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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (13 May) . . Page.. 1252 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

Mr Whitecross said:

... Labor will commit to developing and implementing a strategic industry plan.

Did he outline it? Did he give a clue as to what sort of strategic plan he might put into place? He did not. What is the contribution in that? There is the implication that there is not a strategic industry plan. Well, there is. Again, they are a few hollow words that mean nothing. He said:

Labor will ensure there are mechanisms in place to foster links between our highly skilled work force, educational and research institutions, locally based enterprises and industry bodies.

What new links? The links are there already. This Government has been working to bring those resources together for over two years now and will continue to do so. But does he say how he is going to do it? What new links? He does not; he is silent.

This, I thought, was one of the best statements that he made:

Labor will maintain a watching brief on infant industries.

Is not that a proactive policy statement? I repeat:

Labor will maintain a watching brief on infant industries.

He did not even define the infant industries that he is going to keep a watching brief over. They are a lot of words; but the Labor Party, as expressed by their leader, is totally bereft of any idea of how to go about addressing the problems that they define the Territory as experiencing. Referring to regional development, he said:

An industry plan will be developed in consultation with regional representatives.

The man does not even know what has been going on for years; he has never heard of the South-East Regional Development Council, the Regional Leaders Forum or the joint planning systems that have been in place, to my certain knowledge, for the last five years. What new industry plan, what new consultation process, and with what new regional representatives does he intend to consult? The answer is none. It is a lot of rhetoric but no substance. He said:

We need to identify new and complementary market opportunities for the ACT.

Did he offer any solutions as to what they might be? No, he did not. Does he not know that CanTrade exists for that purpose? Does he not know that the Tourism and Events Corporation is being established for that purpose? Again, they are empty words. He said:

Labor will provide balance in its industry assistance.

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