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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 9 ..

MR MOORE (11.34): Mr Speaker, I present report No. 25 of the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment entitled "The 1995 ACT State of the Environment Report and the Government's response", together with the extracts of the minutes of proceedings. I move:

That the report be noted.

Mr Speaker, this has been a particularly interesting inquiry for the committee. It raises quite a number of issues for the Assembly to consider. This report was tabled out of session and raises for the Government a series of difficulties about the way in which they deal with the State of the Environment Report. The first of the two most important of those, Mr Speaker, is the extra responsibility that the Commissioner for the Environment has now taken on in a regional sense. The regional focus of the Commissioner for the Environment is, indeed, an important attribute, and the committee is very pleased that has been taken on. However, we did note that the Commissioner for the Environment is being provided with only very limited extra funding for that work, and it is appropriate that the Commissioner for the Environment be able to carry out the work in the best possible way.

The second most important issue, Mr Speaker, is the way in which the Government responds to reports of the Commissioner for the Environment. The reports from the Commissioner for the Environment have generally received a very positive response from the Government, but with no specifics. Members of the committee are conscious that there are three ways to deal with policy - you argue against it; you argue for it; or, probably the most important method, you either delay it or just provide no funding whatsoever, so that you can make all sorts of nice noises but achieve very little. That is the concern of the committee that I would like to highlight most clearly.

Mr Speaker, it is quite clear that the Commissioner for the Environment has made a major contribution to the Assembly, and I draw members' attention to the fact that that position was created by Mr Bill Wood. Certainly, from my understanding, it was an initiative that Mr Wood took to the election before last, came into the Assembly as Minister for the Environment and then delivered on that. I believe that has made a significant contribution to the improvement of the environment in Canberra and the ACT. However, there is still a long way to go. It is not enough for the Commissioner for the Environment simply to draw attention to the fact that there are problems in the ACT and for the Government to say, "Oh, yes, we will fix those sometime, perhaps later; but we are not putting any funding into it". We have to have specific goals set and that is, I think, the most significant part of the report that this committee brought down.

Mr Speaker, I recommend to members that they read the report carefully and, particularly the Government, take on board the encouraging parts of the report for the Government; but also that they be particularly conscious of the issues that we have highlighted for the Government to consider.

Debate (on motion by Ms McRae) adjourned.

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