Page 3837 - Week 13 - Thursday, 18 October 1990
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In a way I guess this is also related to the comments about the Ainslie Transfer Station as it was. I would suggest to you, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, and other members of the Assembly, that the Ainslie Transfer Station as it operated at the time was, in fact, a very wasteful exercise from the point of view of garden refuse because, in fact, that material was not being processed. It was just being taken straight to the tip without any processing at all. I do not know why that was the case because, in fact, there is a very good processing facility in the ACT at the Mugga Lane depot. I am not quite sure why that was not being made use of.
I think it is also important that every household composts its own compostable rubbish. Anything that can be returned to the garden or the shrubs or the trees, whatever you have in your neighbourhood, should be considered. It has also been suggested that maybe people in some areas might like to get together and operate a joint organisation, some form of area composting facility, if they do not have enough for themselves. A large number of private vehicles which currently enter the landfill sites each week are delivering garden waste. Think of the petrol that is being wasted by delivering garden waste and clippings - that sort of stuff - which could be processed in your own household areas, particularly lawn clippings. I think that is something that should be returned to the environment immediately around your house.
I think we have to turn around this mentality of just taking it to the tip. I think we need to show people that they are throwing away material which is valuable. The Government is already doing this through our campaign to encourage home composting. For example, when people complain about autumn leaves, which their gardens produce, brochures are available to show them just how useful the leaves are to the compost heap. These brochures are being distributed and it is intended to continue to make people aware of the advantages of composting.
However, I agree that there are many items of garden waste which cannot be composted at home. In order to cater for this problem, therefore, the Government has announced that tenders will be called in order to establish a composting facility at or near the Belconnen landfill site. (Extension of time granted) As part of this tender process, a garden waste drop off area will be provided at Mitchell. We will find, I suggest, that the material that was going into the Ainslie Transfer Station will now go into an effective composting facility and the community will get much greater benefit than they have in the past. I think it will be a much more modern facility to complement the excellent recycling centre that is currently being opened at Mitchell. I accept the fact that the previous Government was working towards that, but this Government has continued that process and gone even further by ensuring that these new facilities are readily available for the Canberra community. I look forward - - -
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