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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 11 Hansard (20 October) . . Page.. 3374 ..
MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):
I said yesterday, I am sure that that list is relatively short compared with the number of cameras operating in the private sector. So there is no doubt that this is a heavily surveyed society, as could be said of most other larger urban areas in Australia.
Mr Speaker, without knowing the extent of the commitment I would make by saying this, I would be happy in principle to give the assurance that Mr Osborne has sought. I think it is important that signage should be appropriately placed for cameras. I think, from memory, that there is signage outside this building, Mr Speaker, in relation to the cameras that work here. It is not in huge letters a metre wide, but it is certainly enough for people to know that they are there, notwithstanding the fact that some people who come here, late at night for example, do not always see them when they do things outside the windows of the Assembly, as was the case the other night. However, it does need to be addressed.
I should make it clear, Mr Speaker, that there has been a program to put cameras in various public places for quite a few years. It is interesting that this issue of appropriate signage and appropriate controls has only arisen since this Government came to office and we started to talk about these issues. In fact, cameras have been installed for a much longer period, including by the former Government which now professes concern about the use of those cameras. Many of those cameras, in fact most of those cameras, were unsigned - that is, there was not any signage about them - and they were installed without any sorts of protocols or advice about how they should operate, who should operate them, and so on.
Mr Osborne has raised an issue of genuine concern that we need to address. As I said, I will be producing in a little while the Government's proposed protocols for the operation of cameras in Civic. I hope that I can deliver on the commitments that Mr Osborne sought from me in order to make sure that the community is at least aware of the implications of doing things in certain public places in this city and is able to act accordingly.
MR BERRY: My question is to the Minister for Education, the one who has control of those poor bursars.
MR SPEAKER: Is that your question?
MR BERRY: No, that was not the question. Is the Minister completely satisfied that the certification of Year 12 students will go through without incident, given the problems with the MAZE administration? These problems led to delays earlier this year, when results were not ready until the second or third week of the next semester. Is it not a fact that the schools are diverting teaching and administration resources - that is, teachers and school assistants -away from the classroom to attempt to ensure the viability of the ailing system?
MR STEFANIAK
: I thank the member for the question. I think I indicated on the last occasion that in any new system there are always some bugs that have to be ironed out. Whilst some schools, I think, continued to manage to do the certificates on times, others
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