficult and slow. However, I believe that we, as a nation and a State, are mature enough to have one of our own be our head of state. And yes, there are other more pressing issues that would affect the lives of the people in
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this country than changing our head of state, but it is possible to work towards doing both. It would be great to have enough confidence in ourselves to say to the rest of the world, "We are a proud and independent nation and we have one of us representing us as head of state." To conclude this inaugural speech I shall quote the words that I often think of from a contemporary poet and songwriter, Billy Bragg. He said, "You can be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers while you’re waiting for the great leap forward." I have always chosen to be active and I look forward to actively representing the people of Kiama.

Motion by Mr Whelan agreed to:

That standing and sessional orders be suspended to postpone consideration of General Business Orders of the Day (Committee Reports) until a later hour.

[Mr Speaker left the chair at 12.33 p.m. The House resumed at 2.15 p.m.]

Mr WHELAN (Strathfield - Minister for Police) [2.16 p.m.]: Late yesterday the Director-General of the Cabinet Office received correspondence from the Police Integrity Commissioner, Judge Urquhart. It contained a copy of the confidential separate report of the Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service concerning Phillip Harold Bell and a covering letter. The report examines Bell’s activities from 1959 to 1975 and police investigations of those activities up until 1992. Judge Urquhart’s letter states in part:

I confirm that the copy of that separate Report, which was handed to the Premier by Justice Wood, has been held by me in safe custody at the Premier’s request pending the completion of all proceedings relating to Mr Bell.

By letter dated 7 May 1999 I was informed by the Acting Solicitor for Public Prosecutions that Mr Bell had filed a Notice of Abandonment in relation to his conviction appeal . . . the appeal is now deemed to have been dismissed by the Court.

I am further informed by the Acting Solicitor for Public Prosecutions that on 19 April 1999, the Director of Public Prosecutions wrote to Mr Bell advising that he had decided to proceed no further on the other matters remaining in respect of Mr Bell and that there are no outstanding charges in relation to Mr Bell . . .

Given the information which I have received from the Acting Solicitor for Public Prosecutions, I now advise that the separate Report can be tabled and publicly released.

I table the letter and the report.

[Notices of Motions]

Mr Hunter: Point of order: I remind you of rulings you gave in the previous Parliament relating to the length of notices of motions. Surely this notice falls into that category. I ask you to rule it out of order.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Lake Macquarie is correct. During the last Parliament I took a strong stand in relation to the length of notices of motions. It seems to me that the notice the member for Wakehurst is giving is lengthier than those I have allowed in the past. The member for Wakehurst is entitled to finish giving notice of his motion. However, when he has done so I will ask him to hand the notice to me and I will then make a decision in relation to it.

I note that the member for North Shore has not handed her notice of motion to the Clerk. She has informed me that the notice is handwritten. The standing orders provide that notices of motions should be in typed form, if that is possible. If members present their notices in the proper form they avoid the difficulty of remembering and recording the statements they made in the House. On this occasion I will overlook the indiscretion of the honourable member for North Shore. However, if future notices are not presented in compliance with the standing orders I will rule them out of order.

Mr SPEAKER: Pursuant to standing orders, I table a list detailing all legislation unproclaimed as at 11 May 1999.

Petition praying that the Sir David Martin Reserve be returned to the public following the Olympics, received from Ms Moore.

Petition praying for increased police strength at Kings Cross local area command and police foot patrols in Woolloomooloo, received from Ms Moore.

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Petition praying for increased police presence in the Surry Hills area, received from Ms Moore.

Petition praying that construction of a new Brunswick Valley hospital be included in the capital works program for 1999-2000, received from Mr D. L. Page.

Petition praying that same-sex relationships be accorded the same rights as heterosexual relationships, received from Ms Moore.

Petition praying that Moore Park be used for passive recreation after construction of the Eastern Distributor and that car parking not be permitted in Moore Park, received from Ms Moore.

Petition praying that consideration be given to the construction of a light rail transport system for Moore Park, received from Ms Moore.

Mrs CHIKAROVSKI: My question without notice is directed to the Premier. Since the Premier pledged that the Government would go to the Drug Summit with an open mind why, before one word has even been uttered, has the Premier pre-empted debate by allowing the Attorney General’s Department to promote the view that injecting heroin should be legalised?

Mr CARR: I want to be positive and say helpful things. The role of Leader of the Opposition has always been a difficult one, but is the Leader of the Opposition suggesting that because a drug summit is to be held we should scrap or dispose of a paper produced by the Attorney General’s Department on the legal status of self-injection? Her logic is that because a summit is taking place we should immediately ban any discussion on the range of legal alternatives that are available to deal with this huge problem of drugs. That is an extraordinary proposition. The idea that the Drug Summit - which is to be held for five days next week to discuss all possibilities, to have everything laid on the table, to enable us to fulfil our obligations to our communities by exploring all possible answers - should begin by the Government refusing to print a document that canvasses one approach to one aspect of this problem is extraordinary.

I would like to think that we can all go into the Drug Summit with open minds about the propositions that will be argued. I would hope that our only starting point is an obligation on behalf of our communities to test every possible approach on rehabilitation, education, law enforcement and legal status that is brought to bear on the problem. That is certainly the approach the Government will take. I would hope that is the approach that will be taken by all members of this House.

Mr BROWN: My question without notice is to the Minister for Education and Training. Will the Minister advise the House of the situation regarding copycat incidents in New South Wales schools following the Colorado school tragedy?

Mr AQUILINA: I congratulate the honourable member for Kiama on his fine maiden speech in the Chamber today. All members would be aware of the disturbing reports this morning that students of a local high school have made threats against teachers and other students. I confirm that six students have been suspended from the school as a result of this incident. At the outset, I want to acknowledge the swift, professional and strong action taken by the school. I am further advised that a number of students had created a massacre list. Immediately upon teachers becoming aware of the list police were informed and parents were advised.

The students have been placed on suspension for four days and will undergo counselling and participate in a compulsory conference with the principal and their parents before they are allowed to return to school. Whether this incident was regarded by the students as a prank or not, it is most definitely not considered to be so by me, the Government or the department. The recent tragedy in Littleton in the United States of America has an impact on us all. That such a tragedy could occur in a school is particularly shocking. At the time of the Littleton tragedy President Clinton said:

I think we have to ask ourselves some pretty hard questions here. What are the responsibilities of students themselves? What are the responsibilities of schools? What are the responsibilities of parents? What is the role of the larger culture here? . . . What are our responsibilities?

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He continued:

Everyone has to take a hard look at what all the elements of our society are that contribute to that [violence] and what we can do to diminish it.

It is most disturbing to note that not only did the Littleton tragedy have a great impact upon us as we felt for the students, teachers and families in Columbine, but it appears to have also had a distressing flow-on effect in New South Wales. I confirm to the House that this week’s incident at a Sydney high school was copycat-style behaviour, but it has not been an isolated incident. Sadly, in recent weeks since the Columbine High shootings six other incidents have occurred in which students have made threats against students or teachers. Two incidents involved students using private web sites to display the names of students and teachers and to threaten to kill them. I am advised that both web sites have now been removed.

However, the matter has so disturbed teachers that at one of the schools apprehended violence orders have been sought and obtained by the teachers and a parent of a student. Two other incidents have direct reference to the shooting at Columbine High and have included threats against students and staff. Another two incidents involved verbal threats to shoot teachers. I am advised that in all those cases police have been notified and disciplinary action has been taken against the students involved. As I have already stated, whether these threats are pranks or not I do not take them lightly. All threats in such instances have the potential to be real and all threats have a real impact.

Students and teachers have a right to be able to learn and teach in a safe environment. Any threat, real or otherwise, undermines that right and will be fully investigated. Any students who are simply playing the fool by engaging in these kinds of dangerous pranks will bear the full consequences of the law, involving police investigation and strong disciplinary action. What may appear as a simple prank may result in a student being permanently removed from the school or, worse, involved in criminal prosecution. Equally as important, each one of us - students, teachers, parents and the community - has a responsibility to take care of each other, to make sure that the young people who are feeling isolated and friendless, the victims of bullying, are not left on the fringe. The vast range of programs in our schools obviously go some way towards doing that. But we all have to work to teach our young people respect, responsibility and right from wrong.

Mr SLACK-SMITH: My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the Minister advise the House whether the massive $68 million debt of rural health services has resulted in patients being forced to endure Third World standards of care and service?

Mr KNOWLES: This issue is doing the rounds in the bush and is being promoted by people such as the member for Barwon. If he had any sense he would not ask about debt, he would ask about the capacity of debt servicing, which is a fundamentally different issue. If he looked at the structure of the budget, as put together by the former Minister for Health, he would see that there are no reductions in patient services as a result of the debt management.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Vaucluse to order.

Mr SLACK-SMITH: I ask a supplementary question. Given the Minister’s answer, was Mr Peter Hammond of Wee Waa forced to accept scavenged used parts for repairs to his artificial leg because the Rural Health Service, under its cash-strapped program for appliances for disabled persons, could not afford new parts?

Mr KNOWLES: The honourable member for Barwon should have asked that question the first time.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Gosford to order.

Mr KNOWLES: The Hunter Area Health Service operates an outpatients clinic for prosthetics at Tamworth. Mr Hammond - whose name I would not have mentioned and brought into the public domain, but as the member for Barwon has chosen to use it I will repeat it - presented himself to the Tamworth clinic on 21 April for adjustments to his prosthetic leg and hip. I am advised that Mr Hammond informed the clinic he needed a replacement for his pelvic band, a device which attaches a prosthesis to the body. The Hunter Area Health Service loaded the material into a van and delivered it to the Tamworth clinic. When Mr Hammond presented himself to the outpatients clinic his pelvic band was repaired with that material. I am advised that Mr Hammond walked out of the clinic with the repaired band. Mr Hammond did not advise the clinic initially that he had two more bands that needed to be replaced. If he had done so, the material would have been brought to Tamworth and the bands would have been repaired on the spot.

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Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Hornsby to order. I call the honourable member for Hornsby to order for the second time.

Mr KNOWLES: Given that the material was not at the outpatients clinic at Tamworth when one pelvic band was repaired, the other two were taken back, repaired and returned by courier within a short time. The service was completed and complied with. The supplementary question about the impact that this service may have on funding is indeed bizarre. If the honourable member had done his homework, he would have understood that funding for this service is provided by the Commonwealth Government. If there is any concern about the level of funding, I have a piece of paper here and the honourable member can write to the Federal Minister and ask him for a little bit more. I am sure we will all accept that with glee.

Mr W. D. SMITH: I ask the Minister for Local Government, Minister for Regional Development, and Minister for Rural Affairs a question without notice. What is the Government’s response to the conduct and management of Bega Valley Shire Council?

Mr WOODS: Recently the Department of Local Government issued a report on an investigation into problems at Bega Valley Shire Council. Central to that investigation was the working relationship between councillors and staff, in particular the general manager, Mr David Jesson. The 59-page report found entrenched and bitter working relationships. The matter reached crisis level on 19 January when some councillors voted to terminate the employment contract of the general manager. This took place only a matter of days after his contract had been renewed. Following an uproar, council met on 1 February and rescinded the dismissal.

The departmental report found that the process used to terminate the employment of the general manager was irresponsible. The most distressing aspect was the impact on the local community. Resources were diverted and public confidence in the local council plunged to an all-time low. The report advises that the current situation is untenable. The community deserves better. Today I have ordered a public inquiry into Bega Valley Shire Council. The inquiry will determine whether the council should be dismissed. In particular, the inquiry will examine the conduct of the councillors, the relationship between the councillors and senior and other staff, public confidence in the council, and whether the councillors should continue to control and direct the affairs of the council.

I have appointed Mr Tim Rogers, the Deputy Director-General of the Department of Local Government, as commissioner to conduct this inquiry. Mr Rogers conducted the inquiry into Maitland City Council in mid-1997. The inquiry into the Bega Valley Shire Council will provide an opportunity to examine these issues in a public forum. It will bring all issues into the open. They are serious issues. If the inquiry finds that there is a case for removing the council, I will be guided by that recommendation. I have no great pleasure in taking this sort of action and I hope it does not occur often. The community of Bega comes first and what I have announced today will ensure that its interests are best served by the local representatives.

