Page 1425 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 1 May 1990
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MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Jensen, for your observation. That is not a point of order. Mr Moore, please be careful.
MR MOORE: What I am saying, Mr Speaker, in referring to that matter of 241, is that Dr Kinloch has misled this Assembly. That is what I said and that is what I stand by.
I also make it very clear that at the end of this matter of public importance I intend to seek leave to put a motion which will read:
That the Assembly demand:
(a) that the Minister for Urban Services reopen the Ainslie Transfer Station; and
(b) that any future moves to close the transfer station be preceded by -
and this is what you should have done -
(i) full public consultation;
(ii) consideration of all environmental concerns; and
(iii) a publicly available cost-benefit analysis.
People in Canberra are not stupid. If they can see the benefits of taking some action like this, they will go with it. But you have made no attempt to show them any benefit, other than that this will save a couple of dollars - and a couple of dollars saved is less than the cost of transferring the Executive Deputies to the fifth floor, when it comes to the crunch.
MR STEVENSON (4.30): Mr Speaker, I speak on behalf of many people in Canberra who feel they are not being correctly represented in government. In answer to my question to Mr Duby about what consultation there was with members of the Canberra community who are affected by the closure of the Ainslie tip, he said, basically, none.
When we look at the idea of transfer stations, it is not necessarily something that we should be phasing out. In Sydney, in various parts, they are phasing them in. They have been seen as an environmentally sensible way to avoid the cost, safety problems and environmental damage of small vehicles transferring waste over long distances.
Mr Moore raises the point, quite correctly, that the people of Canberra are not silly. A logical explanation can be given to them. If it makes sense, they will agree with it. The problem is not just with this Government but with governments in general - they act first and talk later. We need consultation. Any number of people to whom I have spoken and I do not disagree that cuts should be made. In other words, the people of Canberra do not have an inexhaustible supply of money to pay for things. They know that; we know that; but it needs to be done after consultation with the people.
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