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The amendment deals with the penalty units that apply in relation to clause 4 of the Bill. It changes the penalty units regime in relation to the existing protection for trees in the urban environment. Those penalties need to be there because those trees need to be protected. This Opposition went to the people last time with a clear policy on the protection of urban native species, and we intend to stick with our policies in that respect. The Liberals, on the other hand, were very careful to keep quiet their policy of removing protection from our native species in the urban environment. They were going to keep that quiet because they knew what the reaction of the community would be. The people of the ACT are very firmly committed to the tree-lined reserves and the greenness of the Australian Capital Territory, and they would react badly to this chainsaw approach to the protection of trees in the urban area.

Mr Moore made a point about the - - -

Mr Moore: I made several.

MR BERRY: One that is worth talking about at this moment in relation to trees, and one which I think will come back to haunt him. He said a few words about how he and a few neighbours were concerned about a neighbour chopping down a tree, and they went and satisfied themselves that that was okay.

Mr Moore: In a neighbourly way.

MR BERRY: Who says that they were right? They could well have been wrong. What Mr Moore is proposing in supporting the Government on this issue is the very thing that we seek to prevent. Mature native species in backyards in the ACT, which contribute so much to this community, ought to be protected. By going with this, Mr Moore leaves open to a leaseholder the option to put the chainsaw into a mature tree which provides nesting places for our fauna - the large standing gum tree with a girth of a couple of metres and with nesting holes for native species. It does not hurt anybody, but it does help the environment in the ACT, of which we are all proud.

What you are supporting is an approach where, even though the tree has been protected right through the development phase, as soon as somebody has got hold of a lease they can pull out the chainsaw - borrow it from Gary Humphries, if you like - give it a kick-start and cut the tree off at the roots. Mr Moore thinks that is okay. We do not, and that is why we intend to make sure that the penalty sticks and the tree protection sticks. It is a law which is consistent - - -

Mr De Domenico: It is a silly amendment, Mr Berry.

MR BERRY: Your amendment is silly; I agree.

Mr De Domenico: No; yours is a silly amendment, Mr Berry.

MR BERRY: You want to read the amendment first.

Mr De Domenico: I have read it. It is silly.

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