Page 525 - Week 04 - Thursday, 29 June 1989
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It is not mentioned in this motion, but I would like to feel that it was possible for this committee to take public submissions on this question. I think there are many people in the community who have done valuable work on recycling whose experience could be drawn upon and whom we could use to draw up a good system.
Although it is important to deal with these issues in the committee stage - and I think our committee can certainly take public submissions and get a good overall feel for the way the answers lie - I think also it is very much incumbent on the Government to ensure that it puts before us a submission of some kind indicating what it feels will make the most sense in an integrated way with the rest of the Government's policies on public services, municipal waste disposal and related issues.
It is not good enough for my committee to sit down and draw up detailed guidelines which set out an ideal waste disposal system which takes into account recycling needs if the Government then finds it cannot work with that system because of its prior requirements in other directions. I urge the Government to ensure that it works closely with this committee in that matter.
I also suggest that it is not unreasonable to think about structuring our rates and tax system in the Territory to provide incentives for this kind of thing. I am not suggesting that we should have bounties on bottles or other incentives of that kind, but that we should certainly see how the tax and rates system works in with that to make it at least not unprofitable or make a disincentive for people who want to recycle to take advantage of the facilities that have been provided.
MR MOORE (10.51): The expertise of the Liberals on recycling is interesting. They do have a background of recycling other Liberals. Perhaps I should draw attention to the notice paper, which has had for some time an indication that the Liberals are interested in providing big bins. They do have a problem there in getting one of their policies to line up with their new attitude to environment and recycling. But at least the Liberals are realising that it is very important to look at and recognise the importance of our environment and recycling.
You will note today when the Residents Rally speaks on this they will take their notes on recycled paper. Also, I give credit to the Australian Conservation Foundation and the South East Conservation Council - and I note that Tony Fleming is in the gallery - for providing some of the information for us and for making recommendations to the Rally for quite some time.
I refer to the Rally policy on big bins. I read from the illustrious pink book - just from the summary, not from the full policy. Of course, our full environment policy is 16 or 17 pages, but the summary reads:
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