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his Government, who governed the Territory for 3½ years before that point, did not act in these areas? It was because, despite the sleight of hand that Mr Berry used in his remarks, it was not actually 31 March 1995 when we saw the first major problem with deliberately lit fires causing a smoke problem in the ACT - not by a long shot, Mr Speaker.

In the autumn of 1993, for example, there were serious problems in the ACT caused by smoke coming across from New South Wales. There was a major burn, for example, in the Orange-Bathurst region - so big that it reached the ACT. So, we are not talking about things happening at Murrumbateman and just outside Queanbeyan; we are talking about a very large area of New South Wales. In January 1994 we again had problems with fires elsewhere - those major fires in New South Wales. Again, even though we knew that those things were happening, there was not any notice from the previous Government to citizens of the ACT that they should take special precautions.

The crux of Mr Berry's motion before this Assembly is that we did not take action quickly enough on the problems that became clear to us within a few days of taking office; that the problem was not solved.

Mr Berry: You said that you would, and you did not.

MR HUMPHRIES: I did say that I would, and I did take action.

Mr Berry: When?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, my department, pursuant to my instructions, immediately raised with the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority, in a letter on 7 April, the issue of airborne pollution in the ACT from New South Wales burn-offs. As a result of that, it was immediately set down for discussion between the Office of the Environment in the ACT and the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority in a meeting to be held in the ACT on 19 April. I am advised that at that meeting the New South Wales officials agreed that there had been a significant smoke problem for the ACT on 31 March. They also acknowledged that there had been a heavy fuel load in the areas burnt that day. They said that, originally, the meteorological conditions for the burn had been favourable, but the wind direction had changed after the burning commenced. That is fine; there was an explanation for what happened on that day. But the point we had made about there being a problem with notice for the ACT was taken by the New South Wales authorities, and we took steps to deal with it.

Mr Speaker, I want to table in the Assembly the minutes of that meeting of 19 April between the Office of the Environment and the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority. This is action that Mr Berry claims did not occur. Here are the minutes of that meeting held at the Homeworld Building, which I think is in Tuggeranong, which Mr Berry says does not matter. Item 6 of the minutes reads:

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