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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 4 Hansard (22 April) . . Page.. 1192 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

... programs are not leading to eradication, as distinct from control of the pests. They may be establishing a holding situation to prevent wider infestation, but there is little hard evidence to decide on effectiveness in an ecological framework.

To address the many problems he found in the use and management of chemicals for pest control by the Government, the Commissioner for the Environment made numerous recommendations. Central to them was the recommendation that the ACT Government act immediately to establish a coordinated approach across the whole ACT to best practice management of pests. What has the Government done with his recommendations? In September 1998, four months after it was tabled, the Government finally responded to his report. The Government made a whole lot of commitments, many of which failed to address fundamental problems in the use of chemicals in pest control on ACT government property and land. For example, the Government made Environment ACT the central point of liaison for ACT government agencies, the national registration authority, the environment protection groups and Worksafe Australia on all pest control issues. Yet, government purchasers of pest control services and asset managers can - it only says "can" in the Government's response - contact, if they want to, Environment ACT for advice on the registration status of agricultural and veterinary chemicals, seeking a permit to use specific chemicals for specific purposes, the choice of pest control chemicals, and the policy direction in relation to agriculture and veterinary chemicals.

The specific recommendation of the Commissioner for the Environment was that this central point of liaison should provide the direct point of contact for all asset managers within the ACT Government in authorising the use of specific chemicals for specific pest control uses under controlled conditions. The Government has not picked up the report's recommendations for a compulsory process whereby asset managers within the ACT Government wanting to conduct pest control activities must seek authorisation for these activities, having a voluntary process whereby government purchasers of pest control services can seek advice.

The Government also agreed to establish the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Coordination Network to set and maintain standards for best practice pest control management as it applies to the management of ACT government assets. What is the coordination network actually doing? Who is on it and why did standards lapse so appallingly at Curtin Preschool? The Government also gave responsibility to the coordination network for considering contract specifications which set common best practice standards. As part of this process, inventories required to be kept in accordance with environmental authorisations and the standard form contracts, together with the work records of pest control service providers, were to establish an audit trail.

Where is the audit trail in the Curtin Preschool sandpit chemical spraying incident? The Minister for Education, Mr Stefaniak, could not tell us which other sandpits had been sprayed in a similar way. That would lead one to believe that inventories and work records are not being completed adequately or that no audit trail exists. The Commissioner for the Environment recommended the implementation of an agreed format, signage and protocols for advertising pest control methods prior to, during and after each pest control event. Surely the spraying of any area in which children play requires some notification to school authorities and parents. The spraying of the Curtin

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