Page 1416 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 1 May 1990
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It might be worth noting that this is a matter of such great public importance that there are now only four members of the opposition in the Assembly. That is how much importance they place on it.
Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Government is determined to achieve its environmental objectives - to reduce the amount of waste produced and to encourage, as much as possible, recycling of the waste that is produced.
Mr Wood: What about emission of gases? How do you feel about that?
MR DUBY: I do not think there is too much gas emission at the Ainslie Transfer Station. Of course, members will also be aware of other pressures on the Government, and I refer to the economic and financial constraints that this Government is facing, which the previous Government - the previous Labor administration - refused to acknowledge existed and went on a blind spending binge. The Alliance Government is committed to creating a cost-effective administration for the Territory which provides acceptable levels of service to the ACT community at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers and ratepayers.
Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, some background information on the way the station was operated might be useful at this point. We have heard a lot of pious words about what a marvellous facility the Ainslie Transfer Station is. It was run under contract at a cost of some $200,000 per year. The contract expired on 30 April 1990 - that is, yesterday - and the contractor saw fit not to renew the lease under the existing conditions. An offer to extend the contract, under the terms of the original agreement, was not accepted by the contractor. The contractor did, however, indicate a willingness to continue the service, subject to a new contract price.
Mr Wood: He does not want to go broke, does he? Haven't you heard of CPI and price increases?
MR DUBY: The renewal amount required by the contractor was far in excess of any CPI figures - - -
Mr Wood: You did not throw it open to tender, did you?
MR DUBY: No, we did not throw it open to tender because, by agreeing to that new contract price, in effect, that would have been the requirement. It would have resulted in an even higher cost to the ratepayer and it would have required a throwing open to tender for a new contract.
But price was not the only factor that influenced our decision. Other factors were considered. Most of the waste from households going to the Ainslie Transfer Station was garden rubbish. The cost of double handling this rubbish and transferring it to the landfill sites was about $16 per tonne; about 240 tonnes is carted each week,
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