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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (4 December) . . Page.. 4611 ..
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Wood): Order! It being 5.00 pm, I propose the question:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mrs Carnell: I ask that the question be put forthwith without debate.
Question resolved in the negative.
Report on Outdoor Lighting
MR MOORE (5.01): I present Report No. 38 of the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment, entitled "The Provision of Quality Outdoor Lighting in the ACT", together with a copy of the extracts of the minutes of proceedings. This report was provided to the Speaker for circulation on Tuesday, 18 November 1997, pursuant to the resolution of the Assembly of 13 November 1997. I move:
That the report be noted.
Looking at the provision of quality outdoor lighting in the ACT has been a very interesting exercise for me. When I first heard Ms Tucker speaking on this issue, as I was driving back from looking at free-range chooks in Tarago in New South Wales, I thought, "That is a bit of a weirdo. I wonder what she is going on about. That seemed a bit of nonsense". Then she brought it into the chamber and, lo and behold, my committee took this issue on.
The more I had to do with it, the more interesting I found it. The more I looked at it, the more impact I believed that it would have on tourism in the ACT. Every time I go to Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne or other cities, I cannot help noticing that they do not have the night skies that we have in Canberra. On the other hand, when I go out into the desert every couple of years, I cannot help noticing how dull the Canberra skies are compared to the skies out in the Great Victoria Desert or even the other side of Dubbo.
Mr Speaker, we have a fantastic opportunity to ensure that our children can look up at the night sky and see the stars and understand, for example, why we call the Milky Way the Milky Way. Very few children in Australia understand that and I think it is a great shame. Probably a very limited number of adults understand why we refer to the Milky Way in that way.
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