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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 9 Hansard (1 September) . . Page.. 2714 ..
MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, we do support that approach and we have continued to do so in terms of the programs that we had at Quamby, and will continue to have at Quamby. The relationship that exists at Quamby between various areas of government, including education, vocational training, health, mental health and the other partnerships that exist across ACT Government, will continue under the new administration approach.
This Government believes, as I am sure everybody does, that wherever possible we should ensure that indigenous people are not placed in a position of having to be incarcerated, whether they be younger people or older people. We attempt to do everything in our power to achieve that outcome, but where there is a need for incarceration at some level, I think we have been right at the forefront of the criminal justice system and also of juvenile justice in ensuring, as much as possible, that those people are safe while they are in custody. That certainly is the case with all the changes we have made to Quamby. Those changes will continue, as I have said, as will the relationships and the partnerships that exist across government.
MS TUCKER: I have a supplementary question. Could you please explain why the Aboriginal community were not consulted at all about your change in administrative measures for Quamby?
MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, what we have done is an administrative change. In terms of how Quamby - - -
Ms Tucker: That was not my question. Why did you not consult? That was the question.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, it is actually a bit rich, I reckon. Ms Tucker this morning, in a situation where the major employer groups of this city had not been consulted on Mr Berry's Bill, could not have cared less, Mr Speaker.
Ms Tucker: Could I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker? Is there any obligation to be relevant at all?
MR SPEAKER: Relevance, yes. I do uphold the point of order.
Mr Berry: They lied. They were consulted.
MR SPEAKER: Just a moment. Don't you buy into it, Mr Berry.
MS CARNELL
: Mr Speaker, I make the point though that in that particular situation it actually made quite a significant difference to the people involved. With regard to Quamby, how we run the administration, not at the actual Quamby level but at another level, simply will not make a difference to the approach that we take at Quamby to the partnerships that exist. We will continue with the reform process that we have in place.
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