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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 4735 ..

MR SPEAKER: I refer members to standing order 117(h).

MR CORBELL: If that is the only standing order you can use, it is pathetic.

MR SPEAKER: "A question fully answered cannot be renewed." It may be the only standing order I can use, but it is a most comprehensive standing order in this particular case.

Milk Industry

MR OSBORNE: Mr Speaker, I know you are a little bit nervous. One side is asking questions about alcohol and the other side is asking questions about gambling. My question is not about sex. It is about milk.

Mr Whitecross: I hear you are the expert on that.

MR OSBORNE: I have four children, Andrew. My question is to the Minister for Urban Services, Mr Kaine. Minister, I understand that the Government is currently considering deregulating the milk industry in the ACT. Would you inform the Assembly whether the Government or the bureaucracy is in the process of discussing the issue with local industry representatives or any interstate suppliers?

MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, the question is based on a wrong premise. The Government is not considering deregulating the industry, and I do not think there is anything further to be said on the issue.

Mental Health Services - Telephone Records

MS REILLY: My question is to the Chief Minister in her capacity as Minister for Health. Last week a call was made to Mental Health following an invitation in the government-funded advertising supplement in the Chronicle. The supplement invited members of the public to ring for further information about changes occurring in Mental Health. The Minister subsequently came into the Assembly and claimed knowledge of who had made the call. How did the Chief Minister know who had made the call? Is it normal for the Chief Minister to check the records of government phones? Under what authority did the Chief Minister gain this information? How often and what other phones have been monitored in this way? Considering that Mental Health often deals with people in crisis and with confidential information, will the Chief Minister give an undertaking that she and her staff will cease this practice?

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