Page 1118 - Week 03 - Thursday, 18 March 2010
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MS GALLAGHER: Well, you are wrong, Mr Smyth. We set out 12 months ago with a very clear plan about what we wanted to do over the next 12 months—and we have achieved it.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, a supplementary?
MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, this is about economic and business support to the small business sector, I believe. I am just checking with you. I would like to know: is the government going to give any support to the newsagents industry going forward after 2012? I know this is of interest to the paperboy of the year 1990, Mr Brendan Smyth, and I know he will be looking for a job after the 2012 election. I want to know what support he might get.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Hargreaves.
Mr Hanson: Mr Speaker, on a point of order more generally, if Mr Hargreaves continually asks supplementaries which are vexatious and are clearly just intended to use up supplementaries that could otherwise be used by the crossbench or the opposition, I would ask that you not go to Mr Hargreaves for supplementaries.
Mr Hargreaves: Fair suck of the sausage, Mr Speaker. They are getting to me. These people are taking so much latitude with your patience. I must say that you have incredible patience and I congratulate you.
MR SPEAKER: The Treasurer, on the question.
MS GALLAGHER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I do not believe the government has taken any decisions about support for newsagencies post 2012 but I am happy to take any submissions that interested parties, particularly those on the other side of the chamber, might like to put forward if they are seeking any government support.
Mental health facility
MR COE: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, when exactly was the decision taken to include the Quamby site for consideration of the mental health unit? What was the process and who was included in the consultation?
MS GALLAGHER: I will check the date on when the decision was taken, but from memory it was in excess of a year ago. We went out with three sites to be considered for the secure mental health facility. There was the former Quamby site at Symonston and then there were two sites out near Mitchell and in Gungahlin.
The government took an agreement in principle that these were the three sites to be considered. We had gone through quite an extensive community consultation process. There were presentations to three community councils. there were three user group workshops, 36 one-to-one meetings and 23 contacts by email requesting feedback. There were three drop-in sessions—one at Narrabundah, one at Canberra Hospital and one in Gungahlin. There were feedback sheets from public drop-in sessions
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