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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2087 ..

MS TUCKER: I have a supplementary question. The second part of my question was: What about the interest of consumers? I would appreciate an answer to that. Also, is the Minister aware that the Privacy Commissioner is developing a privacy code which could be used as a blueprint for States and Territories legislation? She has said herself that it could be.

MR HUMPHRIES: I am not aware of that, but I take Ms Tucker's advice on that subject. I am pleased to know that. I would be interested in looking at that when it is available, in order to form a view about whether it is useful in the ACT. Mr Speaker, I think it flows already from what I have said, given my own preference for what we should be doing, that the interests of consumers, obviously, are not served by not having privacy provisions, because consumers are the beneficiaries of such provisions.

We also have to recognise that there are burdens in this arrangement as well, and there are burdens on government agencies by having to provide for privacy protection arrangements. They can be onerous on occasions, even costly. The decision by the Federal Government not to impose that on the private sector of this country does mean that we have to consider the issue of the burden placed on the private sector that would have been the case had there been such a decision. If you look only at the interests of consumers, then clearly there is a deficiency in this decision; but we cannot. We are not in a position to look only at the interests of consumers.

Mrs Carnell: I request that any further questions be placed on the notice paper.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I would like to give some further information in response to a question yesterday from Ms Horodny on the recycling estate at Hume. I understand that a key action to the waste management strategy for Canberra is the preparation of an action plan to rationalise the solid waste management system in Canberra, including the establishment of infrastructure for resource recovery. ACT Waste is currently finalising a study of the infrastructure required to meet the objectives of the no waste by 2010 strategy, and this will be submitted for consideration by the Government in July. The action plan being developed incorporates resource recovery facilities at both Mitchell and Hume and a recycling estate in association with the operation of the Mugga Lane landfill. With regard to the Purdon and Associates study - that was the $20,000 that I mentioned yesterday - that study will be completed in late August.

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