Page 2286 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 1 November 1989
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Act. To suggest that some dramatic change in the purpose of the project has occurred necessitating a fresh appraisal of the environmental impact is simply false.
It has been a matter of irritation to the community that comments made by, or attributed to, the Federal Minister suggest that serious environmental concerns have been or are being unmet by this Assembly or by its Conservation, Heritage and Environment Standing Committee. Having assessed in some detail the issues concerning the environmental impact of the project, the committee is unable to identify the matters of concern which apparently gave rise to Senator Richardson's comments. Indeed, I wrote some weeks ago to the Minister seeking an indication of the basis for his purported concern and have yet to receive a reply. It is my hope, Mr Speaker, that in future the Federal Minister can abstain from interfering in matters which should be, and can be, competently handled within the processes of this now sovereign parliament.
Unfortunately, the honourable Minister was not the only person to pass comment on the issues before our committee before its report was available for public perusal. On several occasions comments have been made by the president of the Residents Rally, Mr Chris Donohue, which I have to say I found unfortunate, to say the least. Most recently, in yesterday's Chronicle Mr Donohue was quoted as follows:
It is a great pity that the ACT Legislative Assembly is not able to appreciate the great potential harm that will arise if this project is not properly controlled. If the Assembly does not move quickly then it seems that the federal government will. The Canberra community is entitled to be concerned over the Assembly's fumbling on this urgent issue.
Mr Whalan: That was Sir Robert, was it?
MR HUMPHRIES: Indeed, Deputy Chief Minister. Mr Speaker, I want to place on record my rejection of these and other comments made by Mr Donohue. The inquiry conducted by the committee was, as I have said, as comprehensive as time allowed, and I am confident that every effort has been made to explore the issues which Mr Donohue raised publicly before and since the commencement of the inquiry.
The fact is that the evidence of environmental harm Mr Donohue was so sure exists simply does not, at least to the best of our inquiries. If Mr Donohue had better knowledge than the committee, he ought to have put it before the committee as evidence. I wish to indicate, Mr Speaker, that I will be raising this matter with you privately to explore whether a contempt of the Assembly has occurred.
I think, however, it would be wrong of me to pretend that members of the Assembly itself are entirely free of opprobrium in this matter. I mentioned earlier my concerns
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