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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3361 ..

MR BERRY: You have not read it? I will remind you. Section 9A is amended by omitting from subsection (1) "a hazardous substance" and substituting "loose asbestos".

Mr Moore: The other way round, Wayne.

MR BERRY: You have read it, all of a sudden? Section 9A of the Building Act reads as follows:

The Building Controller may, by instrument, authorise a building inspector to inspect a building to determine whether it contains a hazardous substance.

On the face of that, there does not seem to me to be any problem with a building inspector inspecting a building to determine whether it contains a hazardous substance. Inexplicably, that is being amended by the Public Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to provide:

The Building Controller may, by instrument, authorise a building inspector to inspect a building to determine whether it contains loose asbestos.

He is not able to inspect a building to see whether it has any other hazardous substance, but he is able to see whether it has loose asbestos. The Building Controller would not be able to authorise inspectors - people who understand construction, building safety, fire safety and those sorts of things - to inspect for some of the hazardous foams injected into houses some time ago which emitted toxic substances. That right is now removed from a building inspector. He is able to look only for loose asbestos. That is not explained anywhere in the legislation. He is not able to look for what might be described as contained asbestos. He is entitled to look only for loose asbestos.

I have no idea, from reading the explanatory memorandum, why such a provision has been included. I suspect that the provision about looking for hazardous substances has been transferred somewhere else, but it is not explained anywhere in the Bill which was introduced on Tuesday or in the explanatory memorandum. Would it not be nice if we had time to find out? That is one that just leaps out and bites you. I suspect that it has been transferred somewhere else, but it is not explained anywhere. Mr Moore is prepared to do - - -

Mr Moore: Are you saying that you suspect it has been moved somewhere else?

MR BERRY: You have asked Mrs Carnell. She has obviously been advised and told you. When you get up, I suspect you will tell us and we will be better informed for my raising it.

The Bill also amends paragraph (2)(d). I have not had a chance to have a look at paragraph (2)(d). It mentions "hazardous substance", too. A building inspector may "examine or perform tests on any substance that the building inspector finds in or about the building that he or she suspects, on reasonable grounds, may be a hazardous substance". "Hazardous substance" has been struck out by this legislation

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