Page 2512 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 23 August 1994
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a lot of red tape that is quite detrimental to setting up business in Canberra. I do not know that we need to carry around a pair of scissors to cut it, but certainly it behoves the Government to do what it can to reduce the red tape that is detrimental to business.
Mr Lamont and my leader talked about ideas and innovations from overseas. During my 2½-year absence from this place, I took a dragon boat team to China, and one of my colleagues was the delegate to Dragon Boats International, who did some work for the New South Wales-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. We were in Tianjin, a port city about 100 kilometres from Beijing and one of the three economic zones in China. I was speaking to some Chinese business people in relation to how long it took to get the necessary planning approval to set up a business there. I was told, "Quite a while; about three weeks", to which my response was, "Comrades, in Australia we are far more bureaucratic than you. If you tried that in the ACT, it would take you 12 to 18 months". It may be the Chinese, and they are indeed a communist state, Mr Lamont, but they seem to have a lot more business acumen than we show at times.
Mr Kaine: The trouble is that our Government is further to the left than they are.
MR STEFANIAK: It may well be, Mr Kaine. I am certainly not advocating any compromise in relation to environmental provisions. China, in its early attempts to industrialise some rather ridiculous sites, with concrete factories placed next to pagodas and mountain streams, produced some very bad effects. But certainly we can learn a lot from the active encouragement they give to business.
Mr Stevenson spoke about the business run by the Ballards, Tom's Trash Packs. That is an environmentally friendly and energy saving new business development, and a rather exciting one for Canberra. As my leader has said, new businesses create jobs, especially for those people in Canberra who have trouble getting jobs and who form a very large jobless pool - our young. That particular business, which is totally environmentally friendly, I understand, would create up to eight new jobs, largely for young people. That type of business should be actively supported rather than having a lot of impediments put in its way.
My understanding, having spoken briefly to the proponents, is that they have been given the run-around for about 12 months. I do not think they particularly care where their site is; they just need a site. Their business, surely, is one of those environmentally friendly businesses that should be encouraged. As I think Mr Stevenson indicated, it involves mulching. Basically, it is a full recycling circle. Garden waste is picked up, mulched, and turned back to consumers, to Canberra residents, without the need for it to go to the tip. Maybe the Government is very keen to get tip revenue; but I think that defeats the purpose of recycling, and it certainly defeats the purpose of supporting the environment in Canberra. Our tips have a finite life. The Belconnen tip, several kilometres from where I live, will cease to be operative by about the year 2000, on current trends.
Mr Moore: Where do you live now?
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