Hi everyone, February is turning out to be a busy month already. The Multicultural Festival has been a great success. I was able to attend a number of events during the week. Civic was really humming every time I went to an event or came into town on the weekends. Perhaps the Federal Government's decision to replace the word Multicultural with Citizen has sparked additional interest?

As you probably know, the Assembly was supposed to be sitting the week beginning 20th February. However,due to the Opposition moving no confidence in the Chief Minister, it was unable to continue sitting. The convention is that each side of the House now has 7 days to prepare debate. While this is somewhat frustrating, it does allow me to get on with many of the tasks I have to hand, mainly attending to my constituents' issues and committee matters. The Cabinet will consider the Government's response to the Coroner’s report early next week and then it will be tabled on the first available day of sitting, I believe.

With the beginning of the ACT School year over 35,000 children have enrolled in public education so far. While the majority have all started school without much hassle there are some teething problems with bus routes, which happens every year but are exacerbated by some children changing schools. There are some children disappointed that their friends haven't joined them at their new school. However, some parents, affected by the school closures, have been reporting to me, at my Mobile Office, that their children have settled in to their new school well, making friends already, and are excited about the change.

I have been working with the community where schools have closed, or will close at the end of this year. For instance, I have made representation to the Minister about the reduced numbers of children now attending Belconnen Community Services' After School Care at Cook, and the possible disadvantage to parents, children and/or BCS. I am pleased to be able to report that I have managed to secure them some financial assistance as part of the transitional assistance plan for the implementation of 2020. A census to verify 2007 ACT public schools enrollments has just been completed. Parents can now apply for the $750 of transitional allowance per child transferring to a new ACT public school. Obviously, some parents who were experiencing financial hardship have been assisted in this way already.

Minister Hargreaves and I have met with representatives of a group of interested Flynn community members who has formed to explore different ways to use the Flynn Primary School buildings. Similarly the Village of Hall and District Progress Association has established a Task Force to explore future possible uses of the Hall school site and, after discussing these matters with me, written to the Minister.

As part of the partnership between ACTEW and Territory and Municipal Services and ACT Sustainable Schools initiative 10 Government schools conducted extensive indoor and outdoor water audits in 2006. The Govt is now proposing to spend a total $400,000 on repairs and maintenance and water monitoring devices in those schools evaluated to improve water usage. As you have probably noticed school upgrades have now commenced and these will continue throughout the year.

The Minister for Planning is currently undertaking a Planning System Reform Project, a review of the Territory Plan and looking at the application of the Garden City policy. One of the issues that has arrived from feedback is that the ACTPLA website isn't as user friendly as it could be. The site is being redesigned in response to customer, staff and community feedback and will be much more user friendly. Feedback on the new site will be welcome. It will be trialled on http://www.clients.actpla.squiz.net/ shortly.

The Construction Occupations Registrar will participate in a trial of a radio Talkback with Greg Bayliss on 666 ABC radio on Saturday 10th March, 10 am to 11.00 am, to answer queries about building, compliance and the use of licensed trades, with a view to a regular segment. Hopefully you can listen in.

I have been consulting with the Minister for Health in relation to your feedback about the Government's Hospital parking policy. I am hopeful that the Minister will shortly announce some changes in line with her review findings.

A number of people living in West Belconnen have raised matters of concern with me about some unpleasant behaviour being displayed by young people in the area, around the Charnwood shops in particular. My long experience in the community tells me that this behaviour is a symptom of more complex issues. I am convening a special meeting of stakeholders to ascertain what others think might be the issues for the region and what they have observed. I am hopeful that the meeting will not only help us identify the challenges but also some possible approaches.

Another issue of concern is our playing fields. Fortunately we are having some welcome rain however the drought has taken its toll and the Government will need to carefully consider the best approach to restoring them to their former health, the use of alternative types of turf and alternative watering systems perhaps, and the increased use of recycled water.

You would be aware that the ACT Government, along with its state and territory counterparts, is participating in meetings with the Prime Minister about his plan for the Murray Darling. The ACT is also dealing with the Federal Government's announcement it will not sign over the Googong Dam to the ACT, as had previously been agreed. This of course is an important source of the ACT and region's water supply. In the meantime the ACT Government and ACTEW are urgently exploring different approaches to securing an adequate water supply. It looks as though everybody's vigilance regarding the use of water has avoided the imposition of level 4 restrictions.

In the near future I will be moving a motion in the Assembly regarding a national greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme. I believe that climate change is probably the most significant issue that we all face and the biggest challenge of our generation and the next. Climate change will have a massive effect on our globe, our environment and, importantly, on our economy. I think we all know that now if we didn't strongly suspect it before.

The ACT Government, along with all other State and Territory Governments, established the National Emissions Trading Taskforce in 2006 to develop a multi-jurisdictional emissions trading scheme for consideration by State and Territory Governments. In August 2006 the States and Territories released a discussion paper incorporating a proposal for a greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme. The executive summary of the discussion paper is available at: http://www.emissionstrading.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/1980/Discu...

In December 2006 the Prime Minister announced the establishment of a joint Government-Business Taskforce of Emissions Trading. More details are available here http://www.dpmc.gov.au/emissionstrading/docs/emissions_trading_issues_pa... http://www.dpmc.gov.au/emissionstrading/docs/emissions_trading_issues_pa.... This Taskforce is entirely separate from the States and Territories Taskforce. The States and Territories do not answer to the Commonwealth Taskforce, however they have stated that they will look for opportunities to work with the Commonwealth and to avoid duplication of work.

The ACT Government is committed to climate change, and apart from this joint initiative, the Government has introduced several sustainability policy initiatives to assist in combating climate change such as the change to four cylinder cars for all our fleet, except when a 4 wheel drive is essential for the work, encouraging and promoting the use of hybrid vehicles, the introduction of bike racks on buses and the expansion of on-road cycle tracks, the purchase of gas - fuelled buses, the walking bus program and the footpath repair program. The Government also requires electricity retailers to provide a percentage of electricity from renewable sources and I believe at the moment they are achieving 20%.

I have been paying particular attention to the number of footpaths in my electorate that are in need of repair, as it is one of those things that many constituents raise with me. Please let me know if there is a footpath that you use, or know of, which is in need of repair. Other things that people have been raising with me lately, to do with their quality of life on a day to day basis, are such things as bus shelters, bus seats and children's playgrounds being in good repair. Again let me know if these or any other issues are of concern to you.

Mary.