Ms MEAGHER: My question without notice is addressed to the Premier, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Citizenship. Will he update the House on the success of Fox Studios?

Mr CARR: In 1995 the Government gave the go-ahead for the construction of the Fox Studios at the Sydney showground. Like opening Government House to the public, initially the decision was very controversial. For example, the Sydney Morning Herald of 29 November 1995 said:

There are real doubts about the worth of the project, not only in employment terms but also in cultural terms.

The former member for Gordon said:

It’s another example of the Government betraying the people, especially the working man.

The former member for Georges River said:

The people of New South Wales will exact retribution and justice on this showground issue. Everyone awaits March 27th, 1999.

Phillips, Photios, Ficarra - where are they now? Phillips, Photios and Ficarra: consultants and also lawns mown. The day of reckoning has come, and everyone knows the value to the State of the showground deal. The Fox Studios expect to generate $85 million a year in film production on site and 1,500 jobs annually. So much for the Sydney Morning Herald line of November 1995 that the whole thing was questionable in employment terms! Annually, 1,500 jobs will be added to the stock of jobs in New South Wales because we had the guts and the vision to do it.

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I announce that this weekend Fox Studios begins a recruitment drive to employ 600 young people by August. They will work in the back lot performance spaces, cinemas, and restaurants in the public area which will open towards the end of the year. An additional 300 jobs will be available in the entertainment retail precinct by the end of the year. That is almost 1,000 additional jobs beginning to be advertised this weekend. That is a huge jobs win for the State. In the past two years alone film production in New South Wales has tripled in value, from about $100 million to $300 million annually. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 1993-94 the film and television industry employed 3,400 people and that has risen to 5,350 people in this State, an increase of 55 per cent, and the Fox Studios has been the catalyst for this growth.

Mr O’Doherty: What about the rural economy?

Mr CARR: That was the strangest thing. O’Doherty, I seem to remember, lost his seat with all the others - Phillips, Photios, Ficarra - but, remarkably, I still hear his voice. I hear his voice and look over to the Opposition front bench and he is not there.

Mr Hartcher: Point of order: Yesterday and today - and yesterday was the first day - the Opposition did not correct the Premier. However, it is appropriate that we do so today. The standing orders provide that members of the House should be referred to by the names of their electorates.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I uphold the point of order.

Mr CARR: I thought I heard the voice of the member for Hornsby, the former member for Ku-ring-gai. I looked over to the front bench and he was not there. I seemed to recall that he was one of those who had lost his seat. You know what Nogarotto has done? He has preselected a ventriloquist. One of the new Opposition members is a highly skilled ventriloquist. We will soon hear Photios’ voice. I will look around and there will be Ficarra’s voice coming from over on that side. They are making up for the lack of numbers. Who is the ventriloquist? There would be a job for him or her in the Fox Studios. There are a lot of jobs available for ventriloquists there, and perhaps even a job for O’Doherty as a stunt man.

There has been an increase of 55 per cent in the number of jobs in the film and television industry in two years, with the Fox Studios as the basis for that increase. Only four years ago Sydney had no studio complex; production was going to Victoria. New South Wales was losing out. Now we are pulling in investment.

The Australian film industry has produced such films as Babe: Pig in the City, Dark City, and Holy Smoke. The Matrix, which is the highest grossing film in the United States so far this year, was made here and our workers were employed on making it. Two new Star Wars movies will start in the middle of next year and will inject $140 million into the New South Wales economy. Honourable members who were in the last Parliament will remember that question time after question time Fox Studios was criticised and attacked because it would not produce jobs for Australians and it was claimed that it was a bad deal. The figures are in, the results are in and the vision and guts of the Government have been vindicated.

Mission Impossible II will be the largest production in Australian film history. Do members know how much that will put into the New South Wales economy? It will inject $80 million into the New South Wales economy, $3 million of which will be spent on 13,000 hotel bed nights alone. By the way, do members recall the campaign against the bed tax? It has not been a deterrent to the phenomenal tourism growth in this State. Mission Impossible II will feature Sydney as Sydney and will project this city to the world. It will be free publicity for Sydney. Fox Studios will open to the public in early November. It will promote Australia as a great travel destination with a strong focus on Sydney.

The fact is, because of the support and the initiative of this Government Sydney has now become the world’s greatest film production centre outside of Los Angeles. People are demonstrating in Hollywood against the exporting of movie making to Sydney. There are no petitions today and there is no more whingeing and whining about the opening of Government House to the public. The petitions were put together by the league of empire loyalists, the North Shore branch of the Liberal Party. By the way, the league of empire loyalists now has more members than the New South Wales Liberal Party.

Mr O’FARRELL: My question is directed to the Minister for Transport. If the Minister used public transport to get to work instead of being chauffeur driven, how much would his daily fare increase under the Government’s new fare plans?

Mr SCULLY: I welcome the question from the shadow minister for transport. As he would be
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well aware, the State Transit Authority and State Rail have put in applications to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal [IPART] for fare increases. In fact, the State Rail Authority has put in an application for an increase of 15 per cent and the State Transit Authority has put in an application for an average increase of 12.5 per cent. If Opposition members had been listening to statements I made in the media, they would not have had to waste a question this afternoon. However, I am happy to enlighten them as to why such applications have been made. I point out to them that the process is independent.

The authorities have gone to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal for determination. The tremendous improvements in the past 12 months included two extra security guards on every night train. This disappoints the Opposition. We have studied the surveys, which show that the perception levels of people on public transport have gone from 20-odd per cent to more than 40-odd per cent since we introduced them. The security guards are costing between $16 million and $20 million.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Epping to order. I call the honourable member for North Shore to order.

Mr SCULLY: In addition to the security initiatives, we have put cameras on the stations and we have signed a $220-odd million contract for millennium trains. We are also going to upgrade our ferry bus fleets. It is appropriate in such a big city that the taxpayers generally subsidise a transport system to make the city work. It is appropriate that the people who use the system contribute some proportion to the tremendous improvements that we are now involved in. That is why I have said that whatever the recommendation of IPART is, we will accept it.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I place the honourable member for Ku-ring-gai on three calls to order.

Mr SCULLY: I believe that there is a case for fare increases, and I will accept the independent process of IPART and Professor Parry.

Mr Hartcher: Point of order: The question directed to the Minister was how much the fare will increase from his station.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is a statement. What is the point of order?

Mr Hartcher: The point of order is that his answer is not an answer to the question.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The honourable member for Gosford knows that is not a valid point of order.

Mr SCULLY: As I indicated, the process is independent. The Opposition thinks it is up to me. It is not up to me. I do not make decisions. It is an independent process. IPART makes the decision. I have indicated that when it has made the decision I will accept its determination because I think there is a very strong case for people to make a contribution. But what happened when the Coalition was in government? How independent was the process when it was in government? What happened when Bruce Baird became Minister for Transport?

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I place the honourable member for Hornsby on three calls to order.

Mr SCULLY: In a press release of 2 June 1988 Mr Baird said:

New South Wales rail fares will still be the cheapest in Australia despite an average increase of 12.5% in fares.

The Government had approved State Rail’s submissions for the annual increase in rail fares, which will operate from 3 July, 1988.

There was no independent process, no IPART and no Professor Parry. But I must say for the benefit of the new members on both sides of the House that a Minister certainly relies on the advice of his chief of staff. It is fair to say that a Minister sometimes relies heavily on the advice of a chief of staff, a few of whom are in this House today. Who was Bruce Baird’s chief of staff when he made the decision to increase fares? It was none other than Barry O’Farrell. Members of this side of the House want to hear how fares went up between 1988 and 1995. What happened when Barry O’Farrell and Bruce Baird were at the reins? In that seven-year period fares went up, on average, 48.7 per cent. Members opposite want an example. Between March 1988 and March 1995 fares from Campbelltown to Penrith, as the Minister for the Olympics would know, went up by 61 per cent.

Mr BLACK: My question without notice is to the Minister for Fair Trading, and Minister for Sport and Recreation. How is the Government supporting athletes who live in remote areas?

Mr WATKINS: I thank the honourable member for Murray-Darling for his question and congratulate him on his election. I am delighted that my first answer to a question in this House deals
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with a personal priority, which is improving sport and recreational opportunities for people outside the Sydney metropolitan area. Only last week I had the opportunity to visit two great inland cities, Armidale and Tamworth, to see the services that the Department of Sport and Recreation is delivering. Over the next few months I will be visiting as many country communities as I can to listen to the concerns of local people and to see what they want us to do better.

Today I am delighted to advise the House of another great initiative to make sure that country New South Wales gets its fair share. The remote areas travel assistance scheme is all about keeping sport alive in the bush and putting country athletes on an equal footing with their city colleagues. The scheme will mean that athletes from the most remote areas of this State will be able to take part in regular competitions and representative fixtures organised by their State associations. The tyranny of distance can be the biggest hurdle faced by a country athlete.

For example, a champion netball player living in Hillston needs to be able to get to sporting events outside town to gain the experience brought by playing in a competition. That is why the Carr Government introduced the remote areas travel assistance scheme in 1996 as a pilot program. The scheme provides financial assistance in the form of travel expense reimbursement to sporting clubs, associations and individuals from remote areas of New South Wales. Under the scheme, a remote area is defined as that part of the State which is west of towns such as Dubbo, Parkes and Griffith.

The scheme provides support for athletes living in many country towns such as Condobolin, Coonabarabran, Wee Waa, Moree and Bourke. It has proved to be an outstanding success and has been well received in the local communities it supports. I am pleased to say that in the last year more than 80 individuals and sporting groups were helped by the scheme. We all know that sport plays an important part in the lives of people in rural New South Wales. In the city, travelling 30 or more kilometres seems a long way to go to play basketball or to watch your football team but for some people in the most remote areas of the State, travelling that distance only gets them to their front gate. That is why I am pleased to announce the next round of grants under the remote areas travel assistance scheme.

The latest batch of successful applications means that more than $54,000 will be provided to 42 different sporting groups in remote areas of the State. For example, Nyngan Junior Netball has been provided with assistance to travel to competitions in Coonamble, Gilgandra, Walgett and Baradine. Funding has been provided for Lightning Ridge Soccer Club’s travel to competitions in Coonabarabran and Moree. Hay Little Athletics has been funded for sports carnivals in Wagga Wagga, Narrandera, Finley and Leeton.

The Ivanhoe Rugby League Football Club will be able to travel to competitions in Barellan, Hillston, Hay and Rankin Springs, and Walgett Amateur Swimming Club has been assisted to travel to competitions in Brewarrina and Lightning Ridge. Other sports such as shooting, cricket, boxing, softball and gymnastics will also be assisted. I know how important sport is to people who live in rural New South Wales and I know that it comes at a cost. The remote area travel assistance scheme helps to keep sportspeople actively involved in their sport and helps to ensure the long-term future of those sports in the bush.

Before the election the Government announced that it would build on the success of the pilot scheme by providing ongoing funding for athletes in remote areas. I urge honourable members who represent areas in western New South Wales to inform their local sporting groups of the assistance available. Applications for the next round of grants will be available in the coming weeks. As Minister for Sport and Recreation I am absolutely committed to maintaining and increasing the sporting and recreational opportunities for people living in rural and regional communities in this State.

Mr McGRANE: Will the Minister for Agriculture, and Minister for Land and Water Conservation inform the House of the current rate of native vegetation clearing in New South Wales and its relationship to the problem of dry land salinity?

Mr AMERY: It might come as a surprise to members of the Opposition that I have a number of answers on native vegetation in my folder in anticipation of a question from one of the members who represent country electorates, foolishly thinking that it would come from a National Party member. The honourable member for Dubbo provides a good illustration of why there are so many gaps between members in the second row. If the Premier is looking for a new movie for Fox Studios, perhaps a rerun of Beau Geste could be made to recreate the scene where three or four soldiers are up against the wall and they are all dead. The Coalition has had me fooled: I have not been able to tell which are alive and which are dead.

