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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Wednesday, 25 August 2004) . . Page.. 4226 ..

MS TUCKER (9.41): The Greens will not support this amendment of Mr Stefaniak. Under the government’s amendments, section 5 would come into force after six months, if not sooner, and it is clearly the government’s intention to introduce that section properly. Mr Stefaniak’s amendment will not prohibit that. In any event, six months would be long enough for the duty of care provisions in place. Most of the provisions would take on a real significance once the task force’s work of identifying buildings likely to have asbestos materials has been completed. Certainly, that is the work that needs to be done. If that is to be rigorous, it will take some time.

Mr Stefaniak’s amendment to Ms Gallagher’s amendment negatived.

Clause 2 of Ms Gallagher’s amendment No 3 agreed to.

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

Clause 4 of Ms Gallagher’s amendment No 3.

MRS CROSS (9.44): I seek leave to move amendments Nos 1 and 2 circulated in my name.

Leave granted.

MRS CROSS: I move amendments Nos 1 and 2, which amend Ms Gallagher’s amendment No 3, circulated in my name together on the sand paper [see schedule 3 at page 4283].

On consultation with the Asbestos Diseases Foundation and other stakeholders, I had concerns that the task force the government was looking at putting together would consist of bureaucrats. We were concerned about another bureaucratic layer being created, on top of what we have in the ACT. We were also concerned about the potential for frank and fearless advice being give to the government by people that perhaps would not want to give it.

One of the reasons I moved amendment No 1, suggesting that this become a disallowable instrument, was to ensure that suggestions of appointments be brought by the minister into the Assembly to ensure that the Assembly is happy with those choices. I have, however, since spoken to the minister and I am not actually sure whether this is possible. So I will leave that amendment as it stands and just let members speak to it, and we will vote on it accordingly. Amendment No 2 is consequential to amendment No 1.

MS GALLAGHER (Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Children, Youth and Family Support, Minister for Women and Minister for Industrial Relations) (9.45): The government cannot support amendments Nos 1 and 2. As Mrs Cross explained, this amendment seeks to make the establishment and members of the task force a disallowable instrument.

Whilst there may be some good arguments for that in other situations, this legislation does set down a time frame for a report back to the Assembly of August 1. There has been a great deal of excitement and rush to get this legislation through. To then say that

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