22 March 1988 COUNCIL 207
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Joint Sitting DJ Parliament 22 March 1988 COUNCIL 207 Tuesday, 22 March 1988 The PRESIDENT (the Hon. R. A. Mackenzie) took the chair at 3.3 p.m. and read the prayer. ELECTORAL REFORM AND NUNA WADING RE-ELECTION COMMITTEE The PRESIDENT-Order! I advise the House that I have received from the Leader of the government, within the time set by the resolution of the House, a letter in which the Honourable M. J. Amold and the Honourable B. W. Mier are nominated as members of the Electoral Reform and Nunawading Re-election Committee. JOINT SITTING OF PARLIAMENT La Trobe University Victorian Health Promotion Foundation The PRESIDENT-I have received the following letter from the Minister for Education: 9 December 1987 Dear Mr President. Section 7 of the La Trobe University Act 1964 provides that three members of the council shall be members ofthe Parliament of Victoria who have been recommended for appointment by ajoint sitting of members of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly and conducted in accordance with rules adopted for the purpose by the members present at the sitting. Mr David Lea, MLA, whose appointment was approved by the Governor in Council on 16 December 1986, has resigned from the council, creating a casual vacancy to be filled in a like manner. I should be grateful if you could arrange for a joint sitting of the members of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly to recommend a member for appointment to the Council of the La Trobe University for a term of office expiring on 18 December 1990. I have addressed a similar letter to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Yours sincerely, IAN CATHIE Minister for Education I have also received the following letter from the Minister for Health: 3 December 1987 Dear Mr President, Tobacco Act 1987 (Act No. 81/87) I wish to advise that the above Act established the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation. Section 21 (I) (f) provides that the membership of the Foundation shall include three persons who are members of the Legislative Council or the Legislative Assembly elected by the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly jointly. Pursuant to this requirement I would be pleased if you would, together with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, take steps to convene a joint sitting of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly to take place during the Autumn Session of Parliament, 1988. Yours sincerely, DAVID WHITE Minister for Health 208 COUNCIL 22 March 1988 Questions without Notice I have also received the following message from the Assembly: Mr President, The Legislative Assembly acquaint the Legislative Council that they have agreed to the following resolution: That this House meets the Legislative Council for the purpose of sitting and voting together to choose three members of the Parliament of Victoria to be recommended for appointment to the Council of the La Trobe University and to elect members for appointment to the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, and proposes that the place and time of such meeting be the Legislative Assembly Chamber on Wednesday, 23 March 1988, at 6 o'clock. with which they desire the concurrence of the Legislative Council. The Hon. E. H. WALKER (Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs)-By leave, I move: That this House meet the Legislative Assembly for the purpose of sitting and voting together to recommend a member for appointment to the Council of the La Trobe University and to elect members for appointment to the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and, as proposed by the Assembly, the place and time of such meeting be the Legislative Assembly Chamber on Wednesday, 23 March 1988 at 6 o'clock. The motion was agreed to. It was ordered that a message be sent to the Legislative Assembly acquainting them with the foregoing resolution. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE STANDARDISED TESTING IN SCHOOLS The Hon. HADDON STOREY (East Yarra Province)-Will the Minister for Education explain why the ~overnment refuses to except the Blackburn report recommendation for standardised testlng to raise standards in schools, particularly in view of the fact that that form of testing is now being adopted in most Western countries including the United States of America, England and Sweden? The Hon. C. J. HOGG (Minister for Education)-It is worth noting when Mr Storey talks about testing being adopted in many overseas countries that he fails to mention that that is a controversial issue in many countries, particularly in Great Britain. There is absolutely no case for external compulsory testing within primary schools. I have not seen the first Liberal Party document on education, which was released today; I have been told about it only second or third-hand. There is a suggestion-possibly it is even an election plank-that