Hansard 21 June 2002
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21 Jun 2002 Legislative Assembly 2187 FRIDAY, 21 JUNE 2002 Mr SPEAKER (Hon. R. K. Hollis, Redcliffe) read prayers and took the chair at 9.30 a.m. SCIENCE IN PARLIAMENT DAY Mr SPEAKER: Order! I remind honourable members of the Science in Parliament day on Tuesday, 20 August 2002. I am pleased to be able to play a role in supporting this initiative to bring Queensland's parliamentarians and scientific community together to learn from each other. Members who have not already registered may wish to complete the Registration of Interest forms which have been placed before them this morning. The forms can be returned to the Speaker's office today. PETITIONS Import of Bananas from Philippines Mr Rowell from 4,049 petitioners requesting the House to immediately ban all imports of bananas from the Philippines and all proposals to do so in the future until such time as the Australian Government can guarantee that (a) under no circumstances will any disease or pest be allowed to cross our borders at all on the grounds of trade as occurred with Black Sigatoka and with imported Californian table grapes in New Zealand recently, (b) the Australian standard of living won’t be threatened by the introduction of third world rates of pay to Australian workers to allow Australian industry to compete on a level playing field and (c) Australian industry’s labour costs will be subsidised to create level playing field conditions where Australian industry is forced to compete against countries with third world labour costs. Food Irradiation Mr Wells from 315 petitioners requesting the House to (a) prohibit the establishment of a nuclear irradiation facility or X-Ray or electron beam irradiation facility at any location in Queensland, (b) ban the import, export and sale of irradiated food in Queensland and (c) call on the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC) and the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) to amend Standards A-17 and 1.5.3 Irradiation of Foods in the Food Standards Code to ban food irradiation outright in Australia and New Zealand. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Appointment of Minister Hon. P. D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.33 a.m.), by leave: I desire to inform the House that on 20 June 2002, in accordance with the Constitution of Queensland 2001, His Excellency the Governor appointed Judith Caroline Spence to be Minister for Families and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Minister for Disability Services and Minister for Seniors of Queensland. This was after she resigned. She resigned and then had to be reappointed. There was one moment when we had one minister fewer, but only for a fraction of time. I do not want any more resignations, either. So that is it. I also inform the House that on 20 June 2002, in accordance with the Constitution of Queensland 2001, His Excellency the Governor, acting by and with the advice of the Executive Council, approved Administrative Arrangements Amendment Order (No. 1) 2002. I lay upon the table of the House copies of the relevant notifications from the Queensland Extraordinary Government Gazette. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Electronic Petitions Hon. P. D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.34 a.m.), by leave: As members are aware, my government is committed to making parliament more accessible to the people. In line with this, we have promised to trial the feasibility of the Queensland parliament accepting e-petitions, that is, petitions on line during this term of the parliament. Unfortunately, the trial—which I had hoped would commence on 1 July 2002, as previously advised—is not possible as amendments to both standing and sessional orders may be required. 2188 Ministerial Statement 21 Jun 2002 I therefore advise the House that a committee of three, comprising the Leader of the House, Anna Bligh, yourself, Mr Speaker, and the Leader of the Opposition or his representative, will be established to work through the issues and make a recommendation on the best way to extend e-democracy to include petitions. The committee will endeavour to report back to the parliament during the next sitting. It just means that we have to work through some issues that have not been resolved. This is quite complicated—double-checking and verifying names on petitions—and I would rather that we spent a bit more time to get it right. So I will move that we establish that committee—if it has been agreed to. I understand the Leader of the Opposition has agreed, so I will move that we establish it. Mr SPEAKER: Do we need a motion for that? Mr BEATTIE: Okay. I will just announce that we have established it. There you go. That is the best way to do it. I like that. I will do a few more of those. I will just announce that we are doing it. That is terrific. Thanks everybody for your support! I am delighted. Mr Foley: You can do it by email. Mr BEATTIE: I will announce it by email next time. How about that! Mr Springborg: With a 42-seat majority— Mr BEATTIE: Now, now, none of that. We would take the member with us. We are compassionate and inclusive. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Roma Street Police Station Hon. P. D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.36 a.m.), by leave: Later today I will join my colleague the Minister for Police, Tony McGrady, to officially open the new $934,804 Roma Street Police Station based at Queensland Police Headquarters. For the past eight years police headquarters has not been an operational police station, but that has changed. It will now be a fully fledged 24-hour operational police station because we are committed to placing police in areas where they are most needed. While there I will also release details of a package of measures that expands our community crime prevention program. The package involves $4.65 million over three years to implement the Strategic Framework for Community Crime Prevention—a blueprint to help communities find solutions to local crime. Under the framework our regional network of crime prevention resource officers will help develop local action teams. The teams, comprising councils, community groups, business, individuals and government agencies—including Queensland police—will find ways to tackle crime issues in their communities. The strategic framework expands on work undertaken in five current crime prevention programs in regional Queensland. The latest initiative will begin on 1 July and will be rolled out across eight regions over three years and cover all areas where community crime prevention partnerships have been active. The regions are: far-north Queensland/Cape York; north Queensland; Mackay/Whitsunday; Wide Bay; north-west Queensland; central Queensland; Sunshine Coast/Cooloola; and parts of SEQ west/eastern Darling Downs. The number and locations of the action teams in each region will be based on the type and rate of crime, the community's potential for program sustainability and the resources available. The package includes a Building Safer Communities training program, the establishment costs for three additional police beats and a new web site. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Constitution Hon. P. D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.38 a.m.), by leave: This parliament can claim a rare title—it was the one that brought it all together—the Constitution, that is. On 3 June—as a Queensland Week event—I formally launched the promotion of our state's new-look Constitution. The consolidation of Queensland's Constitution is a significant achievement of which all in this House—and all Queenslanders—can rightly be proud. On 3 June I launched two civics education initiatives. The initiatives are designed to better inform Queenslanders of our Constitution and our system of government. From 6 June 21 Jun 2002 Ministerial Statement 2189 2002—Queensland Day—the Constitution of Queensland 2001 became law. For the first time in over 130 years the 10 or more pieces of legislation which comprised the Constitution were brought into one act and made more relevant by being rewritten in modern language. So in a smart way we have taken that commitment made before the last election to enhance civics education for all. In keeping with that smart way we have taken a jumble of old-fashioned hard-to- find elements and turned them into one easily read and easily accessed informative document—and with an attached self-help guide. This government is committed to ensuring all Queenslanders know and understand our system of government and that they are fully equipped to better engage with the government to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The initiatives launched comprise Queensland's Constitution: Educational Resource Kit and a Queensland Arts Council on tour in-schools theatre production entitled Citizen Jane. I table a copy of the kit. I also want to highlight that this year Queensland enjoyed a week-long program of celebrations from 2-9 June to mark Queensland Week. Because of time, I seek leave to incorporate the rest of my ministerial statements in Hansard. Leave granted. Included in the educational resource kit, designed for secondary schools and adult education programs, are: an annotated version of the Constitution of Queensland 2001, which sets the Constitution in its historical context and provides an explanation about each section; a civics education video which demonstrates how all Queensland citizens have access to the processes of government and how they can have input into our laws; and two curriculum modules which are aligned to existing Queensland school syllabuses: the Study of Society and Environment Syllabus for Years 9 and 10 and the Legal Studies and Study of Society Syllabus for senior students.