My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Health, David Davis. This house endorsed the terms of reference for the Environment and Planning References Committee to inquire into environmental design and public health in Victoria. On 24 May this year the majority and minority reports were tabled in this house. Since that time we have seen numerous stakeholders make comments, and some of their comments were placed on the Hansard record in this house on 15 August this year.
The organisations which have made comments so far that I am aware of include the Australian Medical Association, the Heart Foundation, the Cancer Council of Victoria, the Planning Institute of Australia, the City of Whittlesea, Doctors for the Environment, the Council on the Ageing, Food Alliance, the Victorian Council of Social Service, the Victorian branch of the Public Health Association of Australia, VicHealth, Diabetes Victoria, the City of Melbourne and the City of Boroondara, to name a few.
I note that Minister David Davis sponsored the terms of reference for the inquiry, and I believe that was because he believed that the issues involved in this inquiry are important to this state and that as a community we cannot continue to do nothing in this area. I simply ask the minister to take action to provide a response to the report or give an indication of the timetable he is working on in responding to the recommendations.
If the minister is not prepared to address the recommendations, I ask that he provide a written explanation as to why.
Mr O’Donohue — On a point of order, President, I seek your guidance. MsTierney is asking Minister Davis to provide a formal response to a report tabled in this place by a Legislative Council committee. I believe that is a matter for the standing orders and a matter for this place, not a matter for the minister’s direct response.
The PRESIDENT — Order! On the point of order, I do not see why there would be any constraint on a member seeking a response from a minister in respect of a report such as this. The minister obviously has an opportunity to consider the request and respond, but I certainly do not see that the request is out of order.
