Page 738 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 1 May 2007
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It should be noted that the vast majority of people with asthma are managed and managed very well by their GPs in their communities. We assist the GPs with support and resources for asthma patients. But the role of GPs in ensuring excellent access to primary health care and treatment programs for people suffering from asthma cannot be underestimated.
One of the key risk factors for asthma is smoking. In recent years, the ACT government has taken significant measures to reduce exposure to passive smoke in our community. The recently enacted Smoking (Prohibition in Enclosed Public Places) Act has been in operation for more than two months. It prohibits people from smoking in any enclosed public place such as a restaurant, pub or nightclub. These laws seem to be going very well. The Office of Regulatory Services reports that only a few complaints have been received about smoking in enclosed public places. Those premises have been very proactive in rectifying the situation.
There has been a range of public health information and ads around the laws. These ran during the last part of last year and early this year. Information fact sheets and flyers have been developed and distributed. The change to smoke-free indoor areas has gone very well. Over the next few months the government will be pursuing a range of other tobacco control measures. These will all help to support and reduce the prevalence of asthma in our community. Happy World Asthma Day everyone.
Public service—credit card use
MR SESELJA: My question is to the Chief Minister. In the 2006-07 budget, your government introduced and increased a raft of new government charges that had a significant financial impact on the people of Canberra. Mindful of these charges, can you, as Chief Minister, explain, in response to information obtained by the Canberra Times under the Freedom of Information Act, expenditure at Strandbags by named employee A of $185; at Strandbags by named employee B of $160.70; at Indigo restaurant, London, by named employee C of $1,626.85; at Lime restaurant, Manchester, by named employee D of $432.65; and by named employee E to make two cash advances of $1,104.24 and $570.26?
MR STANHOPE: I cannot, off the top of my head.
Mrs Dunne: You asked us to ask a specific question.
MR STANHOPE: I am more than happy to provide the details of those expenditures, but I certainly cannot conjure up a response or an explanation for those particular expenditures. I repeat what I said: there are quite rigorous guidelines for the use of credit cards by ACT public servants. The guidelines are very much in tune or in accord with guidelines that are used by every government in Australia.
As I indicated earlier, I cannot quite remember or recall the sequence of events in relation to this audit. I think it was as a result of the Auditor-General’s inquiry into Rhodium that I sought from my chief executives assurances and guidelines on the use of credit cards. Simultaneously, the Auditor-General—and I need to get this
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