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During the election campaign the issue of native vegetation was raised on a number of occasions, and that is why I have prepared answers. I would be pleased to debate this matter for many days, but I will confine myself to the issues raised by the honourable member for Dubbo concerning clearing rates. Bearing in mind that this issue has appeared in the media in country areas this week and will be the subject of discussion at the Murray-Darling Basin Commission tomorrow, it is an important matter. The honourable member for Northern Tablelands also referred to this issue in his inaugural speech yesterday and alluded to legislation.

As honourable members - including the honourable member for Dubbo - would know, the inappropriate clearing of land is a major contributing factor to dry land salinity in both urban and rural areas. I include urban areas because it is a problem in many urban areas, including my own electorate, and in many urban towns in country New South Wales. Unlike the Opposition, this Government has shown leadership in addressing the widespread clearing practices of the past and in supporting a range of activities to tackle dry land salinity at a regional level. I understand - although I stand to be corrected if I am wrong - that the Dubbo City Council has the issue of dry land salinity on its agenda.

The most recent study carried out by the Commonwealth Bureau of Rural Sciences into agricultural land cover change shows that between 1990 and 1995 approximately 15,000 hectares of land was cleared annually for agriculture in New South Wales and that a total of 23,500 hectares of woody vegetation was cleared annually in the same period. The figure of 23,500 hectares per annum for 1990 to 1995 decreased to 16,400 hectares per annum for 1995 to 1997 as determined by a recent study commissioned by the New South Wales Government. These figures highlight the flaws in some of the arguments advanced by members opposite.

The figures I have cited fall well short of the earlier, less precise estimate of 119,000 hectares per year that were published by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory in October 1988. I emphasise that the magnitude of the land-clearing problem in New South Wales is still alarming. The figures I have mentioned speak for themselves. I have some figures on general estimates of past clearing rates and I am able to provide the House with some information based on applications for clearing approval that have been made to me throughout New South Wales. These figures are very interesting. The State Opposition has described the Government’s program as too harsh and has said that the Government is locking up too much land and restricting development, but the figures show how the legislation is working in this State.

From 1 January 1998, which is when the legislation came into operation, to 7 May 1999, the Government received 764 applications to clear native vegetation. When all the applications are collated they amount to 195,682 hectares across the State. Although this may sound like a ridiculous statement, I point out that if members opposite had won government in March, 195,000 hectares would have gone through to the keeper, so to speak. That would have happened because members opposite do not believe in the fundamental principle of controlling native vegetation. The majority of the applications for land clearing were from the central west region, which will no doubt interest the honourable member for Dubbo and the honourable member for Murray-Darling.

There were 196 applications from the central west region amounting to 83,029 hectares of land that would be cleared of native vegetation and used for agricultural purposes. In a more generic sense, the north coast region recorded the second highest number of land-clearing applications - 138 - amounting to 6,674 hectares. In the Far West region, which contains the electorate of Murray-Darling, land-holders sought to clear 53,566 hectares in 68 applications - and this is one of the most sensitive areas of the State.

At the moment the Department of Land and Water Conservation is receiving an average of between 15 and 20 additional applications for clearing each week. In spite of that, members opposite assert that controls are not needed. Of the total statewide applications that have been processed to date, 87,600 hectares have been approved for clearing with conditions attached. This represents approximately 64 per cent of all applications. I point out that even with this Government’s considered approach to the determination of clearing applications, I personally believe - and I am sure that many people will support my statement - that the current rate of land clearing in New South Wales is still too high.

Even Senator Robert Hill, the Federal Minister for Environment and Heritage, has acknowledged the existence of the problem and has consistently reminded the Government of its obligations under the National Heritage Trust partnership agreement between New South Wales and the Commonwealth. The agreement was signed in 1997 and committed
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this State to reducing land-clearing rates while simultaneously increasing revegetation. There are some down sides to the program, however. If this Government fails to meet the commitments under the partnership agreement, New South Wales could lose up to $14 million per annum over the next two years under the bushcare program, and that is a very real threat by the Commonwealth Government.

Penalties might even be extended to all funding under the National Heritage Trust partnership agreement and could amount to $50 million a year over the next two years. The serious and worsening problem of dry land salinity in New South Wales should not be underestimated because it is linked directly to inappropriate land use and clearing rates. This point has been highlighted nationally in a recent report by the Prime Minister’s own Science, Engineering and Innovation Council. Dry land salinity poses one of the greatest threats to water quality in rivers, to productive agricultural land and to native habitats.

The department informs me that its investigations reveal that in many central western rivers 206 tonnes of salt are measured per day, whereas the norm is close to 10 or 20 tonnes. Dry land salinity is currently estimated to affect more than 120,000 hectares across New South Wales. In future in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory as much as 7.5 million hectares could be affected as ground water rises. Currently the damage from salinity and high water tables to the State’s roads and national highways in the south-west of New South Wales is estimated to be approximately $9 million per annum.

Approximately 20 towns have already shown the effects of salinity, and the town of Wagga Wagga is one of the worst affected. In Wagga Wagga, salinity-induced damage to public infrastructure - including roads, footpaths, parks, pipes and so on - is estimated to cost approximately $500,000 annually. More specifically, urban salinity is estimated to cost Wagga Wagga approximately $3.2 million per year, which includes road and property repairs. If action had not been taken in Wagga Wagga, more than 8,000 properties in the city area alone could have been affected by urban salinity over the next 30 years.

I congratulate Wagga Wagga City Council for the action it is taking. It is working with my department and the CSIRO in that project. I am prepared to write to the honourable member for Dubbo and give him a full report on the clearance rates and salinity projects. When the matter is considered by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission tomorrow these issues will be discussed. Of course, New South Wales will take a positive and strong position. I thank the honourable member for Dubbo for the very important question. The standard of questions that the shadow minister for agriculture asked the Minister for Health a little while ago demonstrates why Independent members have won seats previously held by the National Party. Country New South Wales has lost faith in the National Party.

Mrs GRUSOVIN: My question is directed to the Minister for Small Business, and Minister for Tourism. What special assistance has the Government provided to small business within the hail-affected area?

Ms NORI: I commend the honourable member for her continued interest in and support of small business, particularly in her electorate. I will give an example of one of the problems faced by one of the small businesses that was heavily damaged during the recent hailstorm. I refer to the case of Sydney Laundry Service, at Rosebery. It is a major supplier of linen services to the hotel industry. Its clients include many of the city’s five-star hotels. On Wednesday 14 April 1999 the severe hailstorm that devastated southern and eastern Sydney destroyed the asbestos cement roof of Sydney Laundry Service. Flooded and completely without power, Sydney Laundry Service was unable to continue operations. More than 100 employees faced redundancy and the city’s major hotels faced a serious loss of service.

The State Government learned of the predicament when a company manager raised the matter on the Tim Shaw program on 2GB, and we acted immediately. That weekend the Director-General of the Department of State and Regional Development contacted Sydney Laundry Service and arranged for discussions between the company and the Health Department. Arrangements were made for Sydney Laundry Service to use a Health Department laundry facility, the Parramatta Linen Service. It had been operating two shifts per day. Sydney Laundry Service was able to operate a third shift at Parramatta between 11.00 p.m. and 6.00 a.m. This allowed the company to retain 80 per cent of its business and to save more than 100 jobs. Some of the remaining business was processed through the Health Department’s Cardiff operation, with a small amount of work being contracted out to two other small commercial laundries.

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Sydney Laundry Service was faced with the loss of 100 per cent of its business. Some staff who had been there for 12 years faced losing their job. It would also have been a major loss of service for some of the city’s five-star hotels. Because of the intervention of the State Government, Sydney Laundry Service was able to continue to operate. Instead of losing its entire business it lost only one major client, out of 21. I am pleased to inform the House that work has now commenced on rebuilding the roof of the company’s Rosebery premises. It is expected to take around two weeks to remove the asbestos roofing and a further six to eight weeks to reroof the building. In the meantime Sydney Laundry Service continues to operate its business from the Parramatta Linen Service with staff working the night shift.

It has not been easy for the company, its employees and their families working the graveyard shift each night from different premises. The fortitude and goodwill displayed by the staff of Sydney Laundry Service shows the strength of small businesses. That strength is the hallmark of small business in this State, the people who are the risk takers in the economy, because unlike the heads of major corporations they invest their own money. I place on record my thanks to the Director-General of the Department of State and Regional Development and the Director-General of the Health Department, and their staff, for their swift action in saving the Sydney Laundry Service.

In the week following the hailstorm I visited small businesses in Mascot and Rosebery and spoke to them about their plight. All the businesses I spoke to were covered by insurance and were managing to deal with the loss and damage. What became clear to me was the indomitable spirit that so characterises small business. They were simply getting on with the job. One company told me that it deliberately did not avail itself of State Emergency Service [SES] assistance, choosing instead to have its own repairs done and not interfere with the job of the SES assisting families to secure their homes.

Not all small businesses were coping as well as some that I spoke to, and the State Government recognises that we need to get behind them. Under the natural disaster declaration the Government offers storm-affected small businesses low-interest loans of up to $80,000. In addition, we set up an advisory panel and hotline to offer business people assistance and advice on how to recover financially from loss of business and damage to property. So far, through this panel, the Department of State and Regional Development has provided advice and assistance to 16 small businesses. This assistance includes the offer of a free two-hour session with a specialist consultant on financial management, loan restructuring, marketing strategies to deal with loss of business, and how to deal with stock shortage and service delivery problems. We will continue to operate the hotline and advisory service until it is no longer required.

Questions without notice concluded.

Mr SPEAKER: It is with pleasure that I announce to members that following consultation between the Parliamentary Counsel and the Clerks of both Houses and their respective staff, as from today the full text of bills is available to members and staff on the Parliament’s Lotus Notes database and is also available to the community on the Parliament’s Internet home page at www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/gi/billist9.html. Bills will become available as soon as practicable after their first reading. This is another important technological initiative which will save both time and costs in the printing and distribution of bills, and I compliment the staff of the Parliament and the Parliamentary Counsel’s office who were involved in its development.

The New South Wales Parliament has been a leader amongst parliaments worldwide in developments in information technology. I am delighted also to inform members that a special web site has been established by the Premier’s Department on the Government’s home page for the Drug Summit to be held at Parliament House next week. The address of the Drug Summit home page is: http://www.nsw.gov.au/drugsummit1999. The site will accept public comments and in that way allow community input on the various discussion topics during the Drug Summit.

The Parliament has also developed a separate web site which will be linked to the Government’s Drug Summit home page. Through this site members and the community will be able to follow live video proceedings of the plenary sessions in the Legislative Council Chamber and view full transcripts of plenary sessions, debates and minutes, details of working groups, resolutions of the working groups and the Drug Summit outcomes. I acknowledge the efforts of the staff of the Parliament for this initiative, especially those in Information Technology Services who were involved in the design of the web site.

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Mr WHELAN (Strathfield - Minister for Police) [3.23 p.m.], by leave: I move:

That unless otherwise ordered,

(1) the House shall meet for the dispatch of business during the budget sittings as follows:

Monday 17 May 1999 Drug Summit
Tuesday 18 May 1999 Drug Summit
Wednesday 19 May 1999 Drug Summit
Thursday 20 May 1999 Drug Summit
Friday 21 May 1999 Drug Summit

Tuesday 25 May 1999 2.15 p.m.-10.30 p.m.
Wednesday 26 May 1999 10.00 a.m.-10.30 p.m.
Thursday 27 May 1999 10.00 a.m. until the conclusion of private members’ statements

Tuesday 1 June 1999 2.15 p.m.-10.30 p.m.
Wednesday 2 June 1999 10.00 a.m.-10.30 p.m.
Thursday 3 June 1999 10.00 a.m. until the conclusion of private members’ statements

Tuesday 22 June 1999 2.15 p.m.-10.30 p.m.
Wednesday 23 June 1999 10.00 a.m.-10.30 p.m.

Thursday 24 June 1999 10.00 a.m.-10.30 p.m.

