Page 2696 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 26 September 2007
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you could use recycled timber. Minister, a Google search reveals very quickly that many firms specialise in recycled timbers, including structural-grade timber.
Minister, why did you tell the Assembly yesterday, and all of Canberra this morning, that this timber is not available? On whose advice did you rely on in making your statement to the Assembly yesterday, and what steps did you take to validate the advice before relying on it?
MR HARGREAVES: A couple of points there, Mr Speaker. Firstly, I received advice from my department. I am quite happy to rely on the experts in my department. I also need to make the point, Mr Speaker, that my colleague, Mr Corbell, actually asked a question, somewhat rhetorically, about what is the reason they are replacing the bridge at Pambula. Perhaps it is because it is sodden. Perhaps because it is in and around very wet areas. I have to say that bridges quite often are accompanied by a considerable amount of water.
As to the issue about old-growth forest, Mr Speaker, our information is that the original timbers that the bridge was made out of are no longer available. Similar timber is available, and I mention that point. I have made that point time and time again. Similar timber is available, but it is still old-growth stuff. It still has to be cut down and cured before it can be used. This is my information. This is what I have been told, and I believe it. The timber then has to be cured, it has to sit.
Mr Speaker, I really have to say that I do not embrace the idea of using second-hand timber to restore a bridge which is 110 years old. What we really need to do is look towards providing, firstly, a bridge across that river as quickly as we can for those people in Tharwa. That is the paramount thing that we have to do. So if those opposite want us to drop tools and start again, all that will really do is isolate the village for at least another 12 months.
Mr Speaker, what Mr Smyth does not say, of course, in his preamble is what other things were said in the interview, of which we should take note. For example, using concrete and steel will actually generate an enormous amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, and they are non-renewable resources. Of course, timber is a renewable resource, because you can just grow it again. Now, I have to say with old-growth forests of similar type, it is not just a case of planting another one; it is not. I have to say that I do not believe that we should be going around New South Wales encouraging the chopping down of old-growth forests. I do not think that is quite a good idea.
So, Mr Speaker, with regard to the answer to Mr Smyth’s question, I think I have done that. I have relied on my department’s advice to me, and I shall do that and shall do it again. They are the same people, in fact, who advised Mr Smyth that he should close the bridge for a week when he was minister. One has to ask the question, when Mr Smyth closed the bridge because it was not okay for people to drive on it, why did he not find out that the bridge was in such an appalling state? Why did I have to find out later on? Mr Smyth had that bridge closed for a week.
Mr Smyth: You’ve neglected it for six years, you goose!
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