Page 2541 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 11 August 2015
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They might say one thing to the minister, and we know they have to have a relationship with the government, Madam Speaker. But let me assure you, when I talk to members from a whole range of clubs across this town, the last thing they want to see is the good club industry unfortunately put in the same bucket as an organisation that is prepared to donate millions of dollars to a political organisation instead of to the most worthy people in our community.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
ACT Local Hospital Network—schedule 1, part 1.3.
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (10.49): Madam Speaker, I will defer my comments to later in the debate when we talk about Health.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
Canberra Institute of Technology—schedule 1, part 1.4.
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (10.50): Whilst we are waiting for my colleague Mr Doszpot to pop back in, I want to speak on a topic that I have spoken about several times in the past, and that is the provision of Auslan courses at the CIT. Madam Speaker, I think there is a real lack of understanding about the need for these courses at the CIT. I could refer you to an example where it was a sham, there was a lack of access and a lack of communication for deaf people. It caused worldwide outrage. I refer to the sham interpreter at the funeral of Nelson Mandela at the end of 2013. There was someone who was clearly not qualified and clearly was not able to communicate effectively with those people who are deaf.
I will give a few examples to point out just how out of touch the CIT is with the needs of the deaf community and how out of touch this government is with the needs of the deaf community. A vocational course provides you with the background to move on to an interpreting course if you so wish. If you do not wish to go to an interpreting course, it provides you with enough Auslan to be able to communicate with a deaf person. This year, 2015, the CIT is only re-enrolling students. There are no new enrolments. Of course that means that next year, magically, in 2016, they will not be able to run a certificate III course; there will be no demand for it because there will only be one or two students from this year who might be interested in going on.
Magically, next year, this government and the CIT will say, “There’s no demand for a certificate III course in Auslan.” I happened to sit with a few people from the CIT at an event just last week, and one of them in quite a senior position said to me that the results from the CIT Solutions recreational course were just as good as the outcomes from the certificate course. Madam Speaker, I absolutely beg to disagree. The recreational course, the CIT Solutions course, is 12 hours. I will give you an equivalent. It is like going to a CIT Solutions course to learn Italian or Spanish because when you go on holidays you want to be able to order a beer or a coffee in Spanish or Italian. That is what those recreational 12 hours worth of classes do for you.
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