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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (14 May) . . Page.. 1424 ..

MS HORODNY: Well, there we go. We believe that there is no need for a moratorium because there is nothing to have a moratorium about, and we have doubts that the Commissioner for the Environment has the capacity to undertake an inquiry of this nature.

Debate interrupted.

ADJOURNMENT

MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! It being 5.00 pm, I propose the question:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Mr Humphries: I require the question to be put forthwith without debate.

Question resolved in the negative.

TOTALCARE WASTE TREATMENT FACILITY - MITCHELL
Motion

Debate resumed.

MS HORODNY: The commissioner is already undertaking an inquiry into pesticide use in the ACT, which started over 14 months ago and is still not finished; so, we would be waiting a very long time, I believe, for the commissioner to inquire into the incinerator. I have put forward an amendment to Mr Corbell's amendments, which makes clear beyond doubt that no more pesticides and agricultural chemicals would be incinerated at Mitchell.

Just to finish off, Mr Humphries said many times that there have been histrionics on this issue, drama and a lot of hoo-ha in the community; but I think Mr Humphries needs to look back at what was the issue with agent orange. When agent orange was first put out, Mr Humphries, experts said that it was safe. Medical practitioners said that it was safe. National chemical bodies said that it was safe. The Defence Department said that it was safe. The President, I think, said that it was safe. Now, years later, we know that there has been a class action and many hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid out. The lesson from that is that we need to abide by the precautionary principle. We do not know that a chemical is safe until it has been proved absolutely. We do not know about the sorts of chemicals that are coming out of that incinerator. We do not know that they are safe. While ever we do not know that, you, as the Environment Minister, need to apply the precautionary principle.

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