Friday 25 June 1999 10.00 a.m. until the conclusion of private members’ statements

Monday 28 June 1999 2.15 p.m.-10.30 p.m.
Tuesday 29 June 1999 10.00 a.m.-10.30 p.m.
Wednesday 30 June 1999 10.00 a.m.-10.30 p.m.
Thursday 1 July 1999 10.00 a.m.-10.30 p.m.
Friday 2 July 1999 10.00 a.m. until the conclusion of private member’ statements.

Tuesday 20 July 1999 2.15 p.m.-10.30 p.m.
Wednesday 21 July 1999 10.00 a.m.-10.30 p.m.
Thursday 22 July 1999 10.00 a.m. until the conclusion of private members’ statements

(2) (a) at 10.30 p.m. the business then before the House or Committee shall be interrupted and fixed by the Speaker as an order of the day for tomorrow and the Minister shall forthwith move "That this House do now adjourn";

(b) if at the time of interruption a division is in progress, the division shall be completed and the result announced;

(c) upon the conclusion of any item of business at or after 10.15 p.m. and before 10.30 p.m. a Minister shall forthwith move "That this house do now adjourn"; and

(d) a motion of the adjournment of the House may be moved by a Minister at an earlier hour.

(3) a Minister may move, at any time without leave, a motion without notice that the House continue to sit beyond the time specified for the adjournment with the question being determined without amendment or debate.

I would like the motion to be carried today so that the sittings can be formalised for Tuesday 25 May. I also give an undertaking that the days and hours of sitting can be discussed at a later date.

Mr HARTCHER (Gosford) [3.23 p.m.]: I have engaged in consultation with the Leader of the House and am happy for the motion to be moved at this time so that the House has some certainty as to its future sittings. However, I wish to take up his offer of further discussions as to the days and times of sittings.

Motion agreed to.

Mr WOODS (Clarence - Minister for Local Government, Minister for Regional Development, and Minister for Rural Affairs) [3.25 p.m.]: This matter is urgent because the Federal budget was delivered only a few nights ago. In the last 48 hours the people of rural and regional New South Wales have been asking why they have been short-changed in the Federal budget. This matter is urgent because those same people are crying out for change and the Howard-Fischer Government is ignoring their needs. It is an urgent matter because the Coalition Government is treating rural Australians like second-class citizens, and they are looking for someone to stand up for their rights.

The motion is urgent because country New South Wales needs to know why the Federal Government’s package of regional programs is tied to the further sell-off of Telstra. Are the people of rural and regional New South Wales not good enough for an up-front commitment? This motion is broad enough to take into consideration the concerns of the honourable member for Lachlan about the Eden area. I highlight the support that the State Government is giving to communities such as Eden, whilst the Federal Government sits on its hands.

Mr ARMSTRONG (Lachlan) [3.26 p.m.] No matter is more urgent than the loss of between 12 per cent and 30 per cent of jobs in Eden. We are talking about people’s working lives, their families, numbers of schools, and the ratio of police in the community - a community that was last year
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attacked by the Government with its policies on timber. The honourable member for Monaro - who represents Bega and is yet to make his maiden speech, and who respects the protocol of this place - has asked me to raise a number of points on his behalf. He believes that the State Government should provide a business plan or feasibility study for a possible local group to acquire the Heinz-Watties fish processing plant. He believes that the business should be offered for sale or lease to a local co-operative or interested parties.

The honourable member for Monaro also believes that the State Government should provide for a five-year payroll tax concession for a new start-up. He says that the Department of State and Regional Development should fund a skills audit of the work force and the gearing up of TAFE for appropriate retraining. Those matters are urgent because people’s lives and the fabric of the community are dependent on the Government saying what it is prepared to do about the loss of jobs in Eden. The Government’s record on the loss of jobs is abysmal. In the past 12 months 400 jobs were lost at Aberdeen abattoir, 145 at Eden, 200 at Eden Timber, 300 at Blayney abattoir, 300 at Macksville, 40 at Murwillumbah, and the list goes on. Yet today the Minister for Local Government, Minister for Regional Development, and Minister for Rural Affairs - who is responsible for rural New South Wales, so he says - talked about the Federal Government’s budget.

Why is he not talking about funds to investigate replacement industries for Eden? Why is he not talking about investigating the possibility of capital injections to establish replacement industries? As the honourable member for Monaro said to me, why is he not talking about contacting the Department of Community Services to provide counsellors and financial assistance for affected workers and their families? The honourable member for Monaro also believes that the State Government, along with the Rural Assistance Authority, should be requested to make provision for low-interest loan programs for associated small business.

Ms Meagher: Point of order: The standing orders clearly provide that the honourable member for Lachlan must establish why his motion should have urgency and that he should not enter into the substance of the debate. I urge you to bring the honourable member back to the reasons his motion should have priority.

Mr ARMSTRONG: To the point of order: I put it to you that I have been endeavouring to do that. It is urgent that we have -

Mr SPEAKER: Order! Are you speaking to the point of order?

Mr ARMSTRONG: The honourable member for Cabramatta is completely out of order and does not understand the fabric of a point of order in this debate.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I do not agree. I uphold the point of order. Up to this point I have been extremely lenient in relation to compliance with the standing orders.

Mr ARMSTRONG: We must adopt a flexible attitude to job search payments. This Government must make a further commitment to immediately locate an information transaction centre in Eden. Earlier the honourable member for Monaro referred to the fast-tracking of a recovery sawmill in Eden. The Government must sign the south-east regional forest agreement to give people in the Eden area some confidence. It must urgently examine the negotiations and commitments for the munitions depot and the development of a multipurpose wharf. The honourable member for Monaro said also that the Government must uphold its $330,000 funding commitment for the gateway to Eden south-west regional tourism strategy. In addition, the honourable member for Monaro referred to the urgent need for the Government to relocate to Eden sections of the Department of Forestry and Fisheries.

These urgent matters must be debated today. We cannot wait until people go bankrupt, until housing values fall to such levels that people cannot relocate because they cannot afford to make changes, until school students and the whole of the public service within Eden are affected, or until such time as the tourist industry is badly affected because of the dislocation of families. This matter is urgent because of the pressure that has already been placed on the family structure. In many country towns 40 per cent of families are dysfunctional. Pressures have been placed on them but the Government has done nothing to help them. Today all the Minister for Regional Development wants to do is argue the big picture. I ask all honourable members to vote in favour of my urgent motion.

Question - That the motion for urgent consideration of the honourable member for Clarence be proceeded with - put.

The House divided.

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Ms Allan Mr McBride
Ms Andrews Mr McManus
Mr Aquilina Mr Markham
Mr Ashton Mr Martin
Mr Bartlett Ms Meagher
Mrs Beamer Ms Megarrity
Mr Black Mr Mills
Mr Brown Mr Moss
Ms Burton Mr Nagle
Mr Campbell Mr Newell
Mr Carr Ms Nori
Mr Collier Mr Orkopoulos
Mr Crittenden Mr E. T. Page
Mr Debus Mr Price
Mr Face Dr Refshauge
Mr Gaudry Ms Saliba
Mr Gibson Mr Scully
Mr Greene Mr W. D. Smith
Mrs Grusovin Mr Stewart
Ms Harrison Mr Tripodi
Mr Hickey Mr Watkins
Mr Hunter Mr Whelan
Mr Iemma Mr Woods
Mr Knight Mr Yeadon
Mr Knowles Tellers,
Mrs Lo Po’ Mr Anderson
Mr Lynch Mr Thompson

Mr Armstrong Mr O’Farrell
Mr Barr Mr D. L. Page
Mr Brogden Mr Piccoli
Mrs Chikarovski Mr Richardson
Mr Debnam Mr Rozzoli
Mr George Ms Seaton
Mr Glachan Mrs Skinner
Mr Hartcher Mr Slack-Smith
Mr Hazzard Mr Stoner
Ms Hodgkinson Mr Tink
Mr Humpherson Mr Torbay
Dr Kernohan Mr J. H. Turner
Mr Kerr Mr R. W. Turner
Mr McGrane Mr Webb
Mr Maguire Mr Windsor
Mr Merton
Ms Moore Tellers,
Mr Oakeshott Mr Fraser
Mr O’Doherty Mr R. H. L. Smith

Mr Amery Mr Souris

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Mr WOODS (Clarence - Minister for Local Government, Minister for Regional Development, and Minister for Rural Affairs) [3.40 p.m.]: I move:

That this House:

(1) condemns the Commonwealth Government for its lack of commitment to regional and rural Australia, particularly in New South Wales;

(2) criticises the Commonwealth Government for making support of its regional budget package contingent on the further sale of Telstra; and

(3) commends the Government on its unconditional support for regional and rural New South Wales.

From the very moment the Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, opened his mouth to deliver his new budget there was a loud cry of despair from country Australia, and country New South Wales was no exception. As he continued to crow about the great successes of the Howard-Fischer Government, we continued to wait for a sign that the Coalition had learned its lesson from the last three years. There was not any. However, that was not the stinger in Mr Costello’s rattlesnake. The pittance offered to rural Australia is conditional on the further sale of Telstra. This is a double-edged sword for regional New South Wales.

The Federal Government has promised to spend $70 million over five years to fund the establishment of 500 rural transaction centres. These centres are supposed to have phone, fax and other facilities. The harsh effects from the first sale of Telstra would have made such plans unnecessary. If the Government had kept Telstra in public ownership with tighter controls on its customer obligations, people in country New South Wales would, and should, have had those services at their fingertips in their homes. Instead, those consumer guarantees are not worth the paper they are written on.

In last Tuesday’s budget Mr Costello announced other measures for the bush: $120 million over five years to eliminate television reception black spots, $150 million over three years to provide Internet access at local call rates and $250 million for the Natural Heritage Trust. But again the sting is in the words that those programs are all conditional on the further sale of Telstra. There is little emphasis in the budget on government intervention to reinvigorate regional economies. Mr
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Costello said that the Federal Government has kept all its promises from the last election campaign. That is not the case.

In the election campaign the Howard Government promised $91.5 million for rural and regional apprenticeships. This week it delivered but $51 million. It promised $30 million for Medicare easyclaim but only delivered $19 million. Figures from the Australian Financial Review of 12 May show that agriculture, fisheries and forestry have had a reduction of nearly 16 per cent in estimated expenditure, and transport and regional services have suffered a blow of 4 per cent cuts. Yet the Federal Government is boasting a $5 billion surplus. What about giving back to the community? They are the ones who paid for the hard cuts in the first two Costello budgets, and they are still suffering. Even the National Farmers Federation, usually allies of the Coalition, has called on the Federal Government to bring back fairness into the budget. President of the National Farmers Federation, Ian Donges, said, "More action will be necessary to ensure an equitable level of service to country Australians."

Again I remind the House that even those measures, which many have described as simply not enough, are conditional on the further sale of Telstra. In 1996, just weeks after being elected, the Federal Government cut $150 million from the regional development program and at the same time said, "We have no role in regional Australia." That is one promise it seems to be keeping. The Federal Coalition crows that low interest rates alone will deliver growth in the bush. They are wrong, and they have been wrong for the past three years. Regional New South Wales will only get its fair share of economic growth through strategic interventionist policies that recognise the unique qualities, the strengths and opportunities in each area of regional New South Wales. That is the kind of intervention that the State Government is committed to.

What is the State Government’s record for creating new jobs and investment in country New South Wales? What are our plans to build on growth? The policies of the Carr Government during the past four years have spelled growth and opportunity for many centres around regional New South Wales. As a result of direct and targeted government assistance, as well as facilitating business negotiations, nearly $1 billion has been pumped into regional New South Wales. That means the creation of 10,000 new full-time jobs in regional New South Wales. I am proud of that result because it is a tangible illustration of what we have achieved in our last term for country New South Wales. Our approach is in direct contrast to the contempt shown by the Federal Coalition to regional Australia and regional New South Wales.

