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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2083 ..

MR OSBORNE: That was the perfect answer, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: Do you have a supplementary question, Mr Osborne?

MR OSBORNE: My supplementary questions is: As Minister for Employment, something which you have just acknowledged, what do you say to the 300-plus people who will be unemployed because of this stunt your Government is pulling? Do not be a coward and hide down there and get someone else to answer.

MR SPEAKER: Order! There shall be no preamble, but there shall be no additions to supplementary questions either.

MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Speaker, I am quite delighted that Mr Osborne asked that supplementary question. If Mr Osborne can tell me what survey he is looking at that tells him that there are going to be 320 people unemployed, I would be delighted to see that survey. In answer to that question, Mr Speaker, I do not believe that there will be 320 people unemployed because of the Government's decision.

Mr Osborne: Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. Under standing order 118(a), I would like the answer to be concise and confined to the subject matter. I asked him, "What do you say" - he had the opportunity - "to the 300-plus people who will be out of a job because of the cowardly stunt that you have pulled?".

MR SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. The question has been answered. Please resume your seat, Mr Osborne.

MR HIRD: Mr Speaker, if you ever want big business to be small business, give it to that lot opposite. My question is to the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Mr Stefaniak. Minister, the ACT Academy of Sport has been developing programs for ACT athletes for a number of years and has more recently been assisted by a one per cent levy on returns from gaming machines within the Territory. Can the Minister advise the parliament how the academy programs have now translated into ACT athletes representing Australia at next month's Atlanta Olympics?

MR STEFANIAK: I thank Mr Hird for the question. It has been an incredibly successful program, Mr Speaker. At this stage the representation of ACT athletes assisted by the ACT Academy of Sport is really outstanding. There are currently 17 athletes from eight sports confirmed in the Olympic team for Atlanta and there are two prospective additional members from athletics and gymnastics. This equates to just over 4 per cent of the team being from the ACT, and we of course have only 1.6 per cent of the national population. It is an outstanding effort both by those athletes and of course by the Academy of Sport and the staff on the programs there.

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