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of the letter to your Labor colleague, the Hon. Pam Allan, the Minister for the Environment. We have already done it”. We are quite sorry that, in 3½ years of government, you did not see fit to do it yourself and that it has taken us only 19 days to do it. So, do not waste the time of the Assembly in an attempt to score cheap political points by putting on this silly motion. Mr Moore was a bit kinder on you, Mr Berry. He said that perhaps the intention there was to make sure that something happens in the future.

Mr Moore: As you know, I am always kind.

MR DE DOMENICO: I know that. Let us have a look at what else Mr Berry said. As we know, Mr Berry is a former fireman. As a former fireman, Mr Berry of all people in this place should realise that, if burning off is not the panacea, as he said, other things have to be done when there is too much vegetation that may endanger people's lives. I ask him: Do we spray it with DDT? Do we get to it with chainsaws? When he gets to his feet again, I want him to tell us what else can be done to control that sort of situation around the Territory. We can have the meetings and we can have all the coordination; but I would be interested in Mr Berry's views, as a former fireman, as to how we are going to do it, seeing that he said that burning off is not the panacea.

Mr Berry also talked about maladies. That is a concerning thing to all members of this Assembly. Of course we are concerned about people who are asthmatics and people who have sinus problems. Members of my family are in that situation. It is ironic, is it not, that the place in Canberra where most people suffered was the Tuggeranong Valley? Because of his comments before, I am sure that Mr Berry has never been there. Would it not be fantastic if we did have a weather station in the Tuggeranong Valley, because that weather station would predict what is likely to happen in the Tuggeranong Valley?

From time to time other members suggest what we should do about wood-burning fires in the Tuggeranong Valley. There is a guy called Savage - savage by name and savage by nature - Mr Tony Savage from Conder, which is where I live, by the way, who from time to time suggests that we ought to blanket-ban all things to do with wood-burning heaters in the Tuggeranong Valley because of the configuration and the shape of the Tuggeranong Valley, where the smoke tends to accumulate. Mr Berry, had you ever been there in your life, you would realise that it is important to the people in the Tuggeranong Valley. I am sure that Mr Wood, Mr Whitecross, my colleague Mr Kaine, and Mr Osborne - all members for Brindabella - would know, because that is where they come from. Mr Berry would have known, had he asked the right question, that it is of deep concern to the people in the Tuggeranong Valley. So, let us get that out of the way as well.

I applaud Mr Wood, because he initiated the establishment of the weather station, and Mr Humphries followed suit on a very good decision by Mr Wood to allow a weather station in the Tuggeranong Valley. It is at times like these that that weather station will be used to the fore, to advise the people in the Tuggeranong Valley of exactly what is happening. I go back to Mr Berry’s motion. I know that you are in opposition, and you love being in opposition, because you like to play politics; but this is a silly motion and a waste of this Assembly's time. I think it ought to be rejected, as it will, quite rightly, be.

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