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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (29 August) . . Page.. 2823 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (continuing):

That led to the noise pollution amendments yesterday. The second one this morning said, "De Domenico red in the face over trucks". I am concerned at the press releases put out yesterday by Ms Horodny that accuse me of scaremongering and being dishonest in response to the Greens' amendments to the Noise Control Act. Members will recall that yesterday Ms Horodny introduced a private members Bill designed to eradicate trucks from Canberra suburbs. The Noise Control (Amendment) Bill, Ms Horodny informed us, was a response to the Government's inadequate rules relating to truck parking. The rules, she claims, have been agreed to only by truck owners.

Let us ignore for the moment the fact that those rules were developed and agreed to by a working party comprising a range of stakeholders, unions and community representatives. Let us also ignore the fact that these rules seem to have a high level of support in the Assembly. Let us focus on what the Greens propose, because I think it is important. There seems to be some dispute over what the Noise Control (Amendment) Bill, as introduced by Ms Horodny yesterday, actually does. Let me quote from her press release:

Our bill will only affect loud trucks idling for long periods on private land between 10pm and 7am. It does not have any effect on vehicles on public streets. All we are doing is fixing an anomaly in the Noise Control Act in that it covers lawnmowers, music, generators etc but does not cover motor vehicles entering or leaving premises or generating noise on the premises.

Mr Speaker, the Government sought some initial advice on the Bill from the environment regulation and roads and transportation areas of the Department of Urban Services. Let me briefly read to members some of what they - the experts - say about the Greens' proposal:

If allowed to go ahead, the proposed Bill will capture all motor vehicles, and subject to their place of use, all vehicles could be subject to a noise limit of 5 dB(A) above background noise levels between 10 pm and 7 am. This would include ordinary cars entering their owner's garage.

In other words, starting the family Magna wagon in the morning would potentially put you in breach of the law, Mr Speaker. I quote again:

Clause 4(a) has the effect of capturing all motor vehicles, including those used for works of public safety and essential services. In effect, our power and water supplies could not be restored when damaged at night, fires could not be controlled using motor vehicles etc, if the noise of these vehicles exceeds the proposed standards. This would be against the public interest and may endanger lives.

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