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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2188 ..

MS REILLY: I have a supplementary question. Chief Minister, will you agree that the way that your Government lets consultants who act as preliminary assessors go on to win major contracts leaves you open to the criticism that there are shonky deals going on?

MRS CARNELL: Not at all. Mr Speaker, I think they are very much into shonky deals today. CRI are actually employing local contractors to do the work at Bruce Stadium. They are not actually doing it. Local contactors are doing it. They are managing the process, Mr Speaker, so that we can make sure there are jobs available for local people.

MR HIRD: Firstly, I would like to congratulate the Chief Minister for the effort she put into the Brazil trip. We will all benefit from it as we go towards the year 2000.

MR SPEAKER: Just ask the question, Mr Hird.

MR HIRD: I do have a question; but congratulations, Chief Minister. Last week, Chief Minister, an ACT business delegation led by the chairman of CanTrade, Mr Jim Murphy, departed Canberra to visit China. Can you inform the parliament as to the progress of the delegation and whether they have met with any success in China as yet?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, the CanTrade delegation - CanTrade is another Government initiative that was knocked by those opposite - under the leadership of Jim Murphy, travelled to China last week. It represents by far the biggest overseas promotional exercise ever mounted by the ACT Government. Again, we are out there giving it a go for Canberra, Mr Speaker, while those opposite whinge. This is a follow-up on the successful delegation to China that I headed earlier this year.

I am delighted to inform members that from all accounts the visit is going extremely well. I will run through some of the achievements so far. The delegation spent most of the past week in the industrial city of Yangzhou, a city notable in China as the birthplace of Premier Jiang Zemin, among other reasons. The delegation mounted a successful trade promotion involving 13 Canberra booths and focusing on areas as diverse as the local wine industry, outstanding tourist attractions, education services and advanced technology. More than 3,000 visitors from Yangzhou and neighbouring areas attended the trade promotion. I know that members of the delegation have been absolutely delighted by the response. In addition, a series of six seminars was run, featuring environmental management, investment and business opportunities, information technology, tourism, higher education and urban planning. More than 400 people attended the seminars, including many government and business representatives.

Mr Speaker, as a result of the trade promotion and seminars, a number of memorandums of understanding have been signed with organisations in Yangzhou, paving the way to greater promotion of ACT tourism and education services in China. An agreement has been reached for the exchange of tourism personnel with Yangzhou, a city that attracts more than three million visitors from within China annually. This tourism exchange,

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