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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (5 September) . . Page.. 3145 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

I say as an aside that there are still situations that are causing residents considerable anguish. I am aware of one resident who has been offered a promotion to a job in another town and is in a position where he and his family are not able to sell that house. Not only is there a problem in terms of renting them as far as contaminated sites go, but also getting insurance cover to rent a house on a contaminated site apparently proves impossible. So there are real issues that need to be resolved as a matter of great urgency. The committee noted in its report that the Theodore sites had not yet been remediated, despite being vacated for over a year.

In making this request for urgent attention by the Government to recommendation 9 of the committee's report, the committee is not asking the Government to address all of its recommendations immediately. The committee is in receipt of a letter from the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning, Mr Humphries, advising that the Government will respond to the committee's report by 25 September - in other words, in the next sitting. At this time, the Government will also respond to matters raised in Report No. 5 of the Auditor-General entitled Management of Former Sheep Dip Sites. The committee is pleased that the Government will respond to both of these issues at the one time. I think it is a very sensible way to go about it. But the proposed date is still three weeks away, and some Canberra residents are being seriously inconvenienced by each day that passes. The committee calls on the Government to finalise its response, particularly to recommendation 9 of the committee's report, within the next week.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning): Mr Speaker, I seek leave to make a statement on the issue raised by Mr Moore.

Leave granted.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I note the concern Mr Moore has raised on behalf of the Planning and Environment Committee and indicate that the delay in being able to settle on a policy with respect to remediation concerns me as well. I must indicate that I believe the Government has taken as many steps as are possible to deal with this matter in the timeframe available. Members will be aware that at the moment there are buyouts occurring in respect of properties in Theodore, and, indeed, in other places in the Territory. The Government has had some considerable discussion with representatives of residents in Watson about the way in which the remediation or buyout of sites there may occur. The particular problem with Watson, of course, is that the contamination on those sites is potentially, at least, partly naturally occurring as well as man made, and a policy needs to be developed which will take account of issues such as the bio-availability of contamination in a form where it is naturally occurring rather than man made.

Members will know that an expert group chaired, I think, by Professor Michael Moore has been established. It has been involved in supervising testing of the sites and assessment also of the bio-availability of naturally occurring arsenic. Those tests are not yet completed, and it remains my view that it is essential to have the results of those tests to be able to form a view about the extent of buyouts and/or remediation of sites there.

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