Page 651 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 1990
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amounts are available for the savings in labour and the quality of life improvements, with decreased early morning noise levels. Those figures indicate that, on average, householders would save at least $33 every year for the convenience of an automated big bin system.
The committee, accordingly, recommended that the most efficient method of collection of domestic waste is a one-person collection system in conjunction with the use of big wheelie bins and that the ACT Government refer to the Interim Territory Planning Authority the difficulties faced by residents in some of the poorly designed, narrow streets in receiving kerbside collection of their waste. There are some streets in Canberra in which there would be problems.
The committee also recommended - and I stress this - that the ACT Government trial the use of 240-litre bins in a selected zone in Canberra, with the aim of introducing big bins in all zones. The trial use of big wheelie bins would be done well after the recommendations relating to door-to-door collection services and recycling measures are introduced. With the introduction of big bins, domestic waste would be collected weekly. Because of the controversy in relation to that proposal, the recommendation is that it be given a trial in a particular area and that the trial be introduced only well after the door-to-door collection services and recycling measures have been introduced. With my colleague Dr Kinloch, I commend the report to the Assembly, and thank again the Assembly staff for their efforts.
MR WOOD (3.32): Dr Kinloch was right when he said that overall this is a report on recycling. That is what it was all about. The matter of waste management was one of lesser, though important, consideration. For me, the whole exercise, now at least nine months in duration, has been a very valuable experience. I have enjoyed it, and I have appreciated the opportunity to mix and learn significant matters with a variety of colleagues. Yet, at the end, it is a disappointment. For that reason, I have submitted a minority report.
A number of very important concepts have been made clear. We already know about the great problem of depletion of limited resources; no-one here has to argue about that. Nor do we have to argue the case that we need to diminish the pollution of our environment. The committee members found that people in Canberra want to have a role in doing this, and they can do it very significantly by the way their garbage is treated. Indeed, it is not garbage; it is not waste, as so often was expressed to us; it is a renewable resource, and I have become convinced about that.
The ACT people want to play a positive role in protecting their environment. It is up to this Assembly to encourage that. This is a strong thread throughout all the submissions that we received and the evidence that we heard. It is up to the Government, through this
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