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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Tuesday, 24 August 2004) . . Page.. 4030 ..

than happy to ask them to do that, if they have not done it, and to make available for public perusal the details of all of the issues surrounding the cull of kangaroos at Googong. That is reasonable.

Kangaroo culling of itself is not something that the ACT government or ACT instrumentalities, as a rule, are involved in. I think it is only the second occasion in eight years or thereabouts that an ACT government agency has been directly involved in culling kangaroos on land managed by the ACT government. But certainly kangaroo culling is a feature of land management by rural lessees within the ACT. I understand that about 3,000 kangaroos are culled by rural lessees in the ACT each year. This was a continuation of that culling process undertaken by Environment ACT on behalf of the ACT government.

It is appropriate that there be a formal record and that it be publicly available. I will pursue those aspects of the question asked by Ms Tucker and ensure that there is a formal report for perusal.

MS TUCKER: Will the minister be taking the results of that monitoring to a reconvened kangaroo management committee?

MR STANHOPE: I am more than happy to respond to you on that, but I will take advice on the issue of your question from Environment ACT. That advice may suggest to me that there are issues that might be further pursued. I think that there are issues about the Australian standard on the killing or destruction of young kangaroos—joeys—and commercial kangaroo culling that might be pursued nationally. I concede that. It was an issue of general concern to the Canberra community in relation to the cull that was undertaken. I believe that there are issues of that order that could legitimately be pursued, and I would be happy to pursue them.

Department of Education and Training

MRS BURKE: My question is to the minister for education, Mrs Gallagher. Minister, correspondence dated 27 November and 2 December 2003 was sent to Ms Fran Hinton, Chief Executive, Department of Education, highlighting serious concerns about maladministration and corruption in your department. In response to those claims Ms Hinton replied:

If you have any knowledge of fraud, corruption or maladministration within the department or the public service you should report this as soon as possible. I can assure you that any reports of this kind are taken seriously and carefully investigated.

Minister, correspondence containing a similar message was also sent on 22 October 2003 to Mr Trevor Wheeler, a former senior manager within your department, regarding these concerns. Mr Michael Bateman, Director, Human Resources, in your department was also informed on 19 January 2004, as was the Assistant Manager, Workplace and Legal Support. Minister, why did you make the comments in this chamber on 3 August and 4 August that you knew nothing about claims of corruption and maladministration within your department when the chief executive of your department and three senior managers knew about the issues as long ago as 22 October 2003?

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