Page 687 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 11 February 2009
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I did appreciate your other language, Mr Doszpot, your mother language. Thank you for that contribution. It made the debate very interesting, I think. I am sorry that I did not add a few Indigenous words to my address before but I say, in response to all of your contributions, “Maynmak, bilunyich, fatju,” which means good, good and good. I think it is very interesting that the people that I lived with had three words for “good” and “thank you”, which are interchangeable. So maynmak, bilunyich, fatju for your contributions.
I thank Mr Barr for his reminder of the importance of our diplomatic corps. The ACT is fortunate to have such an active diplomatic corps and we will be expanding our links, as the minister said, between the schools and diplomatic corps for the delivery of languages and cultural education. They are an extremely important link with contemporary languages of their countries and we are very fortunate to have such a growing number of embassies in the ACT.
Members, I know, will be pleased to have heard from Mr Barr how we are going to be increasingly investing in our Ethnic Schools Association in the form of the rental subsidy that he mentioned and the use of the public schools after hours and on weekends. I think that is an extremely good way of using our public money, as Mr Barr was saying.
I know that Ms Hunter would also be pleased to hear about the fact that, in response to community consultation on the 2008 multicultural summit, the ACT government will be exploring the viability of establishing language learning centres to enhance the efficient use of resources for face-to-face learning for community languages. This has proven to be a successful way to assist community language schools with programs that aid multicultural groups to maintain their cultural identity, language and heritage. I am sure that you are pleased also to hear that we will continue to be investing in our community in the way that this government is.
I am really pleased that we are all speaking the same language on this particular topic. I would like to commend members for their contribution to this debate this afternoon and for their support for this motion.
Motion agreed to.
Health—performance indicators
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (5.55): I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) notes that the Stanhope-Gallagher Government has failed to improve on key health performance indicators as measured in the Australian Medical Association Public Hospital Report Card 2008, specifically of concern to the Opposition is the ACT’s poor performances in key areas of:
(a) Emergency Department waiting times;
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