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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (14 May) . . Page.. 1412 ..

MR OSBORNE: While the scientists battle over the safety issues, it is not unreasonable to have in place a moratorium on further pesticide incineration and, consequently, set to rest the minds of people living in the surrounding area. Points (6) and (7) cover the involvement of the Pollution Control Authority in monitoring gas emissions and undertaking random inspections of the facility. I believe that this body would hold Totalcare to the reasonable level of accountability required by the people of Canberra.

Mr Speaker, point (8) provides for all the documentation required by this motion to be readily available to members of the public so that everyone who wants to can find out what has been going on. This, I hope, will prevent people from saying some of the silly things that were said recently about what was going on out there when no-one had any actual documentation to prove it. What I hope, Mr Speaker, is that people will be a little bit more informed. They will be able to know exactly what has been going into the incinerator and the toxicity of emissions, while being safe in the knowledge that its operation is safe and accountable.

Mr Speaker, it is my intention for this motion to act as an interim measure until the long-awaited environmental legislation is passed by the Assembly, as I expect that Bill to eventually supersede all of the points contained in this motion. I think that the new legislation has been in process for about four years now and is due to be tabled sometime later this year. However, I understand that it may not be until next year that we see any type of legislation.

Mr Speaker, I believe that this motion gives us the most transparent and open incineration facility in the country. I am happy that Totalcare has already decided to implement most of the points of this motion. I believe that its provisions are reasonable for both the corporation and the people of Canberra. Mr Speaker, as you will recall, about a month ago in the Assembly I asked Mr Humphries a question in relation to this, and he guaranteed to do a number of things, which I think was commendable. The main reason I did not put the motion up at the time was that there were some concerns about people losing jobs and about pesticides being a core business of Totalcare. But, at my meeting on Monday, as I said earlier, I was informed that they are not a core part of the operation of the incinerator. That being the case, I felt quite comfortable in putting the motion up, given the guarantees that Mr Humphries had already given, and I thank him for that.

Mr Speaker, I understand that Mr Corbell has a number of amendments, which I am quite happy to support. I believe that Mr Humphries has a couple of problems about one of them, but I am quite prepared to listen and be reasonable about it. I look forward to other members supporting this motion, and I commend it to the Assembly.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning) (4.18): Mr Speaker, the Government is prepared to support the motion which Mr Osborne has moved today in the Assembly. As I will go on to explain in a moment, it reflects a number of decisions which the Government, at Mr Osborne's urging, has implemented in respect of the incinerator at Totalcare. I begin by reminding members of the undertakings I gave to the Assembly on 9 April in response to a question that Mr Osborne asked me on that occasion. I said, first of all:

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