Prudential Standards) Bill (No
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Building Societies (Prudential Standards) Bill (No. 2) 21 November 1990 COUNCIL 1421 Wednesday, 21 November 1990 The PRESIDENT (Hon. A. J. Hunt) took the chair at 10.33 a.m. and read the prayer. BUILDING SOCIETIES (PRUDENTIAL STANDARDS) BILL (No. 2) Introduction andfirst reading Received from Assembly. Read first time on motion of Hon. M. A. L YSTER (Minister for Local Government). MINERAL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT BILL Introduction and first reading Received from Assembly. Read first time on motion of Hon. D. R. WHITE (Minister for Industry and Economic Planning). QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE OVERSEAS STUDENTS Hon. M. A. BIRRELL (East Yarra)-I refer the Minister for Education to the statement he made in the House last Thursday, 15 November, when he stated that the reason the Ministry of Education had been advertising for overseas students without legal authority was that it was necessary to make preparations to enrol those students in 1991. I therefore ask: why was it that in September 1989 Ministry of Education officials went to Hong Kong, Taipei, Malaysia, Singapore and Papua New Guinea to recruit students for government schools, when in June 1989 the Minister was informed that the Education Act would have to be amended to allow the enrolment of fee paying students in government schools? Hon. B. T. PULLEN (Minister for Education)-As I understand it, as part of the program of preparation in that period the Ministry of Education was making investigations that required contact being made with people overseas. In terms of the current situation it is true that the Education Act in Victoria differs from Acts in other States and requires amendment in order to provide for the full charging of fees, although some charges apply without any change to the legislation being necessary. As the honourable member knows, proposed legislation is currently before the other House. USE OF BRAND NAMES Hon. W. R. BAXTER (North Eastern)-Will the Minister for Consumer Affairs explain why in his public remarks last week concerning certain food items he chose to use the brand name of one of the large supermarket chains, thereby giving that business a competitive advantage, rather than using a generic term which would have been competitor neutral? Secondly, will the Minister explain why he did not take greater pains to point out that such products, although lower in price, are not necessarily Questions without Notice 1422 COUNCIL 21 November 1990 better value, either economically or nutritionally, because their quality is often lower and they often contain inferior imported ingredients? Hon. B. W. MIER (Minister for Consumer Affairs)-I think the term I used was "unbranded products" or "non-brand products" . Hon. W. R. Baxter-Y ou used "Home Brand" three times on the radio. Hon. B. W. MIER-I used "Home Brand" as well and admit that at the same time I did refer to two particular retail supermarket chains that were involved in the marketing of those products. I also pointed out during the course of interviews that it was a matter of choice and if people felt those products were suitable to their tastes they could make substantial savings. The savings on average could be as high as $37 a week. That is a lot of money for the average working person. Hon. W. R. Baxter-What about the nutritional value? Hon. B. W. MIER-Nevertheless, if people elect to save $37-plus per week on their shopping bill and are prepared to accept a product that may not taste as good as others that are available, that is their choice. I advised the public generally of the savings that could be made in supermarkets if they elected to go down that track. ASSISTANCE TO EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES Hon. JEAN McLEAN (Boronia)-As all honourable members will be aware, the past twelve months have witnessed remarkable change throughout Eastern Europe. Will the Minister for Industry and Economic Planning inform the House of any recent developments that will enable Victoria to make a contribution to this important process of change, and will he advise what economic benefits will flow to the State from such developments? Hon. D. R. WHITE (Minister for Industry and Economic Planning)-While welcoming the political and economic changes occurring in Europe and Eastern Europe, the government is concerned about trade implications post-1992. The government looks forward to the discussions occurring as part of the Uruguayan round and subsequently as part of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade round in trying to alleviate the circumstances in which primary producers in particular in this country find themselves. The government is concerned also to realise some of the economic opportunities that might open up in Eastern Europe, noting it is difficult to persuade existing businesses in Australia to invest in Eastern Europe at this time