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Canberra Times . . Page.. 353 ..

He would also know that there is a need to reduce the fire hazard. It is a relatively new thing. In the past we have been affected by smoke from bushfires. There is not much we can do about that. They are not planned occurrences. But, now that there is going to be an increased emphasis on this fuel reduction in the surrounding area, we need to take action. It is not something that we have had to deal with before to any great extent, but it is something that the Government is going to have to deal with in future.

My concern is that, whilst the Government knew that this was going on, Mr Humphries did nothing. On 31 March, according to the Canberra Times, Mr Humphries said that he would require greater notice if New South Wales fire services again considered a burn-off of such magnitude. I do not know what power Mr Humphries has to require this. I suspect that he has no power to require it, so it is pretty much a pompous statement; nevertheless, it is an indication that he was aware of the problem. The newspaper report went on to say:

In the future we would like sufficient notice from the authorities to enable us to warn people, particularly those with special health requirements.

You read the newspaper and you think, “The Government is onto it. So, we can expect that they will do something in the future, in consultation with the relevant New South Wales authorities”. That is where people would be disappointed, because, apparently, Mr Humphries did nothing. I think that shows an appalling disregard for the ACT community. It seems as if there was no interest until the smoke pall again descended on Canberra, about a month later. It seems that then the Minister took an interest in the issue and did something about it.

In circumstances where this had been an ongoing problem, I think a motion from this Assembly would be harder hitting. The motion that I have moved today merely notes the issue and regrets the failure of the Minister for the Environment, Mr Humphries, to establish that coordinating arrangement with those relevant New South Wales authorities that would be necessary to at least develop some sort of a plan so that, for example, we do not have two New South Wales authorities conducting a major burn-off upwind of Canberra at this time of year, giving us that particular problem. We know about the difficulties of finding the correct day, the correct weather and so on; but those experts in meteorology - - -

Mr De Domenico: In Tuggeranong - they have some experts there, too.

MR BERRY: Those experts in meteorology out there in New South Wales who are conducting the burn-offs need to be involved in some sort of a consultative process. I heard Mr De Domenico interject, “In Tuggeranong”. It has nothing to do with Tuggeranong. We are talking about burn-offs which - - -

Mr De Domenico: Yes, it has.

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