Page 1413 - Week 04 - Thursday, 26 March 2009
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MR BARR: Of course parents are key stakeholders in this process. The special education reference group does contain parent representatives from across a range of stakeholder organisations. This of course is a challenging area and there will be times when representative bodies are not representing the views of all of their members or even all of the interests that they purport to represent, so it may well be that there are some parents who were not happy with the position that their stakeholder organisation took in relation to terms of reference.
But I still come back to the fundamental issue that we could and should be inquiring into these matters now. The Labor and Greens parliamentary agreement specifically refers to an Assembly inquiry into these matters, into issues for students with a disability, and this matter can and should be—and it is my view that it should be—considered by the Assembly committee’s review. That is entirely appropriate. Labor has signed on to that. We are part of that review. We have a member on that committee and we will be part of that process, and I look forward to that review, considering those issues and reporting as per the deadline in the Labor-Greens agreement, which is November of this year.
Planning—swimming pools
MR COE: My question is to the Minister for Planning. Minister, Canberra has a number of privately owned pools that are open to the public, including those at Kaleen and Macquarie. What discussions have you had with the owners of each of these pools concerning proposals for redevelopment and upgrading these facilities?
MR BARR: I have had no direct discussions with those owners. I understand that representatives or consultants on their behalf have certainly presented to the ACT Planning and Land Authority, and on at least one occasion that I recall have come into my office for a meeting to present a proposal—not necessarily the actual owners but consultants on their behalf.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Coe, a supplementary question?
MR COE: Yes. Minister, what action is being implemented by you and by ACTPLA to prevent these pools from becoming as bad as Deakin?
MR BARR: There is no action that the government can take in relation to the condition of private assets, other than what is provided for through various public health ordinances and other areas of government regulation. But the planning authority has the responsibility for administering the territory plan, and there are, of course, a range of public health compliance measures that are undertaken by agencies outside the Planning and Land Authority. If any issues are present in those facilities then they can be appropriately raised with the relevant government agencies.
Water—supply
MS BURCH: My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water. Can the minister please inform the Assembly of the benefits of storing and
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