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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Wednesday, 25 August 2004) . . Page.. 4224 ..

legislation, meaning that the action that the government takes in response to the asbestos issue will be far more widespread than was originally proposed.

First, these additions ensure that a government task force will be convened, backed up by the strength of legislation, which will be able to gather far more information and investigate the risks in far more detail than we have been able to do in the two weeks since the bill was tabled. The task force must report publicly to the Assembly and will be able to suggest further ways of improving our asbestos response, beyond the scope of this legislation, and how we should enact further laws and regulations to ensure that we are taking the best actions possible.

Second, these amendments legislate for an education program, which is an essential element of any government response to prevent exposure to asbestos. I note that the clause does say that the government must prepare educational material. It is there—it is legislation; it becomes law—that this education material must be put forward. However, I will also say that the required funding must be made available to back up this legislation. There is no use legislating for an education program unless there is a commitment to follow it through with the necessary resources. This campaign should be not an afterthought but a sincere attempt to ensure that all Canberrans are aware of the risk that they face in relation to asbestos.

The government’s amendments retain some of the original elements of Mrs Cross’s bill—those that insert new regulations into the Dangerous Substances Regulations to require all property owners to have a report prepared on the location and risk of asbestos before the property is sold. In addition, it requires that every property owner or occupier will have a duty of care to provide information about asbestos to anyone who is performing work on that property.

It is this section that we will be further discussing tonight with the amendments from Mr Stefaniak and Mrs Cross, and I look forward to that debate. As I have said, I am generally supportive of what the government has done here with these amendments. They extend the provisions that were already contained in Mrs Cross’s bill, and they offer, I believe, the best way forward that we have at the moment to address the most serious of these issues.

MRS CROSS (9.35): I welcome the broadening of the scope of this legislation. Like all legislation, it is an evolutionary process. Given that we have had only a few weeks, I commend the government and the public servants who, for the most part, have done a valiant job—an even better job than we started with. I acknowledge the excellent work of Parliamentary Counsel, given the pressures they were under.

Clause 1 of Ms Gallagher’s amendment No 3 agreed to.

Clause 2 of Ms Gallagher’s amendment No 3.

MR STEFANIAK (9.36): I move amendment No 1 circulated in my name, which amends Ms Gallagher’s amendment No 3 [see schedule 2 at page 4282].

This amendment amends Ms Gallagher’s amendment No 3, altering the commencement date of clause 2. Currently, clause 5—as it is in her amendment 3—commences within

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