Page 3918 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 23 October 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
have their purpose, but they are not there to dictate. That is just a small point that I would like to raise at this time.
The other point about this report that is most important to me really relates to a question of priorities within the committee. In the period between 14 December 1989 when I was removed from the committee and 28 March 1990 when I was reinstated, the committee decided that this particular report would take priority over the other reference that it has relating to energy.
It seems to me that that priority is back to front. So I am very pleased that we now have the opportunity to get into what is a much more important and much more significant issue for the ACT. In fact, really it is a world issue. Although some members of this Assembly, I know, argue that there is no greenhouse impact and that the whole notion of greenhouse is inappropriate, most of us do accept it, and most of us do realise that we have a responsibility to act very quickly and effectively in that area. I shall be looking forward to moving on to what I consider a much higher priority reference for the committee.
MRS NOLAN (4.36): I am the most recent appointment to the Conservation, Heritage and Environment Committee - in fact, I became a member only in early August when this inquiry was under way - and I am pleased I was able to participate in the finalisation of the report. I am sure all of us on the committee were very concerned that both the Honeysuckle Creek station and the Orroral Valley tracking station were allowed to deteriorate to the condition that they are now in.
However, let me get back to the report. The problem, Mr Deputy Speaker, is that when there is a committee of five people, all speaking to one report, very often much of what one wants to say has already been stated by previous speakers. However, there are areas of the report I want to address today and I will try to be brief. May I also take this opportunity to thank the committee staff, especially Ron Owens, the Hansard staff and others responsible for getting this report finalised and published.
One of the main areas I want to mention today is the historical significance of both tracking stations, in particular the Honeysuckle Creek tracking station and the integral part it played in the Apollo moon program. As is stated in the report, when astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .