Page 963 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 31 March 1993
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We have surveyed this matter. In August last year, we asked whether armoured cars should be exempted from parking restrictions, that is, be allowed to park on shopping centre footpaths, red line kerbs, et cetera, when delivering or picking up money or valuables. The result was that 56.66 per cent of people said yes; 31 per cent said no; 8.66 per cent answered that they were not concerned; and 3.66 per cent did not have enough information to respond. Certainly, the majority agreed with such an exemption. Madam Speaker, I commend the Bill to the house.
Debate (on motion by Mr Connolly) adjourned.
BUILDING (AMENDMENT) BILL (NO. 2) 1992
Debate resumed from 18 November 1992, on motion by Mr Moore:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (11.13): While the Government has some agreement with the policy goals behind Mr Moore's legislation, this is one of those cases where we will not be supporting it. Mr Moore's Bill would have the effect of making it compulsory to provide wall and ceiling insulation in the construction of new houses and renovations in Canberra. The Government has, as I say, some sympathy with the concept that we should be encouraging, and in some cases making compulsory, the use of insulation. There is no doubt that additional use of insulation materials will lead to a reduction in energy costs, and that is a very positive objective. It is something the Government should be working to achieve.
Firstly, the Government does not believe that it is necessary to do this by stand-alone legislation, because it is possible to do it under regulations under the Building Act. Secondly, the Government does not agree with Mr Moore's proposition that we should be making insulation compulsory in both walls and ceilings. It is a question of balance. We know that most of the people who are buying new homes in Canberra are doing it pretty hard. Certainly, there are some people who are moving to areas of Gungahlin and Tuggeranong and building very lovely new homes - perhaps their second or third home. They are quite comfortable financially. But a lot of the people who are buying new homes in the developing areas of Canberra are young couples who are doing it pretty tough. They scrape together just about every dollar they can muster to get that deposit. They go to the bank or building institution - Mr Stevenson will probably have something to say about that later on today - and get the maximum loan that they can, and they just move into that house.
If you drive through those new suburbs, as many of us have done - the very frontier of new development, where young couples are going into new houses at the affordable end of the family house market - you will see, in many cases, that the windows are protected by sheets. People have stretched themselves to the point that they can get those bricks and mortar and move in. Curtains are very
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