Page 404 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 27 June 1989
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question is addressed to the Chief Minister and Treasurer. I refer to a couple of events that have taken place during the month of June. One was the launch of the ACTION Bus Book at the Hyatt Hotel, and the other was the launch of the publication Light at the End of the Tunnel, in relation to the first Schizophrenia Week, at the Hyatt Hotel. Does the Chief Minister and Treasurer believe that the Hyatt Hotel is an appropriate place to make these launches, in one case of a relatively routine book, specifically the ACTION Bus Book? Secondly, is this an indication that this champagne and caviar government is going to continue to have these launches at such a location?
MS FOLLETT: I take it that Mr Kaine's reference to the appropriateness of the Hyatt Hotel is not a reference to the service that might be provided there and not even to the heritage significance of the Hyatt Hotel, but rather perhaps to the cost of both of those official functions.
Mr Kaine: That would be a fair bet.
MS FOLLETT: If that is the question, I do not have specific information available to me on the cost of either of those launches, but I do undertake to obtain advice on that if that is what Mr Kaine requires. I do think, Mr Speaker, that it is quite legitimate for the Administration to make something of the launch of important pieces of information, such as the ACTION Bus Book and, in particular, the Light at the End of the Tunnel booklet. It is essential that the community should know about these resources and their availability. That usually involves some form of promotion and press and media attention to the event itself.
I support that kind of promotional activity by the Administration. I think it is appropriate and a quite legitimate part of the Administration's work. I also would support, as I am sure Mr Kaine would, the promotional work being done at a modest cost, at a reasonable cost, and certainly not in any way in a lavish or extravagant manner. So I will undertake to review the expense of those kinds of promotional activities, to perhaps review what alternative venues there might be for those launches and for other such promotional activities.
Incidence of Cancer
MR MOORE: Is the Minister for Community Services and Health aware that the incidence of cancer in the ACT is projected to increase by 44 per cent over the next five years and that even now the funding given to the ACT Cancer Society and its premises forces the society's staff to carry out interviews outside its building?
MR BERRY: No, I was not aware that the society was forced to carry out interviews outside its building, and I look forward to receiving any information from you on the issue.
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