Page 27 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 16 February 1993
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We will also be continuing to focus on protecting vital services to the community throughout the process, which is a continuing process, of transition to State-like funding. Mr Westende, in attacking the ACTION bus service, appears to believe that the community can do without a public transport service. They cannot; nor can most communities in Australia. Unlike members opposite, most communities in Australia expect to have to pay for their public transport system. It does not come free. It is quite unacceptable, I believe, on social justice grounds to hear members opposite saying that we should do without it or that we should sell it to the private sector or some such nonsense. It is a service to the community.
We have continued to ensure the protection of our environment. I believe that Canberra's environment is our greatest resource in the non-human sense. As I said earlier, we will be providing a Commissioner for the Environment, and that is a reflection of the importance the Government places on these issues. My colleague has established a Landcare Council to implement the Decade of Landcare plan. That is to provide a blueprint for achieving environmental and economic stability for ACT lands. The Office of the Environment, which is part of DELP, has now produced Canberra's first air quality report. I believe that these environmental protection matters are extremely important, and the office will now produce reports on a monthly basis. We can continue to improve the protection of our environment through these kinds of initiatives.
We will also be looking at the environmentally beneficial industries that might be suitable for Canberra and the potential for using our environment as a means of widening our ACT employment base; for example, through tourism promotions and through a better use of Namadgi National Park. We gave great latitude to Mr Westende in his Federal election broadcast, but I would like to comment on the tourism side. A Federal Liberal government will be demolishing the tourism industry, especially in the ACT, and will get rid of the department. We will be trying our best to build that industry, not tear it down.
Still on the environmental front, we have outlined our plans to ensure that the difficulties we have had with overflows into the Molonglo River do not occur in the future. The facilities at the Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre, although they are amongst the best in the world, I am told, will be upgraded in line with the findings of a recent environmental audit that was commissioned by my Government - another step we have taken to ensure the protection of the environment. As I said in my earlier comments, we will be implementing the Territory Plan this year and taking into account the very thorough public consultation process that was implemented last year by the Government. For the Opposition to accuse the Government of wasting opportunities is to ignore the fact that a very substantial proportion of our election commitments have been achieved or are in the process of being achieved. To accuse the Government of lacking in vision is equally ludicrous in light of the priorities I have already spelt out in the ministerial statement I made and in my comments today.
Mr Westende's comments related in large part to payroll tax. I have addressed that question at some length already in question time today, but I should say - and I will repeat it until those opposite get it through their heads - that 11 per cent of Canberra employers pay payroll tax. Not all Canberra businesses pay payroll tax. Small businesses do not. If we were to listen to the rhetoric of those opposite we might believe that they were concerned about payroll tax.
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