the Throne Speech, which was delivered in the House of Assembly on Friday.

We should all be concerned at the fact that our toads, skinks, Barn owls and other creatures are now endangered species. Conserving these species and their habitat is vital to the human population, and the ecological chain in which we all co-exist. We must learn to live and share this land in harmony with those creatures which still can be found here.

Mr. Speaker, we welcome Government's pledge to "secure facilities at the former baselands for the benefit of fishermen...'' The Progressive Labour Party is on record for decades as supporting local fishermen and their need for access to facilities -- we shall continue to fight for this support to be shown in a tangible way.

Mr. Speaker, pollution comes in many forms:- the emissions from buses, noise pollution from loud bike mufflers, sewage, and the many other substances that drain into our waters.

EDUCATION Mr. Speaker, we in the Progressive Labour Party believe that the new education system can work to offer a better education to all our children. We believe that CedarBridge, with all of its facilities and programmes, can offer more opportunities; but we must admit that these beliefs are tottering on the edge of a policy that seems not to recognise that public education should be for all children.

Mr. Speaker, we remind Members of the reason why we decided to restructure Bermuda's education system. The main aim of this exercise was not to offer better opportunities to well-adjusted, prepared students -- although this would be an obvious benefit; rather the main aim, was to provide for all students; to find a way to stop students from `falling through the cracks' and to ensure that they were prepared to be productive citizens in the 21st century. With this aim in mind, the suspension and expulsion of students during the first term of the new system is tantamount to an admission of failure. The fact the Principal of Cedarbridge has admitted that students entered this senior level of schooling without the necessary skills system is an admission of something much worse! This is especially appalling some ten years after low reading scores at the Secondary Four level propelled the Minister of Education to push for change in the entire education system.

Mr. Speaker, we believe that the system and the new school can work, and it will work when the need for alternative education at all levels is recognised...when students with problems are provided with support, counseling and programmes that meet their needs and when we no longer treat some children as though they are expendable.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, SPORTS, PARKS & RECREATION Mr. Speaker, we believe the Department of Youth Development, Sport, Parks and Recreation has a golden opportunity to spearhead initiatives designed to educate our young people to appreciate the environment and to create opportunities for them.

We ought to call this the chameleon ministry, for once again it has changed its name and gained a new responsibility.

Mr. Speaker, we support the need for national stadium and believe that the development of our major sports to their full potential is dependent upon adequate facilities. However, we cannot condone cost overruns of a size that would have totally funded our major sports for at least five years. Bermudians have a right to expect as much financial accountability from Government as Government expects from sports organisations. Right now, the National Stadium is a National Shame and whether additional funds to finally deliver proper facilities comes from the private sector, or the public sector, it is important to make certain that the funds go where they're supposed to go.

HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES A PLP Government will work towards introducing a system of managed health care, in order to control the inefficiencies of the current health services and the cost thereof. It will work to further broaden the current health insurance scheme, to make it more comprehensive, extending it to better encompass to such areas as substance abuse treatment, medical prescriptions, dental and optical services. Special attention will be given to the coverage of catastrophic illnesses, and reducing any remaining financial burden on our senior citizens with respect to medical care not covered by existing insurance programmes.

The Progressive Labour Party sees a need for parenting classes and parent counselling. We also recognise that some families need help in financial planning. In short, we recognise that any programme of government financial assistance must be tied to a plan that prepares clients to do without such assistance. System monitors that explore viability of the current programme, the need for assistance and the type of assistance needed should be in place and regularly studied with an aim to providing real help to those who need it while eliminating any abuse, or misuse.

Our Shadow Minister of Health and Social Services, will expand on these issues during the ensuing debate.

TECHNOLOGY & INFORMATION Mr. Speaker, the world is experiencing a revolution in technology and communications and Bermuda is no exception. The telecommunications legislation introduced by Government last year has not kept pace with changes in the telecommunication industry. Mr. Speaker, The Progressive Labour Party supported the concept of competition in the marketplace because we believe that the consumer should be given a choice of service -- we also believe that choice should bring better prices, as we have seen to some degree over the past year.

However, having introduced the telecommunications legislation last year, Government is giving little leadership in the industry and thus we find the telephone industry leading Government on important issues.

HUMAN RIGHTS The announcement of Government's intention to set up a "Drug Court'' represents a rather late response to PLP suggestions almost five years ago.

Now, too many of our young people are incarcerated, strung out on drugs, or restricted because of a youthful error of judgment. Mr. Speaker, once again Government is promising to do the right thing... after the "horse has left the stable''.

WORKS, ENGINEERING & HOUSING Mr. Speaker, we need a plan of action that will guarantee economic and social stability. We must be sensitive to people's needs and not rest until all of our people's reasonable expectations are met. We must seek to provide truly affordable housing combined with ongoing monitoring of the adequacy of housing, living and health conditions. That Bermuda has an abundance of housing cannot be denied -- however, what also cannot be denied is the lack of correlation between available housing, and housing need. Mr. Speaker, we need housing that meets the needs (and pocketbooks) of the average Bermudian. We need head-start housing opportunities for young couples and families.

