Page 1636 - Week 05 - Thursday, 7 April 2005
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(12) Random inspections may be undertaken to ensure compliance with Licence conditions.
(13) Property inspections may be undertaken jointly by the AFP and staff from Environment ACT.
(14) No. The AFP currently has rural patrol officers who service the rural community through proactive patrolling. The inspections can be incorporated into their routine patrols.
(15) Accreditation will last for two years. Future tests may be arranged at other intervals if necessary.
ACT Forests—use of herbicides
(Question No 280)
Mrs Dunne asked the Minister for Urban Services, upon notice, on 10 March 2005:
(1) Does ACT Forests use residual herbicides such as atrazine and hexazinone in their operations; if so, which herbicides;
(2) What is the half-life of each of the residual herbicides used;
(3) Were residual herbicides regularly used in the Lower Cotter forests prior to the 2003 fires; if so, (a) what studies were done into the concentrations of residual herbicides in the soil following the 2003 fires in the Lower Cotter catchment, (b) what work was done to assess the impact of the erosion of soils containing residual herbicides on the water catchment, (c) what work was done to ensure that soils containing concentrations of residual herbicides were not washed into Canberra’s water supply or washed downstream into the Murrumbidgee River and (d) what impact would soils laden with residual herbicides have on the breeding grounds of the endangered two spine black fish.
Mr Hargreaves: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
(1) ACT Forests does not use the residual herbicide atrazine. ACT Forests uses hexazinone as both Velpar DF and Velmac CR.
As a general policy position, ACT Forests favours the use of low residual chemicals in preference to more aggressive herbicides – especially within the water catchment. An example is the use of Roundup in preference to Grazon.
(2) Hexazinone has a representative half-life of 90 days, measured field values range from 30-180 days (Extoxnet-Pesticide Information Profiles).
(3) No
Schools—bullying
(Question No 281)
Mrs Dunne asked the Minister for Education and Training, upon notice, on 10 March 2005:
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