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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 11 Hansard (20 October) . . Page.. 3373 ..
MR HIRD: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. Minister, that is music to my ears.
MR SPEAKER: No preamble.
MR HIRD: He would have to be an environmental saint.
Mr Quinlan: Is that the question?
Ms Carnell: No, it is out of order.
MR OSBORNE: My question is to the Attorney-General. Minister, yesterday I drew your attention to the number of security cameras currently operating in Canberra and commented that perhaps quite a few of them were installed by either Commonwealth agencies or the private sector. As a clarification, 10 cameras are in use at various police stations in Canberra, which are Commonwealth agencies, and 69 are installed at the Canberra Casino, a private company which operates under the jurisdiction of the Casino Surveillance Authority. Incidentally, this number is only two more than were operating three years ago. The real growth, around 75 per cent, is in the remaining 280 or so cameras which have been installed and which are operated by ACT government agencies. You also seemed unclear, Minister, as to whether or not the signs which inform the public that they are under surveillance were government policy. I can assure you from your own words, from your answer to question on notice No. 187, that these signs are indeed government policy and I will quote:
When this set of questions was put in 1996, some government agencies advised that they did not have signs erected alerting the public to the use of CCTV in the area. All agencies were advised at that time of the Government policy that such signs should be erected, and the relevant agencies agreed that they would respond accordingly.
I note, Mr Humphries, that yesterday you could not give us an assurance, without first checking, that in accordance with government policy all cameras currently in operation are accompanied with signs. However, you did not go on to say that you would check that each government agency site which operated cameras had signs and then provide the Assembly with an assurance that your policy was faithfully being followed. If you have not already done them, will you agree to undertake the necessary checks and then give the Assembly an assurance that all the signs are in place? There is one question there, Mr Speaker.
MR HUMPHRIES
: Mr Speaker, I will confess to the Assembly that when I gave the answer to Mr Osborne's question on notice about what cameras were out there, where they were, who operated them, whether there was signage associated with them and so on, I was quite surprised by the very long list. It certainly surprised me that there were so many out there that had been installed and, moreover, installed by government. As
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