Some recent examples of the investment in regional New South Wales which this Government helped to facilitate, and will continue to foster, include: the $350 million Visy pulp mill at Tumut, creating 980 new jobs; the $18 million Austral softwood plant in Holbrook, creating 70 new jobs; the $10.5 million upgrade of the Monbeef abattoir in Cooma, creating 80 new jobs; and the $10 million Blayney foods operation, creating 30 new jobs. We have also helped businesses, and in some cases whole towns, to improve their outlook in the event of major business closures. The situation in Eden mirrors similar business closures in Blayney, Lithgow and other regional centres. Such closures reflect, in part, the Federal Government’s economic policies and the effects of globalisation.

The New South Wales Government has reacted quickly to the emerging situation in Eden, as we did in Blayney. We are willing and committed to stepping in and lending a hand. The closure of the Eden cannery, following a review by its owner, Heinz-Watties, of its global operations, will displace 110 permanent staff and 32 casual staff and will have a flow-on effect for other local industries. It is indeed a severe blow to a small community with a small industrial base. Our role will be to intervene and support the community in its efforts. We cannot always make companies change their decisions. But we will support the community in its efforts to reposition its industry base by helping to attract new industries and facilitating the expansion of existing ones.

While it is difficult to envision the company changing its decision or reopening the cannery, we will make every endeavour to assist with the restart of operations. Eden will be afforded the assistance that has been made available to other towns that have undergone similar crises. We will utilise some of the strategies that were used in other towns, as we did in Blayney, such as the regional economic transition scheme. That scheme, which was created by our Government, provides $15 million over three years for towns that have suffered severe or sharp economic downturns or shock. We have used it successfully in a number of country areas. Unlike the Federal Government, which is more concerned with funding studies into those towns, we are concerned with actually doing something, that is, creating long-term jobs and providing assistance to companies that drive growth in these regions.

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I also want to work with local government and local industries because I believe they are the ones with the real knowledge. It is not good enough to think, as the Federal Government seems to, that an overall policy will provide assistance to country New South Wales and the regional communities. That type of approach does not recognise that each area is different. Each area’s strengths, weaknesses and impediments should be looked at, as we have done in many areas using the country centres growth strategy, the regional economic transition scheme and other programs.

My office will be represented at a community meeting in Eden tomorrow aimed at obtaining a constructive solution, not the type of grandstanding that the National Party and the member for Lachlan are engaged in here today. After the pounding the Coalition took in the bush at the last Federal election and in the recent State election one thing is for certain - they still have not learned their lesson. I want to point out that whilst broad policy initiatives such as a low interest regime are necessary for growth overall in country New South Wales, there also needs to be a recognition that each of these communities is different.

Recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the employment growth rate is considerably greater outside Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, including the Central Coast. In regional New South Wales employment growth, which is a good reflection of economic growth, is growing stronger than in the Sydney Basin and the greater Sydney area. That is good news. But, whilst acknowledging and welcoming that news, we must ensure that the growth is spread evenly across-the- board. We have to implement various strategies and policies, as this Government has done with the regional economic transition scheme, to look after communities such as Eden that have suffered severe economic blows and to give us the ability to spread the growth.

Mr ARMSTRONG (Lachlan) [3.50 p.m.]: In his opening remarks in support of his motion the Minister for Local Government, Minister for Regional Development, and Minister for Rural Affairs shot himself in both feet. He said that there had been a loud cry from rural Australia against the Federal budget. How does he explain the press release of 12 May from the New South Wales Farmers Association, the largest rural organisation in Australia, which said:

Farmers in New South Wales will welcome the 1999-2000 Federal Budget and its re-emphasis of the importance of non-metropolitan Australia to the nation, the Chairman of the New South Wales Farmers’ Association’s Business, Economics and Trade Committee, Richard Clark, said today.

How does the Minister explain the press release of 11 May under the hand of Mr John Cobb, the president of Australia’s largest farming organisation, which said:

NSW Farmers welcome Budget, but seek fair share for farming.

The Federal Budget has addressed significant problems faced by Australia’s rural industries . . .

We welcome the fiscal prudence of the budget with its projected $5 billion surplus and its focus on enhancing education and research.

The Minister did not start well. He could not even read press releases from Australia’s largest farming organisation. He has refused to recognise that the low interest and low inflation policies of the Howard-Fischer Government have been almost pioneering in re-establishing Australia on an economic basis that is probably unprecedented in the last 40 years, a basis that will take the country into the new millennium, undoubtedly one of the most exciting times in our history.

I am pleased, however, that in the last part of the Minister’s contribution he referred to Eden. Following my attempt to have the matter debated as a matter of urgency, it was only right and proper for the Minister to mention Eden. He did not acknowledge that if the projected loss of jobs in Eden because of the closure of the Heinz-Watties factory were translated to Sydney on the same percentage basis, 250,000 jobs would be lost in Sydney, which has a population of four million. If that closure had happened in Sydney the militia would have been brought out. Instead, the Minister said he will attend a meeting in Eden tomorrow. Why is he not down there now?

The Federal Government has already established itself in Eden. Centrelink staff today began a series of information seminars on site at Heinz to explain eligibility for income support and to give job search assistance. A Centrelink financial services officer will also visit the cannery regularly to provide advice. Those people are already there. They are not being driven down in a white car, or flying down to attend a public meeting tomorrow. The Federal Government is acting. Centrelink has also dedicated two customer service officers to assist cannery workers. The officers will be available in Eden on Wednesdays from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. The Federal Minister for Employment Services, Mr Abbott, has agreed to supply a multimedia touch screen unit, which will be placed in the Eden Community Access Centre in the next few weeks to assist displaced workers with job searching.

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Meanwhile, the New South Wales Minister - and Eden is in New South Wales - said he will go down to attend a meeting in Eden tomorrow. The people of Eden deserve more than a token effort from the New South Wales Government. The 1999 Federal budget is one of the best for rural New South Wales in many years. There will be new spending on rural health, with $170 million being made available over four years, taking total spending on specific rural health measures to $200 million a year from next year. The budget includes $1.6 billion targeting major freight networks, accident black spots and bridges. Federal road funding in recent times has been outstanding. Only 1.5 kilometres of the Cobb Highway remains to be completed. That will be a wonderful benefit.

Three former local government mayors now sit on the Government benches as members of the Legislative Assembly. They may not receive the full pay rise local government has been seeking for mayors, though they will receive a pay rise as members of this place. Local government will received $1.3 billion in financial assistance grants in this budget, a 3 per cent increase over the allocation last year. Rural transaction centres have been allocated $8.1 million, irrespective of the further Telstra sale. I think the Minister may have been telling the odd porky or two. That funding will restore a range of banking, postal, Medicare and other services to small towns.

The Great Artesian Basin, which has great significance for major agricultural projects in the north and north-west of the State, has been allocated $31.8 million over five years to restore ground water pressure. The rural plan and rural communities program will receive a further $11 million over two years. These programs offer real and practical assistance to small towns seeking to develop local projects to revitalise their communities. An additional $111 million will extend the work for the dole program, from 1 July this year, to long-term unemployed people between the ages of 25 and 34. The Minister does not understand the importance of the Federal budget and what it will do for New South Wales.

I shall again speak about roads. New South Wales Federal road spending by category will include $205.98 million for national highways - the Hume, New England, Newell and Sturt highways. That is the network of freight roadways that the Federal Government funds solely, and that is irrespective of the further sale of Telstra. An amount of $82.82 million will be expended on roads of national importance - the Pacific Highway, Summerland Way and Kidman Way.

Mr Woods: Who provided the funds for the Pacific Highway?

Mr ARMSTRONG: The Pacific Highway upgrade was a project of the Fahey-Armstrong Government.

Mr Woods: It was a project of a Federal Labor Government and a State Labor Government.

Mr ARMSTRONG: The Minister is becoming overexcited. The budget provides $12.4 million under the black spot program, an effective program for funding relatively minor work at accident locations throughout the State. That is essential funding. In recent times I have noticed a number of places around the State where flowers have been left as memorials for people who have been killed on the roads. Sadly, that is an increasing spectre on the State’s roads, but is a salutary reminder to all of us that fatal accidents occur. I greatly appreciate the black spot funding program.

Also in the Federal budget provision has been made for $124.26 million as a no-strings-attached grant to New South Wales, a contribution to improving State highways. That is a freebie - the cheque comes in the mail, so to speak. The Federal Government does not determine where that money is spent. This will test the managing capacities of the State Government, because it will distribute the funds. I know that this new Government will distribute the funds without political bias. There will be no aggrandisement of the seats that have been recently won by the Government. The allocations will be made unilaterally across the State, and I look forward to receiving funding for roads in my electorate. Also in the Federal budget $112.65 million will be distributed to local councils next financial year as a Federal Government contribution to local roads.

I find it objectionable and politically irresponsible for the Government to run debate on this motion at the expense of the people of Eden. If the Government had been politically astute and had any sensitivity, it would have withdrawn this motion and allowed debate on my motion for urgency, which would properly highlight the problems of the economy and the social and cultural future of the town of Eden. To use the raw politics today, on the third day of formal sittings of this Parliament in 1999, simply goes to show the cavalier and uncaring attitude of this Government. It is in a bad state when it ignores those people. Thank goodness the honourable member for Monaro is yet to make his first speech, although he has brought this matter to the attention of the House through me. [Time expired.]

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Mr PRICE (Maitland) [4.00 p.m.]: I support the motion of condemnation of the Federal Government moved by the Minister for Local Government. In his first speech the honourable member for Dubbo commented that at the moment the largest rural export is young people. I suspect he is right. It is all very well to improve infrastructure so that young people can get away from town a little more quickly, but at the end of the day a program is needed that will encourage people to remain in rural Australia and create opportunities for work. Admittedly, governments have a lot of difficulty creating jobs per se, but they can create the circumstances that will allow the private sector to do something about jobs. Dropping the price of diesel fuel and increasing the carcinogenic gases in the air in country towns is not necessarily the way to go. I believe it would have been better to reduce the excise on petrol and increase it on diesel, but that is a personal view.

The privatise-or-perish attitude of the Federal Government worries me. It has put the country to the torch in more ways than one. If one considers the lack of opportunities, even in my electorate in the lower Hunter, one would be worried about what will happen. Following the closure of BHP in Newcastle the State Government certainly moved rapidly to establish the Hunter Advantage Fund. It put up $10 million to promote and support industries coming into the area to create employment, and to try to maintain stable populations in the smaller towns from where the workers came. We did not have to rely on privatisation for that. The Government took the initiative, allocated $10 million and spent most of it on the establishment of a number of companies with infrastructure support.

I am aware of at least three in my electorate, the most recent being Varley Engineering, which was successful in obtaining the contracts to build 75 fire engines for New South Wales with the prospect of a further contract on completion, as well as interstate contracts. That industry will establish at least 200 jobs in the region within the first 12 months, many of which will be drawn from Goninan’s, which had to get rid of all its vehicle builders when it lost out on two major train contracts. At least some assistance is coming directly from the State. The Federal Government was dragged screaming to the altar to try to match that $10 million, and there still has not been any sign of it being spent in the electorate.

The working party set up by the Federal Government in the lower Hunter to advise on how the money may be spent is still asking the Federal Government what, if any, of its suggestions are being accepted and where the $10 million will go. In fact, soon after the Federal election the Federal member for Paterson asked that question in the House. He received no answer as to where any money would be spent. That is typical of the approach to regional centres around New South Wales. Country people, particularly those in small businesses, are also concerned about the effect of the GST. I was surprised that concern about it was so rampant during the State election, but I know that it was the problem that was causing the second largest number of concerns, particularly to those who are self-employed and those who are in small business.

The Government, without any external support, has attempted to move into country New South Wales to do something positive for people in the bush. It is attempting to keep them and their companies, their family firms, and their small industries intact. We do have a problem. Since April 1995 some $998 million in new investment has been secured for regional New South Wales through the Government’s regional business development scheme. This investment will result in the creation of more than 9,800 direct full-time jobs through rural and regional New South Wales.

Programs like the country centres growth strategies target individual centres in New South Wales. The Government is playing a direct role in regional development. The promises in the budget, including the establishment of 500 rural transaction centres, an extra $250 million for the Natural Heritage Trust and $120 million for better television reception are all conditional on the total sale of Telstra. No matter what the former Leader of the National Party says, the problem with the transaction - [Time expired.]

