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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 (Hansard) 16 May) . . Page.. 1355 ..

MR MOORE: I have a supplementary question. Was that not a fantastic answer, Mr Speaker? Many of us could learn from that.

MR SPEAKER: No preambles, not even bouquets.

MR MOORE: The supplementary question, Mr Kaine, is this: Is it your intention that these briefings will be public briefings?

MR KAINE: Thank you, Mr Moore. Yes, indeed. It is the kind of subject that has such wide-ranging ramifications, not only for this community, as I said, but for the whole of Australia, that I think it would be worth while allowing all who are interested to attend those briefings so that they can be equally informed. The intention is that they will be public hearings and public briefings.

MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, my question, as a member of this orderly and polite Opposition, is to Mr De Domenico. Minister, yesterday you said, "The Government is fast-tracking up to 32 projects", and you gave some examples, some of them quite spurious. Minister, what do you mean by fast-tracking? Are you proposing to commence projects ahead of their anticipated start dates, which is what most people would understand by that? Therefore, are you amending this year's budget and are you amending the budget for the next two years of your so-called three-year budget to provide the additional funds needed to bring work forward? Are you varying the requirements of public works to allow fast-tracking?

MR DE DOMENICO: I thank Mr Wood for his question, Mr Speaker. Yesterday, the Government put out a list of, I think, 12 projects currently totally committed to design, plus another 20 projects expected to have design commenced in 1995-96. Mr Speaker, in answer to Mr Wood's question, the Government will make sure that any projects that perhaps are not in line with the budget parameters that the Government has already set are fast-tracked one year ahead of time. Mr Wood, I do not know whether you have the list of projects referred to yesterday, but the Tuggeranong police station and the Conder Group Centre infrastructure, stage 2, come to mind. They are just two in Tuggeranong, for example. Others are postnatal facilities, a total of $3m, and Gungahlin high school, $17.16m. So, Mr Wood, if we need to change the processes to make sure that things are fast-tracked, we will do that, to make sure that we get optimum value for the money expended on public works.

MR WOOD: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. At the outset of question time you delivered to us an entirely gratuitous lecture on how to behave in question time.

MR SPEAKER: No preamble. Are you discussing it with me or with the Minister? Ask your supplementary question.

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