Page 3862 - Week 13 - Thursday, 18 October 1990
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MR COLLAERY: I will not kick that pillar away, Mr Moore. As this debate advances and as we see the very encyclopaedic and comprehensive documentation to which the good government advisers, the good people in the community and the good people in this Assembly have contributed, perhaps we should be making some fundamental queries and having some more lateral thoughts along that holistic line that Mr Moore mentioned. For example, Mr Duby has allocated to the hilltop preservation campaign for the ACT about $125,000 this year.
Mr Duby: Per annum for 10 years.
MR COLLAERY: Per annum for 10 years. It is a remarkable commitment. That is a perfect manner of bringing the aged in our community into soil degradation and recovery work, eradication of exotic fauna and the like. As Mr Duby knows, I think it is one of the most unsung things in our budget. As spring and summer advance here, you will see groups of elderly Canberrans mount the slopes of Mount Painter, Red Hill and Mount Taylor and dig out those exotic cotoneasters that are spread by the birdlife in the town. As Sue Doobov of the ACT Council on the Ageing put to me the other day, that is a way in which we can involve the ageing. I throw that challenge to Mr Duby to see whether he can get the aged in.
On another lateral level, we have recently held the first national symposium on the use of the wilderness and conservation activity for young offenders. That produced a very large crowd at Birrigai. More than 100 people came from Tasmania, and we were honoured by one of those attendees being the daughter of the famous Truchanas who lost his life mapping and photographing the Franklin River. This was a marvellous gathering of people committed to finding lateral commitments to the environment - in this case, in the corrections and justice policy. Mr Speaker, I threw in those examples to demonstrate the manner in which I believe we can all contribute laterally to this debate.
MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services) (4.45): As the debate has shown, the Alliance Government has made substantial progress in publishing its integrated strategy to address the wide range of environmental issues that face the Territory. The ACT and its residents have long been proud of the environmental quality of the ACT as a planned city with emphasis on the provision of good quality open space, preservation of national parks and nature reserves. With self-government and the funding constraints that the Government now faces, the challenge for the Alliance Government has been to maintain and enhance the high environmental quality of the ACT while at the same time acting in a financially prudent and responsible way, which is something that the present Opposition never quite managed.
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