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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 10 Hansard (12 October) . . Page.. 2924 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

About two weeks ago a flock of 30 dead ducks was found in the pond. When I was there I also saw some plastic bags labelled "radioactive waste" lying on the tip face. Admittedly, they were not in the area where the public were dumping waste, but they were not that far away, either. Surely it is against the operating conditions of the landfill to allow radioactive waste to be exposed like that. My understanding is that such waste has to be immediately covered.

I also asked whether there was a record kept of exactly where such waste was buried so that in future we would be able to determine where such substances were if, having a greater understanding of the implications of low-level radioactive waste, we saw the need to dispose of it in a different or better way. My understanding from talking to the union is that no real mapping is done of where this kind of waste is buried. I was also concerned to see the pollution control dams at the landfill nearly overflowing as my understanding is that their water levels are meant to be kept low to avoid incidents such as water flowing directly into the Murrumbidgee River without being properly treated.

As I understand it, there used to be a quite rigorous assessment of the quality of that water and the level in the dam. In fact, as I understand it, there was constant testing and, if it was looking as though it would overflow, alum or some other substances would be put into the dam to ensure that the sediment settled to the bottom and then the water would be tested, and only then would it be allowed to overflow. According to the union, that process has been let go and the water was overflowing without having the sediment settle or any testing done of what was allowed to overflow. I also saw black water seeping out of one side of one of the mounds now covered, which should not be happening at all. The black water should only go into the black water dam.

What I can say in conclusion is that the processes out there are inadequate. This incident with the floc has highlighted the lack of rigorous processes and policies out there. It may be to the health detriment of workers as the potential certainly is there. It could be to the detriment of the environment. If it were not for the union, we may not even know today that there was a problem and everything would be going on as usual. That is absolutely unacceptable.

The fact that the Government has failed to take responsibility and has actually misled the community about this matter is also of extreme concern. How can the community have any confidence in the integrity of a government which is so willing and anxious to avoid responsibility that it will bend the truth to that degree? The art of the spin is getting to the point where I believe that the credibility and integrity of the Government have been undermined to a serious degree. We do have in the community cynicism about politicians. This sort of action, the way the Government has responded to this matter, is obviously a reason for the community to be cynical and to feel powerless as well.

Those people who have been working at the tip face have been trying to raise concerns for some time. Their concerns have not been acknowledged, which is absolutely unacceptable. I ask members to support this censure motion today because I believe that it is important that the Government get a very clear message from members of this place, representing the concerns in the community, that the Government has a responsibility. Ministerial responsibility is still a concept which has value. No matter how hard

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