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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 4695 ..
MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):
Mr Speaker, that message is a tough message. There is some indication that, as a result perhaps of the announcements made last year by the Government, there is some abatement in the level of drink-driving in the Territory. The number of random breath tests conducted by the police in the first four months of this year increased by 24 per cent, but the number of people charged with exceeding the limit dropped by about 43 per cent, to 274 from 484 for the same period last year. That sounds good, but in fact there was an increase over the period between 1992-93 and 1995-96 which was approximately a doubling of the number of people involved in that kind of offence. It is a matter of great concern to the community, Mr Speaker, and I hope that with these measures we can do something about those sorts of problems.
MS McRAE: Mr Speaker, my question is to Mr Stefaniak in his capacity as Minister for Education. Minister, have you approved a new name for the amalgamated Stirling and Phillip colleges, and is the name the Canberra College? Who was consulted on the name change, and what is the view of the other Canberra colleges of this misnomer?
MR STEFANIAK: Yes, through the department I have been approached by the relevant colleges for a name change, which I have approved. They have also indicated that they wish to have some special announcement about it, so I think it really would be premature for me to make any announcement now. As a result of representations made by them, initially to the department and then to me, I have approved a new name, which as I understand it is what the college communities actually wanted.
MS McRAE: By way of supplementary question, I ask: Who exactly was consulted and what has been their reaction to it?
MR STEFANIAK: As far as I can understand it, Ms McRae, certainly the college communities concerned - that is, the two colleges - wanted that name. Obviously, they consulted with the department. I would be surprised if people have a great problem with it. It seems to me, Ms McRae, that the appropriate people have been in fact consulted, so why do we not just wait and see when the colleges actually announce the new name, which they want?
MS TUCKER: My question is to Mr De Domenico in his capacity as Minister for Business, Employment and Tourism. Mr De Domenico, recently the Government awarded a $60,000 contract to a private business college to run a job placement program. This replaces the very successful service run by Jobline for the past 14 years. Are you quite confident that any former Jobline client has the same opportunities to gain employment with the new service that they would have had through Jobline?
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