Page 3496 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 12 October 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Naturally, any legislation has to be fair. It has to balance all interests. What my Bill seeks to do is to bring the ACT into line with the standard which applies throughout the rest of Australia, which is a sensible compromise, balancing all interests. I noted with some pleasure yesterday that the Minister stated that there are five sites, which he is yet to determine, which he is looking at in terms of improving motor racing in Canberra. That is welcomed, and I would certainly welcome an early decision in relation to those sites. That in itself would alleviate some of the problems which are faced at present, but certainly not all of them. Some of the current motor racing sites could be relocated, which would be of benefit. To build anything new takes time. Figures given to me by the motor racing people indicate that such a site might not be operative until the year 2000. There is certainly a hiatus period before any new sites are used.
In the ACT there are other sites, or parts of sites, that will continue to be used where, because of their very nature, sensible noise control measures and a system of measurement need to be in place. It is interesting to note, Madam Speaker, that the driver training track at Sutton Park has a facility whereby 95 decibels at 30 metres can, in fact, be measured. That is common at New South Wales race tracks and other race tracks throughout the country. There is already a properly surveyed site at that track where equipment can be set up. It would be a shame not to use it.
Madam Speaker, I would direct members to a few of the clauses in my Bill. Clause 5 revises the definition of "excessive noise". It includes provisions for premises where motor sport is conducted and indicates that the 95-decibel measure will be the measurement used there. The Bill adds to the definition of where organised sport is to be conducted a list of places known as at 1 September this year and also makes provision for any other place or places that are declared by the Minister, by notice in the Gazette, to be places where organised motor sport is to be conducted. Naturally, that will occur from time to time as other sites are selected. The Minister has virtually foreshadowed that.
The Bill further enables a review of decisions in relation to these particular points to be made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. It provides for the addition of a standard to the Noise Control Manual. That is section 12. The Bill enables that standard to be amended by the Assembly rather than just by the Minister, which would normally happen, and provides for the Assembly to put in place the required standard in the manual. It ensures that the Minister will put that standard in the manual within 14 days of the commencement of this Bill, should it become law.
The schedule, through section 12, introduces the 95 decibels at 30 metres standard. It lists the instrumentation and procedures that have to be used and the Australian standards that have to be followed. It also incorporates real state-of-the-art stuff, as a result of advice received from Australia's leading expert in this field, Louis Challis, on the best possible way of measuring noise on a motor track, by ensuring that the measurement sites will not be more than 32.5 metres away from the nearside of the vehicle being tested. That is to ensure that there can be no possible abuse by the motor sport and by drivers of the testing standards, which is known to have occurred in some parts of the country where there have been large tracks, more than 10 metres wide.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .