Page 490 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 June 1989
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rushing into the drainage. If anybody has driven by the Chinese embassy they will see how well it has been done there. They will see at the bottom of the fence there is very fine gauze which stops the topsoil running off.
The very difficult thing to do is to convince single builders to do this. When they go on to blocks they should not allow this to happen to the soil and you have to convince them. We are looking at maybe bringing in penalties for builders to make them take these precautions before they start building. I am quite sure that when this is done there will not be runoff.
The blocks in Isaacs will be up for sale when we can take care of the fact that these garbage trucks will be able to get out once they have got in, because I do not think anybody wants to have a garbage truck in their street for the rest of the week.
Water Pollution
MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, I will ask the Minister for Housing and Urban Services to stand up again as I will refer the question to her. Is the Minister aware of regular claims that pollution from the mine workings at Captains Flat damaged the Molonglo River? Is there any threat to the waters of the ACT from these mine workings?
MRS GRASSBY: May I say to Mr Wood that he obviously has got that from the paper. That was a beat-up by a New South Wales member from Queanbeyan, whose name I have just forgotten. But let me say to you that - - -
A member interjected.
MRS GRASSBY: I cannot remember, yes. I understand that our biggest problem is in New South Wales, not here. I understand Tony Fleming was present at a meeting today. To answer that, the Captains Flat mine site is located beside the Molonglo River which then flows through the ACT.
The potential for pollution of Lake Burley Griffin is high, as was demonstrated when the mine waste and dams collapsed into the river during a flood in 1942. We have been doing a lot to protect this but, of course, we do not have a lot of say in what happens in New South Wales. But the Water Pollution (Amendment) Bill that I will be bringing into the house later today will take care of that - as it will, of course, take care of the question that Ms Maher asked about it.
But may I say that we need to ask New South Wales to clean up its act first. We are doing the right thing here, passing Bills in the house which will make sure that our wildlife and our aquatic life are protected, and also our water supplies. I know, Mr Speaker, you are very
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