Questions without Notice 7 October 1987 COUNCIL 699 Wednesday, 7 October 1987 The PRESIDENT (the Hon. R. A. Mackenzie) took the chair at 2.3 p.m. and read the prayer. APPROPRIATION (1987-88, No. 1) BILL This Bill was received from the Assembly and, on the motion of the Hon. D. R. WHITE (Minister for Health), was read a first time. WORKS AND SERVICES (ANCILLARY PROVISIONS No. 2) BILL This Bill was received from the Assembly and, on the motion of the Hon. D. R. WHITE (Minister for Health), was read a first time. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE PRISONER ACCOMMODATION The Hon. B. A. CHAMBERLAIN (Western Province)-I direct a question to the attention of the Attorney-General and refer to the concern expressed by the police in relation to the 150 prisoners held in police lockups and the possibility of disease and injury. The Minister will also be aware of the concern regarding possible legal liability in circumstances where prisoners are kept in lockups longer than the gazetted time limit for particular police lockups. What action is proposed to be taken by the Minister and the Minister for Police and Emergency Services in another place to alleviate this increasing problem? The Hon. J. H. KENNAN (Attorney-General)-The government is in the process of constructing two prisons, the building of which the Liberal Party opposed. The Liberal Party even ran a candidate in the Geelong Province seat, which is very important to the good workings of Parliament. The Liberal Party opposed the building of the prison at Lara and did nothing for the criminal justice system in the generation or so that it held office. Over the past five years, members of the Liberal party have been knockers and whingers, and this is a continuation of their nonsense. The government has multiplied 25-fold or 3D-fold the capital works on prisons. The government is building a prison at Lara which the Opposition actively opposed; it still opposes it and it has not recanted. Members of the Opposition come into this House and ask: what are you doing about providing proper prison accommodation? The answer is: we are getting on with providing proper prison accommodation; we are building prisons at Castlemaine and Maldon. As for the high security 250-bed gaol at Lara, the Opposition was so opposed to the building of that that the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Kennett, visited Lara and prevailed upon Mr Manders to be a candidate. In fact, he probably got him to join the Liberal Party so that he could stand for the seat. Now the Opposition asks what we are doing about prison accommodation. While in the later years in office the Liberal government spent between $2 million and $3 million on prisons, this government is spending $30 million to $40 million a year on prisons. The Opposition is not to be taken seriously in the whole area of the criminal justice system. It was not prepared to spend any money on it, and from what we can glean of its policy, it now proposes to cut taxes and cut expenditure on the prison system. The Opposition does not want prisons to be built at Lara, Maldon, or at Castlemaine. The message is finally getting across to the public. 700 COUNCIL 7 October 1987 Questions without Notice Mr Crozier was in Springvale on Monday night-­ Honourable members interjecting. The Hon. J. H. KENNAN-Yesterday~s result would have interested him. It would have been very embarrassing if Mr Reid had become the Leader. One of the interesting things about the Opposition is that it is like South Vietnam in the 1960s: everyone gets a chance to be leader! VICfORIAN YOUNG FARMERS The Hon. B. P. DUNN (North Western Province)-I ask the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs: is it a fact that while the amount provided in the Budget this year to the Victorian Young Farmers movement has remained" at its reduced level of last year, the method by which this amount is to be allocated hi future is to be changed so that It will no longer be directed through the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria but will be provided through the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria? Is it a fact that this will affect the Victorian Young Farmers, and that area advisers, who are important to the operation of young farmers~ clubs in the State, may well become a thing of the past? Will the Minister explain why this change is being considered and what its ramifications will be? ' The Hon. E. H. WALKER (Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs)-I am happy to respond to the Question. Over the past year or so I have had several discussions with the leaders of the young farmers' movement and at those meetings a change has been proposed to the way in which the organisation is funded and the way young people working in the country are to be manag~d. The special needs of youn~ people in rural Victoria are now to be investigated by a working party. While this IS happening, we are maintaining the funding that has traditionally been allocated. It is substantial funding, representing $200 000 each year in the past couple of years, which has been transferred from the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria to the young farmers' organisation. Discussions were held with Victorian Young Farmers representatives a few days ago and followed several other meetings, as I said. The young farmers~ funding arrangements for 1988-89 have been reviewed and they will now receive, as a club, a direct grant from the government to assist with their administrative costs. That direct grant will be similar to the grants given to many other organisations. It will continue to be sourced from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. It will amount to approximately $40 000. It will not apply this year; it will apply in the next financial year. The positions of the four professional advisory officers working for the organisation will be integrated with the Youth Affairs Division of the Department of Labour. As I said, $160000 in salaries and allowances for the officers was.paid through the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria to the young farmers themselves. The Youth Affairs Division already has five officers working with young people in major rural centres, and the four additional officers about whom I am now speaking will extend the range of advice available. Where appropriate, the present professional officers working for Victorian Young Farmers will be transferred to the Youth Affairs Division of the Department of Labour and will be employed by that body. Not all of the officers want to transfer. Their knowledge and existing contact networks will greatly assist the delivery of services, particularly to isolated young people throu~out Victoria. The new arrangements offer the young farmers an opportunity of broadenIng their role and impact much more clearly on rural youth. At present the young farmers~ organisation represents between 2000 and 4000 members. It is not possible to say exactly how many are represented because membership is by club rather than by individual. However, if one takes the lower end of that spectrum and Questions without Notice 7 October 1987 COUNCIL 701 spreads the $200 000 allocation among 2000 members, that represents a substantial subsidy from the government. It is something like $100 a head. If the membership is 4000, it represents $50 a member. From July next year the clubs can be part of a scheme to reach tens of thousands of young people throughout the State. They understand the challenge and their members have spoken about it on a number of occasions. They realise a change is coming. I praise the work of the young farmers' clubs. The $40000 grant will maintain their ability to service members via the existing club structure. They will keep the club structure and it will sustain the very important work they undertake, particularly in leadership training. However, there is a clear need for the government to ensure a broad-ranging program that reaches as many young rural people as possible. Professional work has been undertaken by the young farmers' organisation since the early 1950s. The time has now come to integrate that youth work generally in government. The young farmers' organisation will take part and have an advisory role as well. The working party will recommend how valuable resources can best be applied. It will have two or three representatives from the young farmers themselves. It will also comprise representatives from the Youth Policy Development Council, a representative from the Office of Rural Affairs, which continues to take a significant interest in young people in rural areas, as well as a representative from the broadly based Youth Affairs Council of Victoria. The working party will also have a representative from the Youth Affairs Division of the Department of Labour. I thank Mr Dunn for asking a Question that I was prepared to answer. It was timely. SERENDIP RESEARCH STATION The Hon. D. E. HENSHAW (Gee long Province)-My Question, addressed to the Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands concerns the Serendip research station at Lara, in the north of the Geelong electorate; that is a wildlife research station, remarkable for the examples of wildlife breeding prowams. It has enormous potential as a tourist attraction for the Geelong area. Can the Minister explain what initiatives the government can take to enhance its potential as a tourist project and wildlife research station? The Hon. J. E. KIRNER (Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands)-I thank Mr Henshaw for his interest in the Serendip wildlife research station which, as Mr Henshaw says, is an interesting research station near the western suburbs of Melbourne and the northern suburbs of Geelong-in the Geelong Province.