Page 2526 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 15 November 1989
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the exclusion of most other considerations and we can expect the development groups represented on the committee to be arguing development at all costs and to hang with the environmental considerations.
I have to say, if the object of this motion is to draw heat out of environmental debates, perhaps it is not appropriate to put people on who are there to articulate a token position for their side of the political argument. We have seen, regrettably, very little ground between environmental groups and developers. The comments that Mr John Kerin, the Federal Minister for Primary Industries, has made in recent days are, I think, very much on target. He has described in fairly strong language the polarisation which occurs in this area. He said:
The people who join most environmental and conservation organisations are the nicest people you'll ever meet ... It's only when they get into their organised political mode that the demands become exaggerated ... well-founded decisions are an absolute necessity.
The emotional climate that has been created over environmental questions must not encourage us to give way on the demand for a basic foundation for decisions - and this applies to business, industry and political authorities.
I understand vested interest and the values of the develop-at-all-costs crowd, but what I don't understand is deliberate misrepresentation, lies and denial of logic, reason and knowledge by people who accept such values in other areas of human endeavour.
These are, with respect, sensible words and we ought not to ignore that reality when we make a decision on this kind of position.
There is one other thing of which I think Mr Kerin would also approve if he were taking part in this debate. Paragraph (a) makes no reference at all to a very important feature of any environmental consideration, and that is the economic impact of such developments. There is no reference there to the economic impact, and that is a matter of some concern.
Members will recall that Mr Kerin said in recent days that he believes that environmental proposals ought to be assessed, amongst other things, for their economic impact on what is the cost of preserving a particular piece of environmentally sensitive land or limiting some development. Now, I think that is very relevant. I know that my party's policy on the environment says:
Environmental impact statements will address broader issues than is currently the case: in
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