Mr TORBAY (Northern Tablelands) [4.05 p.m.]: As a new member I have been learning from my colleagues. I have been watching the Minister and the honourable member for Lachlan debate the problems of rural and regional communities. Any debate condemning the Federal Government for non-allocation of services and funding to the regions deserves to be put under the microscope. It should have been under the microscope for the past ten years. The condemnation should not be directed only at the current Federal and State governments; it should be directed at their predecessors.

I am disappointed that an analysis of the figures for the past ten years, particularly those relating to capital expenditure in regional New South Wales, shows that those figures do not seem to
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change, even though this State has had governments of different political persuasions in power during that time. Research by the Independent members highlights the fact that even though country New South Wales has 30 per cent of the population of the State capital expenditure in the regions - and I mean the area outside Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong - under the previous State Government and the previous Coalition governments it has failed to reach more than 20 per cent of capital expenditure funding, excluding roads. I share the disappointment of other members in the Federal Government, particularly that part of government that bases the amount of support regional communities will receive on what is gained from the sale of assets. We should move away from that. If the Federal and State governments are prepared to fund regional communities, they should do so regardless of what is derived from asset sales.

Mr W. D. SMITH (South Coast) [4.07 p.m.]: The Federal budget has proved yet again that the Federal Coalition has absolutely no interest whatsoever in regional development. It is a policy void. The Federal Coalition treats country people and communities with contempt. It does not care about anyone living outside the leafy suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. In fact, its policies are based on the Wollstonecraft model, are they not? Its record is extremely poor and speaks for itself. In 1996, only weeks after being elected, the Federal Government cut $150 million from the regional development program. Earlier this afternoon the Premier mentioned Phillips, Photios and Ficarra. I will mention another name: John Sharp, who is now driving trucks. He was formerly the Minister for Regional Development.

John Sharp went so far as to say that the Commonwealth had no role in regional development. He said that there is no clear rationale or constitutional basis for Commonwealth involvement in regional development. What a peculiar thing for a Minister for Regional Development to say! New South Wales has been all but abandoned when it comes to Federal funding allocation. In my electorate of South Coast the story is all too familiar. The State Government has a joint funding arrangement with the Federal Government contributing $2 million each for the establishment of an ethanol plant at Bomaderry. This industry has huge potential, yet again the Federal Coalition Government is dragging its feet. We have the possibility of creating jobs, the possibility of using an extremely clean fuel, but the Federal Government is letting us down again. The Federal Coalition and its counterparts opposite have no interest in the economic growth and prosperity of regional New South Wales. John Anderson, the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, has admitted as much. In yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald, Margo Kingston wrote:

Anderson took the high risk course early this year of admitting that the Nationals had no fresh answers to reinvigorate the bush . . . He privately bemoans the lack of fresh ideas within the National Party.

The Federal Coalition has not learned anything from the rejection of its New South Wales colleagues in the March election. The people who live in the bush have had enough of governments sitting on their hands. They have had enough of the sale of public assets and cuts to services. The people on the South Coast want affordable and reliable electricity and telephone services. They do not want to have to go 10 kilometres down the road to a rural transaction centre to make a phone call; they prefer to make calls from their own homes.

The Federal Coalition is promising 500 transaction centres, but those centres will be built only if the full sale of Telstra goes ahead. Apparently, though, the people who live in rural and regional New South Wales will be able to access transaction centres as long as they give up their right to affordable and reliable phone services. In Nowra recently, the Telstra office was closed, and the only good thing about that is that I am considering the premises for use as my electorate office. That is an example of the Federal Government’s idea of good regional policy, but it is simply a carrot-and-stick approach.

I noted also that in Tuesday’s Federal Budget merit-based equity scholarship programs have been cut. These scholarships are provided to students who meet tertiary entry requirements but are unable to pay their own way through university. On my own patch on the South Coast, 48 equity scholarships to the Wollongong University were awarded but from next year the number will be zero. An additional $250 million has been provided for the Natural Heritage Trust, which is commonly referred to as the farmers’ fund. The money is not targeted and is aimed purely at the hip-pocket nerve of people in the bush. This funding is also 100 per cent conditional on the full sale of Telstra.

The Federal budget has given the people who live in the bush little or no hope. It demonstrates no commitment to helping country business or to creating much-needed country jobs. The State Labor Government is committed to regional New South Wales receiving its fair share of economic growth. As the member for South Coast I am delighted that Nowra has been chosen as one of the six centres to
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have a growth strategy. These growth strategies work with communities in the regions on an individual basis. They provide solutions to impediments confronting growth and act as catalysts through strategic and targeted intervention to ensure that economic growth occurs. Regional development policy requires strategic intervention without strings attached. Market forces alone will not deliver the growth that is so badly needed in the bush. Unlike the Federal Government, the State Government will do better for the bush. (Time expired.)

Mr WOODS (Clarence - Minister for Local Government, Minister for Regional Development, and Minister for Rural Affairs) [4.12 p.m.], in reply: I wish to quickly address a couple of matters raised by the honourable member for Lachlan in relation to Eden. As I said in my opening remarks, I believe the Government has addressed the Eden issue. It needs a whole lot more work and the Government will undertake that work.

Mr Armstrong: Point of order: I am reluctant to take this point of order but I draw the Minister’s attention to the terms of his motion.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Minister is in order. He is responding to matters that were raised in the debate by the member for Lachlan. I do not uphold the point of order.

Mr WOODS: The honourable member for Lachlan will try to get away with anything he can in this Chamber. During his speech he said that the rural transaction centres were not dependent upon the sale of Telstra, but Peter Costello’s Budget Speech tells the story:

As part of the social bonus to be funded from the sale of the second tranche of Telstra, the Government will fund the establishment of up to 500 rural transactions centres at a cost of $70 million over five years.

Those centres are obviously dependent upon the sale of Telstra. I call on the honourable member for Lachlan to stop misleading the people of New South Wales. He should tell this Chamber the truth as it comes from Peter Costello about the rural projects that are dependent upon the sale of Telstra.

Motion agreed to.

Pursuant to sessional orders business interrupted.

Mr GLACHAN (Albury) [4.15 p.m.]: In the recent election there were a number of unexpected and interesting results through New South Wales. The result in the electorate of Albury was certainly among them. There were various reasons for those results, and in Albury the strange results were mainly due to a very intense campaign and a very important local issue. That is the construction of a road known as the deviation of the Hume Highway through Albury. Approximately 30 or more years ago it was decided that an internal traffic relief route would be built through Albury and that it would run parallel to the railway line to reduce traffic chaos caused by vehicles travelling backwards and forwards across the length of the causeway between Albury and Wodonga.

The volume of traffic had been increasing continually so it was decided that the best way to deal with the problem was to construct a road. When the Hon. Laurie Brereton was Minister for Transport, he said that the Commonwealth Government of the day would build the road, but construction was delayed for one reason or another. Some years ago another previous Federal transport Minister, Mr Brown, decided that he would fund only a complete by-pass of the city, which meant in fact an external road.

Two routes were identified and opinions were then divided as to which route should be preferred. The Roads and Traffic Authority [RTA] recorded information on traffic and details of destinations and determined that if an external route was built, only 3,000 vehicles a day out of the 38,000 vehicles a day travelling between Albury and Wodonga would actually use the external route. Even so, many people in Albury believed that an internal route would cause noise, pollution and destruction of the amenity of the city. People claimed that the road would split the city, despite the fact that for many years the railway line had done exactly that.

Prior to the election a Victorian Minister, the Federal Minister for Transport, the New South Wales Minister for Roads all affirmed that whatever the result of the election and irrespective of which political candidate won the electorate, the road would be built. But still the people were opposed to it. A group known as the Save Our City group were determined to change the route if its candidate was able to win the election. Both the Labor candidate and I, knowing that the decision was made and that inevitably the road would be built, decided to concentrate on other issues in the election, and we believed health was the major issue of the campaign. We both campaigned strongly on that issue and the Save Our City candidate concentrated mainly on the road issue.

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Although I was able to win the election, there was a division in the city. Many people still believed that the external route would be the best way to address the problem, despite the fact that the RTA announced last year that the external route had been abandoned altogether and that only the internal route would be funded by the Federal Government. Funds have already been spent on the internal route and the Federal Government has allocated more funds in its recent budget. Nevertheless, the people who are opposed to that route are still working hard to try to prevent this road from being built. They have asked me to arrange a meeting with the Minister to put their view to him. I have written to him about that and I believe that the meeting will be held in the near future. However, I believe that it would be difficult to change the route now.

I am sure that both the Labor candidate and I could have gained more votes had we said that we were opposed to the internal route and would campaign to have it changed. But believing that the decision on the route was made and that it was inevitable we resisted the temptation and both received fewer votes than expected. We did what we believed was right and honourable and paid the penalty. I am pleased to be here again as the member for Albury. I look forward to the challenges of representing the people of the Albury electorate. I consider it a great honour. It is a great honour to represent the people amongst whom one lives. I look forward to doing that to the best of my ability in the next four years.

Mr LYNCH (Liverpool) [4.20 p.m.]: I congratulate the honourable member for Mulgoa, who is in the chair, on her appointment as Acting-Speaker. I draw the attention of the House to quite serious problems surrounding the operation of the Rapid Detox Centre in Speed Street, Liverpool, under the direction of Dr Siva Navaratnam, known as Dr Siva. The aim of the centre is said to be to treat heroin addicts with naltrexone to achieve rapid detoxification. I regard some of the practices of people at the centre as wrong, unprofessional and immoral. In dealing with parliamentarians in my view they are manipulative and involved in conduct that is potentially conducive to corruption.

The centre has conducted an aggressive media campaign trumpeting what it claims to be its many successes. It claims a 90 per cent success rate. The difficulty I have with that is the clear inference that naltrexone is the answer in almost every case of heroin addiction. On my understanding of the evidence, that is not the case. Indeed, some media reports refer to deaths in the United Kingdom occurring after people have undergone rapid detoxification with naltrexone. My concerns go well beyond just the inflated advertising that has been indulged in by the centre. The doctor has made clear - for example in the Liverpool Champion of 17 March and 12 May this year - that he is engaging in a campaign to convince government of the merit of his approach to get further financial support.

He is prepared to manipulate both drug addicts and members of Parliament in this effort to increase his profits. His treatment costs are about $7,000 per patient. However, he has said that he will waive fees for 10 per cent of his patients subject to them being referred by a local member of Parliament. That is disgraceful. It is an attempt to manipulate members of Parliament into seeming to support his scheme. This could then be used in his battle to extract funding from government.

Heroin addicts without finance are effectively being made human pingpong balls to be bounced between the doctor’s clinic and an MP’s office. They go to the doctor’s clinic for treatment and he says that the patient can be treated for free but the patient has to go to the MP’s office and drag him with a referral back to the clinic. The most recent instance of that occurred at my office today. My office was telephoned by an addict demanding, notwithstanding that I was in Parliament, that I go to the clinic to refer him for treatment. Heroin addicts have quite enough difficulties without being exploited in this fashion. However, the problems I see go even further than that.

It is absurd to suggest that a member of Parliament is able to refer someone for a particular sort of medical treatment, unless the member of Parliament is a medical practitioner. It is even more absurd with a treatment that is still undergoing trial and that may well be contraindicated in a whole range of cases. In my view it is clearly improper. It is also extraordinarily dangerous for any member of Parliament involved. If a member of Parliament holds himself out as competent to make a referral, makes the referral and the addict dies or suffers harm because of inappropriate treatment, there could be all sorts of inventive claims for damages against the member. There is also a significant issue about the role of a member of Parliament. Members of Parliament are normally advocates for constituents, not service providers. Giving them the right to decide who gets treatment and who does not moves well away from the traditional role of local members.

