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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 9 Hansard (28 August) . . Page.. 3386 ..
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.
Bill agreed to.
Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Bill 2003
Debate resumed from 26 June 2003, on motion by Mr Stanhope:That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Debate (on motion by Mr Smyth ) adjourned to the next sitting.
Gene Technology Bill 2002
Detail stage
Debate resumed from 26 August 2003.Clause 1 agreed to.
Clauses 2 and 3, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 4.
MS TUCKER (4.10): I seek leave to move together amendments 1 and 2 circulated in my name.
Leave granted.
MS TUCKER: I move amendments 1 and 2 [see schedule 2 at page 3403].
These amendments are about inserting the precautionary principle as it is described in the ACT Environment Protection Act, that is:
... precautionary principle means that, if there is a threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage, a lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation.
The bill says:
... where there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, a lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation...
As the committee made quite clear in its report, it is quite unusual to have the words "cost-effective"added to the definition. The minister explained that that definition has come from somewhere else; I cannot recall where at this very minute. It is certainly not
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