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Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Roads on behalf of the Minister for the Illawarra. Is the Minister aware that the Illawarra region consistently suffers an unemployment rate that is significantly higher than most other regions not only in New South Wales but also throughout the nation?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: I ask the Hon. Tony Kelly, on behalf of the Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health), the following questions without notice. Is the Minister aware of the problem of self-harm, which can include intentional cutting, burning, scolding, banging or scratching one’s own body, breaking bones, pulling hair out, or ingesting toxic substances, and which is a problem symptomatic of underlying mental and emotional distress?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Attorney General, on behalf of the Minister for Fair Trading: Is the Minister aware that the welfare and safety of women and girls are being placed at risk by the lack of stricter Government regulation in the area of cosmetic surgery, an industry prevalent with serious dangers and abuses of many kinds?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Roads. Is the Minister aware that in recent years there has been increasing concern about the prevalence of drug driving in Australia, and that many drug users appear unconcerned about driving following the use of drugs other than alcohol and their possible detection by police?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Lands, representing the Minister for Juvenile Justice. Is the Minister aware of research conducted by the University of Sydney on 800 juvenile offenders in custody in New South Wales and those serving on community orders, which found that: more than 60 per cent had parents or other relatives who had spent time in prison

Rev the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Lands, on behalf of the Minister for Local Government: Is the Minister aware of the serious and ongoing proportional reduction in State Government funding for public libraries over the past 25 years, from 23.6 per cent of the total operating costs of public libraries in 1980, to 7.8 per cent in 2004-05, with further reductions including a massive cut of $1,023,000 (4.16 per cent) in 2006-07?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Primary Industries, representing the Minister for Gaming and Racing. Is the Minister aware of endemic poker machine gambling in south-west Sydney, with some families in Fairfield spending a staggering three-quarters of their disposable income each year on gambling, and that $1.5 billion is lost each year in Sydney’s west on gambling?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: I ask the Attorney General, on behalf of the Minister for Health, the following question without notice. Is the Minister aware that cannabis continues to be the most popular illicit drug in Australia, with new figures showing that more than 200,000 Australians are believed to be dependent on cannabis and about one in 10 people who try the drug becoming dependent on it?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: My question is directed to the Minister for Roads, on behalf of the Minister for Transport: Is the Minister aware of the joint venture by Queensland Rail, Stockland, and Kaplan Funds Management to create a major intermodal facility at the Department of Defence National Storage and Distribution Centre in Moorebank as part of its plans to build a national freight business to take trucks off Sydney’s roads?

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: I ask the Hon. Tony Kelly, on behalf of the Hon. Paul Lynch, the Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health), the following question without notice. Is the Minister aware that the big inter-generational issue that dominates the health debate is not related to our children but focuses on the ageing of baby boomers and the demands for better health care?