Page 2422 - Week 11 - Thursday, 2 November 1989
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Commonwealth, State, territory and New Zealand Ministers responsible for the environment. The council, known as ANZEC, met recently in Victoria to discuss progress on a draft national greenhouse response strategy for Australia. The ACT Government has had strong input into the preparation of this document and at the recent meeting the ACT took the lead in suggesting the targets in the strategy for the reduction of greenhouse gases could be set as high as 40 per cent. This proposal was agreed to by council and the process of editing the strategy document is now proceeding.
Mr Speaker, as well as contributing to this national strategy, the Government has a strong commitment to producing a greenhouse strategy document that is developed by and for the citizens of the ACT for our own unique situation. This is vital. We are a unique part of the Australian population in that we live in a comparatively large inland city surrounded by subalpine and alpine ecosystems.
Much of the current greenhouse debate and planning hinges around the massive population concentrations on Australia's coastline and the effects of sea-level rise. We must develop a strategy which reflects our priorities, our environment, our planning needs and the views of our citizens.
The Government is currently finalising an outline of a draft strategy document. This draft will be the subject of the widest possible community input and consideration by the parties of this Assembly. The Government intends to publish the final strategy document early in the new year.
Mr Speaker, I would also like to inform the Assembly of progress in the ACT on legislation to control ozone depleting substances. Again through ANZEC, a national ozone protection strategy has been developed and all States and territories are moving to pass legislation to comply with the national strategy.
We are developing a proposal to amend the Air Pollution Act so that the ACT has legislation as strong as the other States to control the use of substances which damage the ozone layer. The Government considers this matter a priority. After appropriate consultation, the legislation will be introduced into the Assembly as quickly as possible.
The Assembly may not be aware of the move throughout Australia to develop a system of identifying environmentally friendly products and processes. Victoria now has in place a scheme called green spot. Products which have been assessed as having minimal impact on the environment are branded so that they are easily recognised by consumers in shops and supermarkets.
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