Page 381 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MS BURCH: It goes to the busyness of the festival and the fact that we had also record stalls this year—over 420 stalls over the weekend. We do everything we can do to make sure that the generators and the power suppliers meet that need. We ask all the stallholders what their requirements will be—how many hot plates, chillers; whatever is relevant to their stalls. That goes into the mix and that dictates in many ways the generators and the power supplies that are put into the footprint.
What does happen on occasion, though, is stallholders may bring in additional utilities and have more power requirements. That at times means that power is inconsistent or there may be some shortages or outage or it does not meet their requirements. That is unfortunate. We work around the clock to make sure that the stallholders have what they need, but sometimes there are some hiccups in that. Ms Jones, you would appreciate that, with 420 stalls, if there are only a few complaints I think that we have done well.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Mrs Jones.
MRS JONES: Minister, could you please outline how the access to fresh water points for the use of stallholders was determined and what distance from a fresh water point was considered adequate?
MS BURCH: I do not have that detail in front of me, other than that all stallholders were given very clear information about their stall allocation but also the requirements to meet food safety regulations, and that would have included access to fresh water.
Before the festival there was a mandatory session to be attended by the stallholders. I would have hoped that questions such as that and those sorts of matters, once the footprint was determined, would have been worked through. But if there are matters of concern, I am quite happy to take the information and see what the office can provide back.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Doszpot.
MR DOSZPOT: Minister, will you make changes to the allocation of these various services based on the feedback from stallholders?
MS BURCH: We review each festival each and every year, from a participant’s point of view, from the point of view of the artists that perform and from the stallholders’ point of view. It is something that we take very seriously, which is why over the years we have built up such a successful event, with a quarter of a million people coming in—as I said, record stalls, record performers and record participation this year from our local community associations. So it is something that we do. We do review all aspects of the festival, and where there are things to learn and areas of improvement, that is what we factor in, to make sure that next year’s is even better.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Ms Berry.
MS BERRY: What does the minister intend to do to continue to promote the Multicultural Festival?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video