ABSENCE OF MINISTER Tuesday, 21 November 1995 ASSEMBLY 1323 Tuesday, 21 November 1995 particularly those who want to proceed through and around the city, and commercial traffic. If the honourable member for Morwell doesn't appreciate it, that is his concern. The SPEAKER (Hon. J. E. Delzoppo) took the chair The public is a lot brighter than the opposition The at 2.07 p.m. and read the prayer. public is not prepared to have governments provide further infrastructure if the debt is to be imposed on ABSENCE OF MINISTER future generations. Victorians today want responsible and good government. They want The SPEAKER - Order! I advise the house that governments to build infrastructure that will the Leader of the House, the Minister for Industry provide benefits but not impose debt on future and Employment, will be absent this week on generations. The opposition will be very government business. The Minister for Small disappOinted when this issue is finally put to the test ~usiness will handle any matters relating to the ~~use the people of Victoria are a lot brighter than utdustry and employment portfolio, and the It gIves them credit for. Minister for Agriculture will be Acting Leader of the House. In response to the question asked by the Leader of the Opposition on the scheme itself, I point out that whenever there is a variation in traffic flows one of QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE the most important factors is that any change has to be proven to be, I think, to the detriment of the project or has to adversely affect the operation of the City Link: traffic management project before any claim for compensation can come into play. Mr BRUMBY (Leader of the Opposition) - I It is the government's view that that will not happen ref~r the Premier to the government's repeated for two reasons. The main one is that there will be a claims that the agreed traffic management measures in the City Link contract have nothing at all to do continual growth in traffic with the passage of time, this I with forcing cars onto Transurban's tollways, and I particularly in the traffic using new facility. understand the Labor party's opposition to the ask: if this is the case, why is Transurban entitled to I claim compensation under the contract if any of project and also understand that from time to time those traffic management measures are removed or it might actually ask a question that is constructive, not implemented? but I suggest that to actually oppose -- Mr KENNETr (Premier) - As I said to Mr Batchelor interjected. honourable members when I was last questioned on Mr KENNE'IT - The honourable member for these issues the week before last, as we develop a Thomastown continues to make a fool of himself bett~r roa~ struc~e and provide for the build-up in with his inane interjections. I think you will find this tra~c, which obVIously has been occurring over a project is a bit like the one that was associated with penod, a number of road management techniques the opposition's opposition to the privatisation of have.been put into place. They are not solely the electricity. You are opposed to it because we are prOVInce of Transurban; the losing bidder, Chart doing it; you are not opposed to it because it is Roads, also put forward a range of traffic wrong for Victoria. You never had the courage to ~g.em~t procedures, and the Labor Party, when introduce a project of this nature when you were in It.was ut .office, was planning to introduce a City Link prOject that also involved tolls. government. Just as with the privatisation of the electricity industry, Victorians now recognise that most of our distribution companies having been The project that we have put together will probably sold, they can turn on the light switch and the lights be the single most important road traffic will go on, prices have not gone up and state debt development infrastructure in Australia. has been reduced. Mr Hamilton -It will develop a lot of traffic! The Victorian public understands that by providing good government we are meeting our medium-term Mr KENNElT - One of the real beneficiaries of and long-term requirements. That will also be the it will be people who come from Gippsland, QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 1324 ASSEMBLY Tuesday, 21 November 1995 case with the City Link project. I suggest to the institute. It is because in my opinion around the Leader of the Opposition that rather than opposing world the name Geelong is more important to everything that happens in this state he should people who trade in wool than the wool symbol. identify one or two issues that he can support and While the wool symbol is losing some credibility, the work towards achieving some benefit to the reputation for quality of Geelong is well regarded community. He should not simply oppose and should be preserved and developed. everything the government does on behalf of the community. This initiative should not be seen parochially as being just for Geelong: we will reach out to Wool industry: processing initiatives Hamilton and Ararat. We will form relationships with local and Australian institutions and also with Mrs HENDERSON (Geelong) - Will the educational institutions in Italy, Japan and the UK. Premier inform the house of recent state government We will also form training alliances with companies initiatives to advance the wool processing industry in Italy, Japan and the UK. in Geelong? So this should not be seen as just a Victorian Mr KENNE'IT (premier) - We have been initiative although it is being sourced in this state. It working on this issue for a number of years and we is a project that I am giving 10 years for it to be are now bringing it to fruition, particularly in proved up or for it to be proved conclusively that it Geelong. Most honourable members will recognise cannot work. It will require government funding, that over many years this country, not just Victoria, the quantum of which at this stage has not been has simply been a producer of, in the main, fine to defined, but at its first meeting yesterday I was very medium-quality micron wool. We have exported it grateful for the goodwill exhibited by both in bulk to other countries such as Italy, Japan and educationalists and industry in putting forward this the United Kingdom where it is washed, spun and new venture. I have asked the Honourable Bill woven into products and exported to other parts of Hartigan, a representative of Geelong Province in the world. In other words, we produce the material the other house, to chair this institute, which will to make the product but we do not get added value probably be renamed when it meets for the second from it. The value adding is carried out in other time in January. countries. A moment ago the Leader of the Opposition The government is now trying to reverse that trend. interjected and said it was a good initiative, and I The house will understand that this is not something take his comment on board. I am happy to put that that will happen overnight. We may not be on the record. This initiative is important for successful over time, but we will use our best Victoria and also for Australia because it will allow endeavours to do something that no-one has done in us to start to focus attention on textile and garment recent times. Yesterday in Geelong we brought design, education, and obviously on industry. together education units from Gordon Institute of Although it will not make a great difference globally Technology, Dealcin University, Textskill and the at the moment -less than 4 per cent of our wool is CSIRO. Those four units will form the base of a new used in textile development around the world, and drive in education in the wool industry to train the percentage is probably dropping -we will have operatives at the technical level and then introduce a to find different ways of using wool for not only course at Dealcin for the training of people in the carpets but also garments. This is a very exciting wool industry at the management level. I hope, if all initiative. It stands alongside our Food Victoria goes well, we will establish a chair for textile design initiative, which is running well, and our at Dealcin University from 1 January 1996. multimedia and communications initiative. The government also met with a number of people The government will continue to pursue a different in the industry based around Geelong and form of outcome in association with wool not only throughout Victoria. At this stage they will form for producers but also for the reputation of this state what I shall call as a working title only, the natural and this country, which produces a very wide range fibres institute. That institute will work up a of wool. It should not be seen that we can produce program to try to attract new industry to Victoria only fine and ultrafine IS-micron wooL Our wool and to add value to wool produced in this state and must range through the spectrum. Increasingly it elsewhere. It is important to understand why we will have to involve other ingredients such as cotton. have selected Geelong as the core of this new Recently I saw a suit that had been made out of QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Tuesday, 21 November 1995 ASSEMBLY 1325 woodchip fibres.