Page 30 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 May 1989
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CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU
MR STEFANIAK: Mr Speaker, I have a question for the Minister for Community Services and Health, who I think has escaped so far. It is a fairly detailed question, so I will provide him with a photocopy. Was a grant approved for $32,141 from the Community Development Fund for 1988-89 to the Citizens Advice Bureau to assist in the publication of the Contact directory? Were payments of $16,070.50 made in approximately July and October 1988 to the bureau? When can this directory be expected? Did the grant include funds for computing equipment? If so, what will happen to this equipment after Contact is published. Finally, does the Minister believe that this publication must continue under public patronage when there are similar publications available in the private sector?
MR BERRY: It is a complex question and I just do not have the information, Mr Speaker. But I will give an undertaking to inquire of my area of responsibility and give an answer in due course.
MR SPEAKER: I remind all members that, in the early stages of the Assembly, questions of that nature should be put on notice so that Ministers can have the advantage of researching them first.
USE OF DANGEROUS CHEMICALS
MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, I direct my question to the Minister for Housing and Urban Services. It concerns the use of pesticides and similar dangerous chemicals. I am prompted by recent accidents in Australia as a whole, which we have also experienced in the ACT. Is the Minister aware of the lack of legislation in the ACT on the use of dangerous chemicals? What does this Government propose to do, in view of fact that we are reaching a situation where there will be no legislation?
MRS GRASSBY: The ACT is the only place in Australia that does not have any control over these matters, and in the coming sittings, I intend to bring forward some legislation to cover this. These chemicals pose a lot of problems for the people who handle them in the workplace, and also for private people. During the weekend, I went to the Mugga Lane tip myself to observe people delivering household chemicals and to see how successful that was. I was quite amazed at just how many chemicals were handed in, and I gather that the same can be said of the Belconnen tip. It absolutely amazed me in the hour I stayed there, to see how many chemicals were handed in. I gather there are quite a number of chemicals outside even industrial waste places that do not come within the controls, so we will be looking at bringing in legislation.
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