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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 02 Hansard (Thursday, 4 March 2004) . . Page.. 748 ..

preferred? What will the government do in the future to support local companies to participate in tourism campaigns?

MR QUINLAN: The member should look at Competition Council requirements and policy to establish what can and cannot be done in relation to preferences.

ACTION bus service

MR CORNWALL: My question is to the minister for transport, Mr Corbell. On 2CC this morning the announcer read out an email he had received outlining that female bus drivers were taking their young children on their shifts and placing them on the front seat with toys to keep them occupied. A caller later claimed that male drivers were doing the same thing. That has prompted concerns for the child and whether the driver might get distracted if the child is upset, possibly causing an accident. Is this the government’s idea of a family friendly workplace? If not, why is ACTION allowing its drivers to do this, given the obvious dangers to the child and the risk of an accident?

MR CORBELL: This is the first time I have heard such an allegation, but if Mr Cornwall has any better details of that allegation I am happy to investigate it further. I will certainly be taking steps as of today to clarify the situation and provide Mr Cornwall and the Assembly with further advice.

MR CORNWALL: I ask a supplementary question for clarification. Will the minister be coming back to the Assembly with further details about that problem on the buses?

MR CORBELL: I just said that.

Bonner concept plan

MS TUCKER: My question, which is directed to the Minister for Planning, relates to the environmental protection measures in the Bonner concept plan. I do not know whether the Minister for Environment would like to answer some aspects of that question. Tonight, as part of the development of the Bonner concept plan, there will be a public information display and people will have an opportunity to comment. One of the key issues that is listed on the flyer includes its relationship to adjacent land uses. The important environmental values of the Gooroo and Mulligans Flat reserves are a defining feature of adjacent land uses.

One pressing matter in this relationship between the new suburbs and the reserves is the location of bushfire buffer zones, and another is the intrusion of weeds. Has the need to protect these reserves from the impact of the new suburbs and other matters been taken into account in the concept plans? Will the minister table in the Assembly by close of business today any information that will be provided to the community at the meeting tonight as background information, or any other information related to the concept plan?

MR CORBELL: I do not have to hand details about the Bonner concept plan. I am happy to take the member’s question on notice and to provide that information to her. In relation to the documentation that is being made available tonight, I understand that work on the Bonner concept plan is being done through a consultancy on behalf of the

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