TRANSPORT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:36): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question in relation to his recent trip to the United States and Europe.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: As members would be aware, the Minister for Urban Development and Planning and the Minister for Transport recently led a delegation of industry and government representatives to the United States and Europe to look at transport-oriented developments. Both this minister and minister Conlon have indicated, as have some other participants on the trip, that it was a very comprehensive and full program with a very busy itinerary; in fact, I think there were almost back-to-back official and site visits. My question is: did minister Holloway participate in all the site visits and functions?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:38): On some occasions there were alternative visits. For example, on an evening in Denver I met with the mining industry there because I thought that, as Minister for Mineral Resources Development, it was a good opportunity, given that Denver is a significant mining centre. I went to that particular meeting, and on some other occasions there were alternative visits. Clearly, in these major cities there are often a lot of alternative places to visit; just as if you were visiting Adelaide and looking at some of our sites you might go to Mawson Lakes or Noarlunga. So, there were alternatives; however, apart from one visit that was cancelled because the people organising it were unable to attend, I am not aware of any other scheduled visits that I did not attend.