Page 2506 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 23 August 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR WOOD: Not big enough for Mr Stefaniak, I do not think. They are not big bins.
Mr De Domenico: They are smaller big bins.
MR WOOD: They might fit Mr De Domenico. We support those concepts. There is a lot of difficulty with paper, and, if that system of shredding paper and using it in the form Mr Stevenson mentioned is going to work, it would be great. There is more newsprint sitting in dumps and depots around Australia than anybody can cope with, so that certainly would be useful. That has not come to my attention as providing a direct grant; but I am sure that it could well be, and maybe we could talk about that.
As for the split-cycle engine, not being a technical person I note it with interest. You might send that over and I will read about it afterwards.
Mr Stevenson: Yes, I will - to all members.
MR WOOD: It is the case that in the ACT we are keen to promote environmentally sensitive jobs or environmentally sensitive industries, if I can put inverted commas around that. We need to look to our employment base and the manner in which we grow. We want to see that our growth - I would recommend this for anywhere - is environmentally sensitive. It was for that reason that in the Treasurer's recent budget we provided $80,000 to have a very comprehensive survey of green jobs across a whole range of areas to see where we may provide further employment that would not be damaging to our local environment.
We already do a great deal. In the institutions around Canberra, even government institutions such as ACTEW, we market our technology. We market our expertise. ACTEW is engaged in numbers of consultancies and enterprises beyond the boundaries of this Territory, and that creates jobs for ACTEW. So we are already in that. The universities and CSIRO are well into that area as well, selling our knowledge to other parts of Australia and overseas. One area where I believe we have a significant advantage is in our environment management skills. For example, it is noted around Australia that our control of water and run-off from development sites is the best there is. Occasionally in heavy rain some of the mechanisms might break, but we do have a very good system. We are intending to market our knowledge in this area even more. In our agencies we have knowledge of how to prevent pollution, how to run industries that are as pollution-free as possible, and that is something we would like to market further afield. In waste management, under Mr Lamont and, before him, Mr Connolly, so much has been done, and that is a technology we can market. It was Mr Lamont who saw to it that we were in a position to establish a course at the Institute of Technology of waste management trainer. That brings people in, and it will develop technologies we can export.
Over and above all that is the training and eduction we can provide in environmentally sensitive jobs. We have a great deal, both within the Government and beyond the Government in the ACT, to be able to do that. In the budget we have allocated $80,000 for a comprehensive look at this. I note that the Federal Government has recently - dare I say it - followed in our steps; perhaps I can claim that. They are also on
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .