Page 3821 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 16 October 1991
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On the question of whether there is a different basis for calculation of interest on Housing Trust loans, yes, there is. Are they disadvantaged? No, they are not; it is a more beneficial system. Indeed, if the banks were to introduce the same system, we would all be better off.
Rural Firefighting Service
MR COLLAERY: My question is to Mr Connolly as Minister for Urban Services. What are the requirements to allow controlled burn-offs by the Rural Firefighting Service? No doubt he is aware that it is burn-off season. I wonder whether he would inform the house what interest he has taken in that concern and what are the parameters of his Government in relation to controlled burning.
MR CONNOLLY: I have not looked into the detail of that issue. Controlled burn-off is an extraordinarily sensible action. Last year was a very high fire season. That is evidenced by the extent to which last year the budget for the fire service needed to be supplemented because of the extraordinarily high demand on the rural bushfire service. A high level of rural fires occurs when there is a period of warm, dry weather and a large quantity of combustible fuel. The practice of controlled burn-off, which is unpopular with urban dwellers because it results in smoke, which is nasty - - -
Mr Collaery: And with little furry things that get heated.
MR CONNOLLY: And with little furry things that may get burnt. It is better to embark on a controlled program of burns in the low fire season than to risk a major conflagration in the summer season. In the ACT, as in every State and Territory in Australia, there are programs for controlled burn-offs. Burn-offs occur under the supervision and control of the rural fire services. They are done when the experts in firefighting - and I am not one - indicate that it is a sensible thing to do.
That policy applies under this Government. It is the same policy that applied under the former Government, when Mr Duby was Minister. It is a sensible practice; it has occurred for years and it will continue to occur. To stop it would simply risk a massive period of fires during the peak of the season.
MR COLLAERY: I ask a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. In view of the Minister's assurances, can he tell us why there is a controlled burn taking place at the moment near Black Mountain? As we resumed after lunch, the wind velocity recorded at Fairbairn was 37 knots. There is a west to north-west wind blowing, which in the vicinity of Black Mountain points the wrong way, and it is a day of extremely low humidity. Can the Minister, in view of his assurances, explain the controlled burn today?
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