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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 5 Hansard (9 May) . . Page.. 1280 ..

MR QUINLAN (continuing):

answers to the first two questions. I would be fascinated to know how much it costs in terms of production and distribution to put out this information. I was going to say "propaganda", but I did not want to be ruled out of order. How much does it cost the ACT taxpayer?

MR SMYTH: The answer is that I will have to take the question on notice and find out the costs of the publication. But if you are out there doing things in housing, as this government is doing, to help develop the social capital of the ACT, then it is worth reporting.

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

MR QUINLAN: Yes, Mr Speaker. Consistent with the government's current orgy of launches, openings and persistent PR verballings, I guess we can expect them to continue to feature the minister. Minister, in the next edition will you be part of the joke of the week?

MR SMYTH: The only joke here is that the Labor Party has no policies on which to compare itself with the government and that it is embarrassed by the government's performance. It is this government that is building up social capital in the ACT. It is this government that is delivering social justice for its tenants. It is this government that is addressing the real concerns of the people of the ACT and the Labor Party just wallows.

MR OSBORNE: My question is to the Minister for Urban Services, Mr Smyth. It is not about a crossword. Minister, could you please inform this Assembly of your plans for the housing department office in Tuggeranong? Is it true that you are considering closing it down? If so, what studies have been done into the impacts of this move on small business and housing tenants in the valley, should it happen?

MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, that was a good question from Mr Osborne about services that affect our constituents. The current lease on the housing office will expire on 30 June. Unfortunately, we were not able to renew it-it has been leased to somebody else-so we have been forced to look at the way we deliver our services, which is a good thing because you should always review the way that you are delivering your services.

We will maintain a counterfront service in the Tuggeranong Valley, which is what the majority of our tenants see. They come to the counter and simply meet with the two or three staff on counter duty. There are a number of staff behind the scene, as it were, but they do not necessarily have to be in Tuggeranong. I have asked the department to look at options. Those options would include better service delivery and whether we have our housing officers using laptops and mobile phones and going out in cars to visit the tenants where they are, rather than forcing tenants to come to visit us.

MR SPEAKER: I call Mr Osborne for a supplementary question.

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