Page 1335 - Week 05 - Thursday, 18 June 2020
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appreciate that being explained to a child or young person or, again, have a different perception. It really depends on the individual circumstances of the child or young person and the circumstances of the visit or the cancellation or postponement of that contact.
MISS C BURCH: Minister, why aren’t birth parents allowed to explain to their children the restrictions that you place on them or the rules imposed on their contact with them?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I do not place any restrictions on birth parent contact with their children and young people.
Gaming—COVID-19
MR PARTON: My question is to the Minister for Health. What is the health reason for reopening TAB and Keno facilities as of 19 June while not providing a recommencement date for gambling and gaming venues, currently listed as needing further consideration?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mr Parton for the question, but I am sure that he would understand that poker machines that people touch buttons on are quite different to a TAB or a Keno where you might fill out a piece of paper or place your bet in a different way.
MR PARTON: Minister, what is the health advice that indicates that brothels are safer than gaming and gambling venues, given that they have a hard reopen date in the program forward?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: Far fewer people are involved in an interaction in a brothel or with a sex worker than would be the case in a gaming facility.
MISS C BURCH: Minister, what advice has been provided about how to maintain physical distancing of one person per four square metres in brothels and who will be responsible for policing physical distancing in brothels?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Miss Burch for the question. Obviously, there are some businesses where maintaining a physical distance of 1.5 metres is not possible—hairdressing, beauty therapy, massage. All of these things are currently underway as non-essential businesses that are allowed to open, with restrictions.
Hospitals—specialist waiting lists
MR COE: My question is to the Minister for Health. A constituent contacted the opposition on 4 June to advise that he would have to wait another seven years to see an ear, nose and throat specialist. This constituent has already been waiting almost two years. Another constituent has been advised that he faces a four-year wait. Minister, after 19 years of trying to solve this problem, why do Canberrans have to wait for nine years before they are able to see an ear, nose and throat specialist in Canberra?
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