Page 504 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 21 February 2018
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MR COE: Minister, will you guarantee in the absence of light rail that Mitchell will receive a single bus to the city and Gungahlin, as is currently the case, or will it be serviced by a shuttle bus to a light rail stop?
MS FITZHARRIS: There will be no absence of light rail: light rail will operate. As members of the opposition are well aware, there has already been stage 1 of our consultation on the broader bus network. Stage 2 consultation of the more detailed components of our bus network once light rail starts operating is due to open in the next six weeks or so. We will guarantee continued public transport services to Mitchell. We will do the necessary work to understand patronage to Mitchell, and we will continue to talk with Mitchell traders. They have had significant anti-light rail discussions from the opposition, who never once—I would like to repeat that—never once raised the issue of a stop in Mitchell until they lost the last election.
Government—veterans employment strategy
MR PETTERSSON: My question is to the Minister for Veterans and Seniors. Can the minister please update the Assembly on the government’s veterans employment strategy?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Mr Pettersson for his question. I am very pleased to update the Assembly on the government’s work to build a city which is a great place to live for veterans transitioning to a civilian employment where they are welcomed and supported.
In the second half of last year, the ACT public service was surveyed to determine how many veterans are currently in the public service and what their experience of transitioning to it was. I am glad to say that we received 134 responses, which is particularly impressive given that when New South Wales undertook the same exercise, their much larger public service returned 150 responses.
Through December and January, a number of meetings have occurred between the ACT government and the Department of Defence, right up to the Head of Service and the secretary of the Department of Defence. As part of this, we have gained some useful insights as to how best to attract veterans to the ACT, and we have begun to work together to help achieve this goal.
Working with the Department of Defence, we are creating a matrix comparing ranks and skills in the ADF with the public service, to help those in the ADF translate defence speak into public service speak. We will also have a representative at the upcoming ADF transition seminars to answer questions and provide support to those who are looking at transitioning to the ACT public service.
Madam Speaker, these are just a few of the initiatives that we will be rolling out. I look forward to announcing more in the future.
MR PETTERSSON: Can the minister advise what data the survey provided about those veterans who have transitioned to the ACT public service?
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