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Even more significantly, it also involves many probity issues. The doctor is effectively giving members of Parliament a right to confer a $7,000 benefit upon some of their constituents. No guidelines or criteria are in place to allow a member of Parliament to choose which constituent should receive treatment. The potential for corruption and kickbacks is immense. On Friday last month a heroin addict came to my office seeking a referral to the clinic. The situation was particularly unsatisfactory. A 25-year-old man who was a constituent of mine presented himself at my electorate office. He said that he had been sent to my office by Dr Siva to get me to refer him back to the doctor. My staff calmly and courteously explained that I would not do this. The constituent became loud, aggressive and abusive, making a range of threats and demanding that I accompany him back to the clinic as requested by Dr Siva so that the referral could be completed.

The behaviour of the constituent was unacceptable. However, there was a particular reason he behaved so aggressively and unacceptably. He had been prescribed methadone by, I assume, a competent medical practitioner and had been in receipt of methadone for some time under the methadone program. He told my staff that he had not taken his methadone because - this is truly shocking - he had been told by Dr Siva not to take it and instead to go to the local MP’s office to drag the member down to get a referral to the clinic. Not only is Dr Siva prepared to exploit this addict by sending him to an MP’s office to manipulate me into supporting the program to fabricate a gesture of support, he has done it in a way that has caused acute distress to the addict.

Even more seriously, in my view, Dr Siva is interfering in the treatment of the addict by telling him not to take treatment prescribed by another medical practitioner. I do not know what the Health Care Complaints Commission would make of that but I would certainly like to find out. Heroin addiction is an awful condition. An appalling consequence is the spectacle of profiteers trying to make unprincipled money from their treatment of people with the condition.

Mr OAKESHOTT (Port Macquarie) [4.25 p.m.]: Madam Acting-Speaker, I too welcome you to the lofty office of Acting-Speaker. This evening I support a valuable project being undertaken by the Port Macquarie Catholic Men’s Club, which has for many years given support to worthy charities and those less fortunate within the local community of Port Macquarie. This small in number, voluntary, all denominational group is now seeking help in achieving its major project for 1999, the motorisation of Steve Lyons. Steve Lyons is 24 years old and has lived at Port Macquarie all his life. He currently uses a skateboard to get around town because he has no legs and only one arm. He has overcome huge obstacles to win local community achievement awards including citizenship certificates and leadership awards while attending St Joseph’s regional school.

For example, in 1990 he won the public speaking award in the youth of the year quest. In 1992 he was declared youth of the year. In 1995, aged just 21, he was awarded the prestigious Rotoract TAFE student of the year award. He represented New South Wales in the fourth international Abilympics at Perth in 1995. During that event Steve’s subjects were English, typing and word processing. Frank Flockton, Honorary Secretary of the Port Macquarie Catholic Men’s Club, says that despite Steve’s disabilities one will never hear a negative word from Steve. That is one of the reasons that this evening I am supporting what the Catholic Men’s Club is trying to do in raising money.

The goal is to raise $25,000 to buy a car and have it modified. Since February this year $17,000 has been raised. The proposed car is a Holden Astra with automatic transmission with power steering. It will be modified by Sydney University. Steve cannot get his driver’s licence until he gets the car but he was assessed last year by Sydney University as being more than capable of driving a car around town and interstate. Steve has a commitment from local and well-respected driving instructor Barry Hacker to teach him how to drive. To date Steve is not getting any financial assistance from the Department of Disability Services.

All the money raised has come from the Catholic Men’s Club. The club held a huge garage sale and a dinner at Port Macquarie Racecourse. It has held raffles and raised donations from local businesses. There was a tenpin bowling night and functions were held at St Joseph’s school. The Catholic Ladies League has offered support. Port Macquarie Returned Services League Club donated $1,000 through the poker machine levy. So there has been an enormous amount of community goodwill and support to get Steve a car. Upcoming events include a games night at Fernhill Tavern in July. The Lake Cathie Bowling Club will hold an event on 26 September and there will be a golf day at Emerald Downs golf course on 14 November. The Catholic Men’s Club is doing an enormous amount
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of fundraising. Tonight I offer my support and wish the club well in its campaign to raise funds for Steve.

Ms MEAGHER (Cabramatta - Parliamentary Secretary) [4.29 p.m.]: I wish to detail an initiative that I am undertaking to ensure that the Cabramatta community is included in the New South Wales Government Drug Summit to be held next week. The Drug Summit is a bold initiative of the Premier to confront the escalating community concern about drug abuse, drug-related crime and the devastating impact that the drug cycle has on individuals, families and local communities. The summit will be addressed by a range of experts with disparate points of view - passionately held points of view - and will examine in detail the areas of education, prevention, detoxification, rehabilitation, harm minimisation, therapies and community prevention action plans.

The Government’s Drug Summit is an opportunity to work through the various policy prescriptions available to government to respond accurately and decisively to a problem that is increasingly generating fear and anger in the community. It is perhaps most importantly an opportunity to educate legislators and members of the community about the pros and cons of possible solutions.

There can be no argument that to date the public debate about how to prevent abuse and break the cycle of dependency has been piecemeal and in some cases characterised by knee-jerk reactions. I point to a particular example in my electorate of Cabramatta where, several weeks before the State election, an organisation by the name of Open Family declared, by way of press release, that it would be opening a shooting gallery in Cabramatta. That was satisfactorily dealt with by the police. I acknowledge that Open Family took that step because of concern and frustration about the ongoing heroin problem in Cabramatta, but I believe the way it went about that process is indicative of the failure to take a comprehensive approach towards some of the solutions that are on the table.

The summit is important because it provides legislators with an opportunity to tackle in detail a complex and vexed issue in a non-partisan environment. For the summit to be a useful exercise it is my firm belief that the broadest possible community consultation is required. That is why I will hold a local summit in Cabramatta tomorrow afternoon. For too long now the Cabramatta community has shouldered an unfair proportion of the burden created by the illicit heroin trade, addiction and drug-related crime. My local community has been unfairly stigmatised as the drug capital - a reputation that is perceived to have affected the economic buoyancy of the central business district, property values, concepts of personal and public safety and community self-esteem.

Often in situations that generate fear and anger there lies a tendency in human nature to apportion blame. In this case I believe that tabloid journalism has irresponsibly landed this problem at the doorstep of our local Asian community, in particular Vietnamese Australians. The local summit will provide an opportunity for local stakeholders to tell their story and offer their answers for consideration by the Government’s summit. Whilst I have attempted to include the broadest representation of community composition and ideas, I freely admit to particularly seeking the views of the multifarious Asian communities in my electorate. If their communities are seen - albeit wrongly - as part of the problem, they must be seen as part of the solution.

Whilst there is wide-ranging local acknowledgment that the Government has done a lot to confront the heroin problem in Cabramatta through the provision of additional police, namely Operation Puccini, the expenditure of $4 million on a detoxification unit at Fairfield Hospital, the provision of the drug intervention service at Cabramatta, and innovative jobs programs in partnership with the Retail Traders Association, there is also an acknowledgment that the problem continues to exist. There is an acknowledgment and belief that the traditional policy prescriptions being offered by government do not go to the heart of the problem. That is why, as the member for Cabramatta, I am making every effort to consult with my local community to take on board their concerns and considerations and to bring them to the summit.

In order to be an effective representative for a community such as Cabramatta, with such a significant drug problem, it is a responsible approach to the situation. I can only service the community’s views in a legislative forum if I have broadly consulted with them. So every effort has been made to include the many stakeholders in the local community and give the Cabramatta community significant input to what I believe is an historic opportunity for the New South Wales Parliament to take head-on some approaches that will alleviate concern and anger and start to strike at the heart of the drug problem that plagues our community.

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Mr TINK (Epping) [4.34 p.m.]: I raise matters of concern to students who attend Roselea Public School in my electorate of Epping, and in particular students who are enrolled in the Roselea support unit. The unit has existed since the late 1980s for 24 students, most of whom fall into the severe disability category and are almost totally dependent on an adult for mobility, toileting, eating and drinking. Similar programs are running at Truscott Street Public School, Balmain High School and Allambie School.

Several of the students with the most severe disabilities require two people to lift them. Some take as long as one hour each to feed. Ten of the students are incontinent, and many of the students require standing and long sitting programs to maintain their level of physical wellbeing. This involves staff transferring them from wheelchairs to standing frames, and for safety and mobility purposes eight students require the help of an adult so that they are able to participate in mainstream school life. Until now two therapy aides and five therapists have been provided. Those people have expertise in feeding, mobility and hands-on occupational speech and physiotherapy.

For the past 10 years the program has been run by the Spastic Centre of New South Wales, which has now decided to move off site altogether and to provide a consultancy service only. This is a problem shared by all the schools I have mentioned. The Spastic Centre says that it has its own funding problems and it has made a unilateral decision to cut back on the program, which is extremely regrettable. As a result, all these schools are left in a terrible bind and there is real concern for the welfare of the students. Given their severe disabilities, there are problems with their physical and emotional wellbeing in a school setting.

There are also problems for the staff - I believe they are industrial issues - particularly in the occupational health and safety area. Teachers are required to do work that they are not trained to do, which puts their safety and the safety of the students at risk and ultimately leads to the possibility of the department being open to legal action should anything go wrong. Of course, that is the last thing that anyone wants. I raise these issues because there are very real concerns in the community. As we all know, it is not easy to obtain special program funding for schools, particularly for students with severe physical disabilities.

The extraordinary thing in all of these schools is that over time tremendous community support has developed for these programs, both within and without the school system. Once they are placed in jeopardy, it places the delicate fabric of community acceptance and support at great risk. I am extremely concerned that the program at Roselea Public School will fall apart and severely disadvantage students who are now obtaining a mainstream education - which is not only to their benefit but also to the benefit of all the other students who gain so much from being involved every day with people with disabilities.

As I have said publicly, this is not an easy issue for the Government, because in the past governments have not provided recurrent funding for such programs. The issue involves the portfolios of ageing and disability, and education. I have written to the Ministers responsible for those two portfolios and to the Premier about the matter. The other evening at the Governor’s reception I had the opportunity to speak personally to the Minister for Education and Training, who expressed a genuine interest in the problems.

I would like to see a continuation of this program of integration at these schools, and that means a commitment to funding. I am not totally satisfied with the funding arrangements for the Spastic Centre. I am not apprised of exactly how much public money goes to the centre, or where it gets the funding from, or whether that in turn provides leverage to the Ageing and Disability Department and/or the Department of Education and Training for those departments to do more than simply withdraw from the program. However, if the withdrawal of funding that has already taken place is allowed to stand, we will see either teaching staff and students in real difficulties or we will see an end to a program which has been a great success, which will leave plenty of students who have severe disabilities with even more disabilities. I ask the Government to urgently and comprehensively look at this matter with a view to coming up with a solution to allowing these programs to remain in place.

Mr STEWART (Bankstown - Parliamentary Secretary) [4.39 p.m.]: I note the concerns of the honourable member for Epping. The Department of Education and Training does not fund or provide therapy services for students with disabilities in government schools. Therapy services are provided by the Department of Health, the Department of Community Services and non-government
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organisations including the Spastic Centre of New South Wales. The Department of Ageing and Disability provides policy support and funding in this regard. For some years the Spastic Centre has had a special relationship with four schools - Allambie School, Truscott Street Public School, Roselea Public School and Balmain High School. Those schools have received therapy services from the Spastic Centre of a type different from that provided to students with similar disabilities in other schools.

As part of a reorganisation of its services the Spastic Centre has decided to change the therapy provision model at those four schools to bring them into line with the services provided in other schools in New South Wales. These changes have raised concerns among the schools and their communities. I note the concerns raised today by the honourable member for Wakehurst. The school principals, including the principal of Roselea Public School, officers from the Department of Education and Training, officers from the Department of Ageing and Disability and senior representatives from the Spastic Centre are working collectively towards assisting these schools in transferring to the new therapy model. This work, which will involve parents and other members of the school community in a consultative framework, is continuing. The Spastic Centre has assured officers of the Department of Education and Training that all schools, including Roselea Public School, will continue to receive high-quality therapy services.

