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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (3 December) . . Page.. 4443 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

That is the approach we take. I do not think it is all right for whole departments - and that is what we are talking about here - to end up, I suppose, with front-page Canberra Times headlines saying that everyone hates a particular department or that such and such a department is significantly below average in the service that they provide. I do not think that helps anybody. What does help, though, is to do something about it.

MS McRAE: My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning, Mr Humphries. Mr Humphries, the tenants at the ROCKS, the colloquial name for the Residents of Childers and Kingsley streets, have been told that the Ethnic Communities Council will move from the Griffin Centre to the ROCKS. This information has been actively promoted not only by developers but also by government employees. Some tenants and users of space at the ROCKS have been told that they will have to change their operations and/or look somewhere else for space. Has a decision been made? If so, what is the decision? If no decision has been made, why have government employees been involved in spreading misinformation?

MR HUMPHRIES: I thank Ms McRae for this question. I am quite concerned that there would be government employees who would be spreading that misinformation, because there is no decision. There is nothing more than a proposal, much of the detail of which members are aware of and which has no approval or imprimatur from the Government whatsoever. So, if Ms McRae would like to supply me with details about the public servants supplying that information, I will make sure those public servants are put right.

MR SPEAKER: Do you have a supplementary question, Ms McRae?

MS McRAE: Yes, Mr Speaker. Minister, will the Government also now approach all tenants and people who use the current buildings in the ROCKS area to clear up the misinformation and stop the confusion and concern?

MR HUMPHRIES: If Ms McRae can show me where the misinformation is coming from and who is imparting it, I am very happy to address the issue. I have not heard of any government employees who are making these misrepresentations. Indeed, I have spoken to a number of the organisations as well and made it quite clear, and they have not expressed to us any concern about misinformation; so, I cannot promise to do that, unless I can see a basis for it. But if there is such a basis, of course, I will make that approach.

MRS LITTLEWOOD: My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Is the Minister aware of the latest ACT tourist accommodation figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics? If so, what is his reaction to those figures?

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