Page 834 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 2 May 2007

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2009 the vaccine will then become part of the regular school immunisation program provided to all year 7 students.

Importantly, for the next two years there is a catch-up program for 18 to 26-year-old women and for girls aged between 15 and 17 who have left school. They will be eligible for the free vaccine from GPs from July this year until June 2009. So it is important if anyone knows women of that age that they are urged to take part in this window of availability for the free vaccine.

It is the most effective protection against HPV if it is administered to women before they become sexually active. However, the big challenge with the rollout of this program will be in ensuring that young women understand that this does not mean that they do not have to participate in regular pap screening as the vaccine does not protect against all of the HPV types that cause cervical cancer. Regular screening may pick up some warning signs of other cancers or abnormalities of the cervix.

The challenge for us in rolling out the program once the immunisations are done is to make sure that the participation rate in the national cervical screening program is maintained and enhanced.

Ministry

MR MULCAHY: My question is to the Chief Minister. On the evening of, appropriately, Friday, 13 April—not that I am suspicious; I think Mr Corbell will be—you announced a ministerial reshuffle, in the middle of the development of your budget. In 2001, you said, “The budget is the key document in any government’s annual program.” Why did you decide to reshuffle your cabinet in the middle of the preparation of this most critical document in the government’s annual program?

MR STANHOPE: Interestingly, I think the last reshuffle that I announced was in the same week last year. It is an argument or a debate we could have in relation to the timing of any announcement concerning any administrative arrangements change that there was an administrative arrangements change in early April this year and there was a significant administrative arrangements change in early April last year. In fact, coincidentally, and I must say the coincidence struck me, I think it was the very same week. So there is no magic in the timing. Perhaps, in the context of any debate about administrative arrangements, the timing really is quite irrelevant. I might say for the information of the member that the significant work in relation to this year’s budget had been completed by that stage.

MR MULCAHY: Why did you introduce the reshuffle at that time, given that the ministers would be learning their new portfolios while attempting at the same time to put forward submissions to the budget cabinet process?

MR STANHOPE: I have answered the first part of the question. It is the case that the significant work in relation to this year’s budget had been completed by that time. The budget has not yet been completely finished, but certainly the majority of the hard work in the development of business cases and the development of a structure overarching direction and nature in the setting of priorities had been concluded. In relation to the capacity of ministers to get across new portfolio responsibilities, with a


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