because of the significant costs involved in doing so. To create a setting in which relations might be enhanced, I am pleased to inform the House that a Victorian consortium, including representatives of the Overseas Projects Corporation of Victoria Ltd, the Hawthorn Institute of Education and the Swinburne Institute of Technology, put in a tender to train middle managers in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia and was successful in being awarded a three-year contract. It is expected that a number of middle level managers will be trained under the contract valued at some $3.25 million. The Australian Chamber of Manufactures also played a key role in the bid by the Overseas Projects Corporation of Victoria Ltd for the contract arrangement. It is a worthy project because it will enable Victoria to make an assessment of the capacity of managers in Eastern Europe and will provide a setting in which our businesses may get a better first-hand knowledge of what the prospects are of investing in Eastern Questions tvithout Notice 21 November 1990 COUNCIL 1423 Europe and expanding trade relations, given that the political and economic barriers have been significantly reduced. The Department of Industry and Economic Planning also was involved in a business delegation to Russia, specifically to Azerbaijan. The delegation achieved sales of $26 million of Victorian goods and services, particularly in the areas of meat processing and agricultural technologies. The government looks forward to another trade mission visiting Russia and to further developing trade relations in that part of Russia-that is, Azerbaijan-which I hope will lead to enhanced prospects for Victorian industry. If and when that occurs and honourable members wish to participate by meeting members of the Russian delegation, the government looks forward to involving them. OVERSEAS STUDENTS Hon. HADDON STOREY (East Yarra)-Will the Minister for Education withdraw his statement to the House on 31 October in which he said that overseas students paying to study in Victorian government schools will be charged the full cost of their education, in view of the fact that Ministry officials have stated that "the current cost of educating a child in a Victorian government school is unknown"? Hon. B. T. PULLEN (Minister for Education)-Like any scheme, an estimate must be established of the costs incurred in order to fix a charge for overseas students. The information I have received is that the cost has been properly estimated and is related to the way overseas students would be placed in Victorian schools. As I think I mentioned at the time, opportunities will be taken to place overseas students in schools that have some surplus capacity; that is, in determining the actual costs one must have regard to the spread of the overheads and consideration is being given to the overheads of schools with a lower number of students compared with the overheads if the schools were at full capacity. This is happening in a number of areas. As honourable members will be aware, declining enrolments are occurring as a result of changing populations. Hon. Haddoo Storey-But the fact is you don't know what the cost is of educating a child in a government school? Hon. B. T. PULLEN-I have been assured that the calculation of the charges is based on appropriate methodology and the best available information to hand. That is the normal practice in considering charges in many business endeavours, and I believe it has also been done in this case. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRICONTINENTAL Hon. R. M. HALLAM (Western)-I refer the Leader of the Government to the Royal Commission into Tricontinental and in particular to an undertaking given by him in the House on 29 August that the government would consider any suggestion put forward by a member of this place as to further matters deemed appropriate for inclusion in the terms of reference. I further refer the Minister to my formal requests plural-that the circumstances under which responsibility for Tricontinental's liabilities was transferred to the taxpayers of this State be specifically included in the terms of reference. I now ask the Minister whether I can expect the courtesy of a response to those requests. Hoo. D. R. WHITE (Minister for Industry and Economic Planning)-In response to the honourable member's question, the answer is yes. Questions without Notice 1424 COUNCIL 21 November 1990 SCHOOL CURRICULUM REVIEW Hon. T. C. THEOPHANOUS (Jika Jika)-I refer the Minister for Education to the fact that schools in my electorate and, I understand, in other electorates have been requested by the Ministry of Education to undertake a curriculum review process which may lead to school amalgamations. Will the Minister explain more fully the reasons for this review? Hon. B. T. PULLEN (Minister for Education)-It is true that a number of school communities are now undertaking a process of district reviews and are doing so basically for two reasons.