Page 56 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 13 February 2018
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every year, not only from stall holders but from festival participants and from ACT government agencies but, of course, particularly from stall holders, to see what the impact of this policy is, to see if we need to review it for next year. We will be reconsidering this policy for next year’s festival.
MR COE: Minister, in what form will that consultation take place, following this year’s Multicultural Festival, and how much do you expect that community organisations will lose as a result of their inability to sell alcoholic beverages?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his supplementary question. A range of consultation mechanisms is undertaken with community organisations, both in the lead-up to and subsequent to the festival. There are surveys of festival-goers. Obviously, that will include volunteers working on community stalls as well; that is my understanding. There are then feedback sessions with stallholders following the festival. I will take the detail of the question on notice, as to exactly what those mechanisms comprised; and, again, commit to ongoing consultation in the lead-up to the next festival.
As to the second part of the question, which I think was about whether or not community organisations will be losing money as a result of this decision, I would point out that we have had feedback from a small number of stallholders expressing concern about that aspect. There are two concerns that stallholders have raised that we have taken on board. One concern is about them losing opportunities to raise revenue through the sale of alcohol. The festival organisers have been actively engaged with communities who have raised that particular concern, to support and encourage them to diversify their activities, and to look at other ways of raising money. I certainly encourage them to do that, or to partner with the commercial stallholders who are able to sell alcohol, to ensure that their culturally appropriate alcohol is available on the footprint, which is, of course, the second concern that stallholders have raised with us.
I should emphasise that this condition was part of the stallholder application process, the participation policy, which was made available in September. The amount of feedback we have had from actual stallholders in relation to this matter has been quite small.
Business—Local Industry Advocate
MR WALL: Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Economic Development. Minister, part of the role of the Local Industry Advocate is to ensure that work that can be done by local businesses stays in the ACT through the procurement process. Minister, what input has the Local Industry Advocate had on the procurement process for green waste collection services in light of the recent rollout of green bins across parts of the territory?
MR BARR: The Local Industry Advocate does play a role in advising government on a range of procurement matters. I will need to seek some information in relation to whether the Local Industry Advocate has played a significant role in relation to that particular procurement. But I think the issue in question was a very clear election commitment from the Labor Party at the last election.
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