Page 4706 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 7 December 1994
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response is required, or where notices have not achieved the desired response, an environment protection order may be issued by the administering authority. An order is intended to be directive in nature and enforceable. It would direct actions to prevent environmental harm, clean up contamination, or supply information where this was needed.
The mechanisms that I have outlined would replace the current pollution controls with a legislative framework to support integrated environmental management well into the future. I have outlined only briefly the key mechanisms of what is a complex and challenging issue. The second discussion paper will be open to public consultation until the end of February 1995, to allow people to become fully aware of the proposal. In addition to seeking public comments, I intend to ask the reference group to continue its involvement in the further development of the proposal. I thank those officers in the department and those in the reference group for their very diligent work in bringing this complex matter to this stage. The next stage, then, will be to prepare draft legislation. Once this is completed, further comment will be sought. I look forward to taking the issue through the Assembly at some time in the future. I commend this discussion paper to the Assembly.
MR MOORE (3.47): I have had time only to scan this paper.
Mrs Grassby: Mr Stefaniak must have read it; he was on his feet.
MR MOORE: Whilst I do not intend to comment on any of the details, I think it is appropriate to congratulate the Minister on such a detailed document. Certainly, in principle, the concepts that are outlined here and the amount of work that has gone into this paper and to get the strategy in place are clearly extensive. From my scanning of it, it is an extraordinary contribution to the effort to get an integrated environment protection package into place. I note, from Appendix 3, that there is still a long way to go in terms of the process that is required, but it is a process that the Minister should be proud of and that this Assembly should be proud to support. It may well be that there are some details within the discussion paper that I may take issue with, but that is the whole point of having a discussion paper. Therefore, I congratulate the Minister, the reference group and the officers for their work in putting together such a extensive document and ensuring that it does get out to the public.
MR STEFANIAK (3.49): This is an important paper. The States and the Commonwealth are moving slowly towards integrated environmental measures. In the ACT we have a number of Acts which deal with environmental measures. The idea of integration, consolidation and looking at the whole aspect of the environment globally is to be applauded. I would largely endorse many of the comments made by Mr Moore. Despite what Mrs Grassby said - and I thank her for assuming that I was such a great skim reader that I had looked through about 72 pages of report - sadly, I have to disappoint her; I have not gone through it in any detail. No doubt there would be various matters in the report which we would wish to comment on. However, it is certainly a sensible development. I look forward to going through it in detail and no doubt, Mr Wood, when we are in government we will make it a lot better and implement all the sensible proposals.
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