Mr LLOYD (12:59 PM) —My friend and colleague the member for Indi spoke previously in this debate. I make the comment that he is certainly one of the most well-respected members of parliament on both sides of the chamber. He will be sadly missed when he retires.

Mr Neville —He's a very tenacious member.

Mr LLOYD —He certainly is. I have received four letters from students of Kincumber High School—Heather Keuning, Scott Mackenzie, Stuart Clear and Rhiannon Green. They are also all hearing impaired. They have written to me about a subject which is of concern to them and, I believe, to every hearing impaired person in Australia. I will read from one of the letters:

It is something that I did not realise. I am very pleased that they have brought the matter to my attention. The letter continues:

I will certainly take up this issue with the minister, Senator Alston, to see what can be done to ensure that children's programs are captioned, because it is an important issue. I would like to highlight some of the good work that has been done on the Central Coast with younger children who are hearing impaired. Many people do not realise that in my electorate we have a school called Chertsey School, which is a state school in the suburb of Springfield. It has 300 students, of which 15 are hearing impaired. They are aged from five to 12. They have a special class with their teacher, Gail Vaughan. Under the guidance of their principal, Mr Graham Ford, every student in that school learns Auslan; they learn sign language as part of their language other than English classes. So the entire school has an understanding of, and care for, children who have some sort of disability or impairment.

I was very pleased and privileged to have the Prime Minister visit my electorate recently. A number of schools performed at a community reception for the Prime Minister. The highlight of the whole program was that we had the Chertsey signing choir actually signing as some of the students from other schools sang on stage. It was so inspiring and well received by the community to see these children signing out the words of the songs. It really brought home to me how important it is that these young children have access to captioning from the time they begin to watch television. As we all know, young children learn a great deal from television these days. It probably opens up a whole new argument as to how good that is, but television is part of growing up. There is no reason why these young children should miss out on programs such as Totally Wild, Hi 5 or Play School because they cannot hear the words.

I am very pleased that these four students have brought this matter to my attention. I will certainly be making very strong representations to the minister, Senator Alston, to ensure that something can be done so that captioning is put onto children's programs, not just on the programs that are screened from six to 10.30 at night. It is not just necessary for those people who are severely hearing impaired. As we all get older, some of our hearing may fail a little bit. It is also very important for those people who have the slightest hearing impairment, because it adds to the enjoyment of watching a program. I am sure many members have watched programs that have subtitles. It adds to the program, because if you miss a word or you do not quite hear well, or if there is background noise and you have a slight hearing impairment, it increases your understanding of the program.

I reiterate that I am very pleased that these children have brought this matter to my attention. I will do everything I can to ensure that children's programs have captioning.

Main Committee adjourned at 1.04 p.m.