testing should be compulsory. The Hon. R. I. Knowles-A commitment. The Hon. C. J. HOGG-The Liberal Party has a commitment that external testing should take place for children in grades 3 and 6 and in Year 10. I believe external testing has no place at all in primary schools. I shall refer to secondary schools later. Certainly parents want to know and need to know how their children are faring at school. Weekly and daily in many cases teachers are monitoring and assessing, and where things are going particularly well and there is parent participation in meetings of school councils or in classrooms, parents are well aware of the progress that their children are making. Testing is also somewhat controversial within secondary schools. As my predecessor, now the Minister Assisting the Minister for Education, announced last year, some limited external testing will take place late this year. I am waiting for details of that project. Questions without Notice 22 March 1988 COUNCIL 209 CATTLE COMPENSATION The Hon. B. P. DUNN (North Western Province)-In view of the admission made by the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs last wee.k that his department had known for up to seventeen years of the dangers associated with the use of certain chemicals and had known for six years of the problems of the use of dieldrin, and in view of the fact that the department continued to recommend the use of those chemicals after that time, will the Minister amend his cattle buy-back scheme to allow for compensation at full market value of the cattle to be paid to prod ucers whose cattle have been affected instead of only 70 per cent to 80 per cent of market value, which is so far proposed? If not, why not? The Hon. E. H. WALKER (Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs)-I am happy to respond to the question. I should correct the comments made in the opening part of the question which suggested that knowledge of dieldrin goes back just six years; in fact, dieldrin was understood by certain people to be a problem approximately seventeen years ago. The Hon. B. A. Murphy-What did Ian Smith do? The Hon. E. H. WALKER-I shall have to resist answering the interjection, although I am interested in the question. As Mr Dunn knows, I had a meeting with representatives of the Victorian Farmers Federation a couple of weeks ago, and, in response to requests, I announced an approach to buy back cattle in cooperation with the Rural Finance Commission. It was a fair and reasonable approach. It is a voluntary scheme whereby farmers whose properties are quarantined can choose to sell back all or part of their herds to the Rural Finance Commission for somewhere between 70 and 80 per cent of their valuation. The scheme is not compulsory. Some farmers will take advantage of it and some will not. Yesterday, I received a letter from the Victorian Farmers Federation in response to my letter containing the proposal I have outlined and other proposals. The federation has indicated that it does not believe that is a reasonable or adequate position. I have agreed to meet representatives of the federation tomorrow to discuss the issue; that is not to say that I shall necessarily change the position, but I am not an unreasonable man, as Mr Dunn knows. I shall listen to the position of the Victorian Farmers Federation. It is my understanding, although I cannot claim to be an expert in the cattle business, that, of the significant number of cattle that might be brought to the department for purchase, some will not be suitable for continuing to graze and fatten and ought to be slau~tered immediately, and that those tested and shown to be above the minimum residue levels should be disposed of. It is also my understanding that if, for instance, we purchased back 3000 or 4000 cattle, anything up to $2 million or $3 million would need to be spent. Experts tell me that we will be lucky to receive back something like three-quarters of the amount of money laid out. In other words, the proposal is not fully self-funding. A loss will be incurred. I will be talking to representatives of the Victorian Farmers Federation tomorrow about the issue. They will elaborate on the points they brought out in the letter to me, and I am willing to listen to them. However, I believe the offer the government has made through the Rural Finance Commission is a good offer. METROPOLITAN AMBULANCE SERVICE The Hon. M. J. SANDON (Chelsea Province)-Will the Minister for Health inform the House of the improvements that have been made to the Metropolitan Ambulance Service? The Hon. D. R. WHITE (Minister for Health)-It is true that over the past year the government has taken initiatives to spend $17 million on the Metropolitan Ambulance 210 COUNCIL 22 March 1988 Questions without Notice Service, which included a new ambulance headquarters at Doncaster, a computer-aided despatch system, an ultra-high frequency radio network and a new vehicle workshop and branch station facilities in South Melbourne.