FINANCE Mr. Speaker, the Throne Speech fails to address the preparation of a Green Paper that will set out clearly the issues as they relate to any fundamental policy changes in business legislation within the context of increased globalisation; for instance in considering the proposed Proceeds of Crime Bill, which also featured last year in the Throne Speech, we must balance the need to have a proper regulatory framework while also adopting an industry sensitive perspective.

Bermuda's economy is already heavily internationalised. Our financial services sector draws its market almost entirely from non-Bermudian sources. Our second major industry -- tourism -- is overwhelmingly capitalised by foreign firms, markets its product in major world markets, and recruits over 30 percent of its staff from foreign shores.

Given this existing international commitment we welcome any initiatives that will improve investment in tourism and our standing as a reinsurance centre.

We have already shown our commitment to this ideal by our support of the ACE/XL purchase of the Bermudiana property. We believe this decision by our major reinsurers will serve to anchor the industry in Bermuda.

We feel that the industry's value as an employment source will be enhanced by securing employment for our young people in other jurisdictions in order to obtain work experience. The offer by the UK Government to discuss the future status of the remaining colonies provides an excellent opportunity to pursue this goal.

TOURISM Mr. Speaker, 1997 has seen further decay in our vital tourism industry under the stewardship of the United Bermuda Party Government. In what amounts to a veritable free-fall, some of our peak season months have seen air visitor arrivals plummet by close to ten percent, compared to the same months last year.

Equally sobering are the soft figures for hotel occupancy and cumulative bed nights -- and even these do not fully reveal the plight of the industry -- since even these low occupancy rates were achieved through de facto discounting of rooms and "additional free night'' giveaways.

The proposal, of the creation of a new Bermuda Tourism Authority, in the Throne Speech is in effect a back-door approach to the transformation of the Department of Tourism into a kind of QUANGO (Quasi-Autonomous Non-Government Organistion), and this has to be seen as an admission of failure by the UBP Government after two years of what was supposed to be a new direction in tourism policy aimed at breathing new life into the industry.

Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party continues to welcome the input of the private sector in helping problems that beset our country and the tourism industry is no exception. Our cooperation and support of the Monitor initiative is an indication of this.

However, the country was told during the last General Election that the United Bermuda Party Government itself had the answers for turning around the decline in tourism. There has been growing criticism from the private sector of Government's failure to deliver on this promise; and the proposal for a Tourism Authority is an obvious attempt to fend off some of this criticism.

Mr. Speaker, solutions to the problems facing the tourism industry must come from all quarters, but clearly, some of Government's major initiatives in this area have been flawed and misdirected.

This is nowhere more glaringly apparent than in the failed "Let Yourself Go'' sex and sin advertising and marketing campaign, after an expenditure of some 30 million dollars to date.

Mr. Speaker, Government has also failed to come to grips with its own role in helping to price Bermuda's tourism product out of the market, by inflating costs to the visitor, directly and indirectly. At a time when the industry was suffering from serious competitive siege and price resistance Government increased the hotel occupancy tax and this, together with earlier increases in taxes, seriously impacted on the industry's cost structure.

Mr. Speaker, a PLP Government will undertake an in-depth tax review which will look at ways to provide stimuli to the tourism industry, including the hotels, through adjustment of the occupancy tax and other taxes levied on them, particularly with a view to the seasonal nature of the industry.

Other steps the Progressive Labour Party has long advocated, and will implement as Government, include:- Implementation of regular tourism awareness sessions at all school levels.

Development of new tourism attractions and sightseeing circuits in areas such as St. David's and Somerset Village.

Assistance for the declining number of small Bermuda guest properties to better market themselves in a cooperative format.

Mr. Speaker, it is a national embarrassment that after over a century in the tourism business, we still do not have a Bermudian in a top executive post at a major resort hotel. A PLP Government would work towards ensuring Bermudians become more involved as partners in our tourism industry at every level, including upward mobility in management. Only when each and every Bermudian feels they have a vested interest in the success of the industry will it truly thrive.

CONCLUSION Bermuda cannot and will not be seen as a truly stable society in the international community until it demonstrates it can manage change in a mature and sensible manner, and that means managing a functioning democracy in which change of Government can be effected without trauma or disaffection.

Mr. Speaker, we are thoroughly convinced that the United Bermuda Party has outlived its usefulness to Bermuda as a Government.

I believe that Bermuda will be better, and will be better led by a PLP Government. The challenges facing Bermuda as one era ushers in a new and exciting one are no less than those that previous Leaders of this Party have had to face in their struggle to make Bermuda a more just society and a community in which all people can pursue their destinies without fear and with a real hope of succeeding.

Mr. Speaker, our Parliamentarians and our Members have their bedrock in the grassroots community and are in touch with the needs and aspirations of the average Bermudian. We are committed to social justice. We are committed to stable economic growth. And we are committed to the promotion of dynamic and competitive business in the international and local sectors.