Mr McBRIDE (The Entrance) [4.41 p.m.]: This week is National Volunteer Week. Today I commend the roles played by volunteers in our community over a spectrum of activities. Over the last seven years I, as a member of Parliament, have been amazed by the contribution of volunteers to the wellbeing of our community. I liken the contribution of volunteers as the oil in a well-performing engine. Our society would quickly seize without the vital lubrication provided by volunteers. The role of volunteers is often spectacularly recorded in times of national, State, regional or local crises and calamities. However, that records only a small portion of the remarkable contribution of volunteers to our society.

The community well remembers the role of volunteers in the Newcastle earthquake on 28 December 1989, which traumatised a whole city; the New South Wales bushfires of January 1994, which engulfed the whole of our State and which had a dramatic effect on the Central Coast; and more recently the Sydney hailstorm in April this year when more than 20,000 buildings were damaged, including schools, commercial and industrial buildings and homes in the eastern suburbs. On the Central Coast today up to 1,000 volunteers and others are helping with the Newcastle disease chicken industry crisis that is engulfing the Mangrove Mountain area. That represents only a fraction of the contribution of volunteers.

In Australia in 1995 an estimated 2.6 million persons, representing 19 per cent of the civilian population aged over 15 years, provided voluntary work through organisational groups. That represents 433 million hours of voluntary work. As expected, the volunteer rate for females - 21.3 per cent - was 27 per cent higher than the volunteer rate for males and, of course, that does not include the contribution of females in the home. Also unsurprisingly, the non-metropolitan volunteer rate of 24 per cent was nearly 48 per cent higher than the rate in metropolitan areas. The average number of hours contributed by each volunteer tends to increase according to age up to the 65 to 74 age group, which again is not surprising. Volunteer work in the sport, recreation and hobby area represents 24 per cent of hours, and welfare and community work represents another 24 per cent. Those figures represent almost half of all voluntary work in our society.

Why do people volunteer? That might be a simple question. A volunteer suggested to me that it is because volunteers believe that voluntary work benefits their community and it gives them the personal satisfaction of making a voluntary contribution to their community. The Central Coast has a great tradition in relation to volunteer workers. However our community needs more. The profile of the roles of volunteers is so extensive that there is an area that will satisfy everyone’s interests. Volunteers are involved, for example, in aged services, amateur theatre, animal protection and rescue, arts and culture, children’s organisations, craft groups, community transport, crisis aid, disability associations, emergency services, environmental and conservation groups, family services, health organisations, Meals on Wheels, mental health groups, schools, scientific research, self-help groups, service clubs, social justice organisations, sports clubs, sport and recreation groups, telephone counselling, veterans groups, welfare organisations and women’s groups, to name a few.

As a rule, volunteers are not born more saintly than other people; rather, they are people who care about their community - which should include
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everyone. In conclusion, I say a special thank you to every volunteer on the Central Coast and I remind everyone else that there is a role for them to play as volunteers. Anyone wanting to contribute may contact the Central Coast Volunteer Referral Agency on phone number 43254202, fax number 43249587 or, better, call at the office at 22-24 Donnison Street, Gosford.

Mr SLACK-SMITH (Barwon) [4.45 p.m.]: Madam Acting-Speaker, I congratulate you on your elevation to your high office. I raise a matter which is of concern to farmers in the Coonabarabran area in the north-west of New South Wales. Coonabarabran, an extremely productive area, which encompasses 1.1 million hectares, comprises mainly mixed farming - cattle for beef and sheep for fat lambs and wool. Latest rural land protection board figures reflect that there are 168,000 head of cattle in the Coonabarabran area and three-quarters of a million sheep. Coonabarabran is about to lose its livestock officer. The job of the livestock officer in this area is to provide technical knowledge, advice, and technical information in relation to animal health, animal husbandry and animal production. Mr Paul Carberry, the departmental officer who has been stationed in Coonabarabran for a while and who has been active in the sheep wool and beef cattle industry, is about to move to Tamworth.

The Department of Agriculture in Coonabarabran will be left with an agronomist, a field assistant and a secretary. The closest livestock officer will be located in Dubbo, Tamworth or Mudgee, which are approximately two to three hours drive from Coonabarabran. It would take a livestock officer two to three hours to drive from one of those places to Coonabarabran - a total of six hours of totally unproductive time which could be better spent. It would be far more beneficial if the Department of Agriculture employed a livestock officer in the Coonabarabran area rather than requesting an officer to drive so many miles from one of the areas I have mentioned. I ask the Minister for Agriculture to consider favourably my request. Coonabarabran, an important area in the north-west of New South Wales, would benefit from the services of a livestock officer.

Mr GIBSON (Blacktown) [4.47 p.m.]: Madam Acting-Speaker, I congratulate you on your elevation to your high office. I speak tonight about what happened on 25 April 1915 when the allied troops landed at Anzac Beach in Gallipoli. Some 50,000 Australians took part in an horrific battle that lasted eight months. Nearly 9,000 Australians died and 20,000 were wounded on Anzac Beach in Gallipoli. Thirty-four thousand allied soldiers also died and nearly 80,000 were physically wounded. I am certain that many thousands of people returned home mentally wounded as well. Those people did not die for the glorification of war; they died for the principles of justice and freedom - something we must strive to maintain. People in my age group were fortunate because we did not have to participate in any war. I was too young for the Second World War and I was too old for Vietnam. It is hard to comprehend exactly what war means. One of the soldiers who returned from Anzac Beach wrote a poem which states:

So many bodies lay everywhere the greatest respect we could pay to them was not to step on their faces.

That poem sums up what war is all about. Prime Minister Curtin, probably the greatest Prime Minister of this nation, once said that freedom and justice were things that we had to fight for and defend. Today our freedom is being threatened by what is happening in Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Indonesia. But I am certain that man still has not learned the real lesson from the Anzacs. We must always fight aggression to protect the gift of freedom and justice that the Anzacs gave us. We are probably the envy of most of the world today in that respect.

Not only is our freedom under threat from what is happening overseas, our traditions are under threat from what is happening on Anzac Day. I was totally appalled that some retailers in this State opened for business on Anzac Day. Surely Anzac Day should be preserved as a sacred day. Retailers are open virtually seven days and seven nights a week. It is not too much to ask the retailers of this State to close their businesses on Anzac Day as well as on Good Friday and Christmas Day. In years to come we will not be telling our children about the history of the Anzacs, how 9,000 Australians fought an horrific eight-month battle and died for our freedom. We will be talking about the Anzac Day department store sales. Now is the time to act to make sure that we do not lose the traditions of Anzac.

The root of evil in the history of most wars is the almighty dollar. We must not let the almighty retail dollar spoil the traditions of Anzac. The war fought by the Anzacs was so horrific that some of the bodies have never been found. I was talking to people on Anzac Day at Seven Hills RSL, where I
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gave an address. They told me that some people could not attend the Anzac service because their employers required them to work.

Those people, who work in the butchery sections of Woolworths and Coles, had to ensure that the store was ready to open for business on the public holiday the following Monday. During question time we heard about the lack of respect by some students in our schools. That is happening because our society is losing the traditions and principles that Australians have fought and died for. I ask the House to examine this situation with a view to ensuring that retail stores are closed on Anzac Day, Good Friday and Christmas Day.

Mr HARTCHER (Gosford) [4.52 p.m.]: I seek to have a victims compensation matter referred to the Attorney General for his consideration. An application was made by one of my constituents, James William Clements, for victims compensation for an incident on 3 March 1996. While travelling in his motor vehicle on the Central Coast Mr Clements was struck in the neck by an airgun bullet. The two juvenile male offenders who fired the airgun were apprehended but Mr Clements did not seek to lay charges against them because they were very young. With Mr Clement’s consent they were spoken to by police and given an official caution and they formally apologised. Mr Clements does not make a complaint about the handling of the matter by the police. Having been shot in the neck with an airgun, Mr Clements made a claim for compensation for his injuries. The matter went before an assessor. On 27 June 1998 the assessor said:

I find an act of violence pursuant to s.5 of the Victims Compensation Act 1996.

The applicant has claimed that as a result of the incident he sustained a bullet wound to the neck requiring surgery to remove such.

Medico-legal reports were filed at the time. Dr Terry Vandeleur, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, wrote:

On 25 July 1997 Mr Clements had the right side of his neck explored and the air gun slug was found embedded in the sterno-mastoid muscle on the lateral side of the neck. This was removed . . .

Mr Clements made his claim under the Victims Compensation Act. The Act, which came into effect on 1 April 1997, includes a compensable table of injuries. To obtain compensation one must select an injury and advise the tribunal of the injury on which one relies. Mr Clements’ claim was refused by the assessor on the basis that there was no provision in the Act that allowed for recovery of victims compensation for a shot in the neck. Mr Clements appealed the decision. On 8 April 1999 the matter came before the District Court at Gosford. The presiding judge found that the determination of the tribunal that the injury was not a compensable injury under the Act precluded him from being granted leave to appeal. In a letter to me his lawyers advised:

His Honour then went on to express surprise that a member of the public could be shot in the neck by an airgun and not be eligible for compensation.

No complaint is made either about the conduct of this matter by the judicial authorities. Clearly they have correctly interpreted the Act. However, I draw the attention of the Attorney General to an anomaly in the Act that a person can be shot in the neck with an airgun bullet, which has to be surgically removed, and not be entitled to compensation. I request that this matter be investigated by the Attorney General and, if necessary, appropriate legislation brought before Parliament. It seems extraordinary that a person driving a car can be shot by a couple of young juveniles, who, I suggest, were irresponsibly allowed by their parents to play with an airgun, yet not be entitled to compensation. The offence could have caused a serious accident or the bullet could have entered Mr Clements’ brain or an eye. He would probably be entitled to compensation for a brain or an eye injury but he is not entitled to compensation for a neck injury. I bring this matter before the House and respectfully request that the Attorney General urgently address it.

Mr MOSS (Canterbury - Parliamentary Secretary) [4.57 p.m.]: About two months ago I had great pleasure in attending a function at which a substantial amount of money, $1.3 million, was allocated from stage two of the Stormwater Trust grants to Canterbury City Council towards a massive clean-up program of Cooks River. That allocation is part of a total of $2.4 million that is to be spent on the Cooks River catchment under stage two. I am delighted at the Government’s interest in cleaning up one of Sydney’s major and most historic waterways.

This grant followed a smaller grant allocated to Canterbury City Council to conduct an education campaign of its residents about the hazards of allowing pollutants to flow into the river through stormwater drains and street gutters. Brochures were published in a number of languages, which is essential for multicultural Canterbury, and other brochures were designed in cartoon form for
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children. The earlier campaign was to educate people that if they hosed their garbage bins on the footpath and tipped the water into the gutter, the contents at the bottom of the bins would end up in the river, and any oil they tipped down a stormwater drain would also end up in the river.

The brochure was designed to educate the public and remind them that not only industry pollutes our waterways. The current grant will be spent on co-ordinating a multilayered education and auditing campaign regarding the Cooks River catchment. For 30 years I have called for additional funding to clean up the Cooks River. In the past four years, under the Labor Government, more money has been poured into cleaning up the river than was the case in the previous 25 years. That demonstrates that the Government is fair dinkum about taking action.

People may ask: Why should the Government care? Water pollution affects everyone, directly or indirectly. At present the Cooks River is closed to all forms of fishing. Pollutants that are washed from the Cooks River out to sea through Botany Bay can affect marine and plant life for some kilometres out to sea. That means that people could well be eating fish that have been contaminated by the pollutants that are tipped into rivers and washed down drains.

This important campaign is another Labor Government initiative and one of which I am especially proud. This will not be the last funding for this purpose. I should mention also that funding under the stormwater trust grants stage 2 totals $18.7 million. That is a tremendous effort. As I said, $2.4 million will be spent on the Cooks River alone. That river needs a thorough dredging program. In the past eight to 10 years mangroves have regenerated in the river. That is evidence that the water quality has improved to a large extent, and it will improve further as a result of this grant. The New South Wales Government should be congratulated, not only for the interest it has taken in the waterway but also for the manner in which it has allocated funding. This is all about educating the public on refraining from polluting the rivers of the State.

Private members’ statements noted.