Page 3627 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 28 October 2014
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consultation is had with and more information is provided to families and any individuals that are going to be affected and we do not have a situation where families are left waiting until the last four or five weeks of the term year to find out what other alternatives might be available for them in a month or two.
I will leave it short. We will keep a watching brief on how this evolves over the next couple of weeks and how families find dealing with the new service providers through this new mechanism. Fingers crossed, the minister is correct in saying that what she has delivered today does not create any gaps. But the proof will be at the commencement of the 2015 school year whether or not there are children struggling to enrol, struggling to access services. Simply announcing some service providers does not necessarily mean that those children will not be left behind.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Ministerial delegation to Timor-Leste
Statement by minister
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning, Minister for Community Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations, Minister for Children and Young People and Minister for Ageing) (10.29), by leave: I rise today to speak about a recent trip I took to Dili, Timor-Leste to represent the Chief Minister and to officiate at the opening of the national activity centre for scouting for the children of Timor-Leste on behalf of all Canberrans.
The scouts activity centre was one of two projects which have now been completed in Dili and are a direct result of the generosity of Canberrans as part of our centenary celebrations under the dollars for Dili program. I will go into detail about this and other programs shortly. First, by way of background, I would like to provide the Assembly with a brief history of the Canberra-Dili friendship city relationship.
The ACT first entered into the Canberra-Dili friendship agreement on 7 June 2004 when former Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and Mr Ruben Braz de Carvalho, Dili District Administrator, signed the agreement on behalf of the two cities. The agreement aims to build friendship and mutual respect between Canberra and Dili and was recently re-signed by Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and Mr Tomas do Rosario Cabral, Secretary of State for Administrative Decentralisation, on 13 September last year.
The primary goal of the relationship is friendship and mutual respect between the two communities. The initiatives created under the friendship relationship provide educational, cultural, economic, humanitarian and sporting links. These goals are supported by practical exchanges designed to deepen friendship and promote goodwill between the people of Canberra and Dili.
The friendship relationship benefits both individuals and their communities, and furthers environmental, social and cultural goals. The friendship relationship specifically includes young people, to ensure the lasting future of the agreement.
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