Page 1589 - Week 05 - Thursday, 8 May 2008
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may be aware of. From Orroral, we travelled towards Boboyan Road and eventually came alongside the Gudgenby River. The Gudgenby is part of the catchment area for the opposition’s proposed Tennant dam. The river was a trickle that afternoon—hardly enough for a pond, let alone to fill a dam. Mrs Dunne would have noted that if she had been there.
Boboyan Road took us back towards the city, passing through Tharwa and, of course, seeing the bridge. We stopped at the Tharwa bridge and were told of its history. We noted the restoration work that had been started on the Tharwa bridge. Mrs Dunne may have noted that, too, but she was absent. From Tharwa, past Val’s shop, we drove back to Canberra, passing William Farrer’s old property, Lambrigg, and down to Point Hut, noting the refurbishment of the barbecue area. During this trip—just over eight hours in all—we were taken aback by the amount of work done by ACT rangers and their crew. It is my personal belief that they are certainly not paid enough.
It is my understanding that the NPA are the only ones who have asked for a copy of the plan so far. There have been eight submissions to the inquiry. The P and E committee has already made a decision in regard to the terms of reference and the size of this inquiry due to the volume of work to be completed before the end of this term. Committee members have already decided to inquire into the Molonglo draft variation. Mrs Dunne is very keen on that and we are as well, and this will probably take up most of the committee’s work until the end of the term.
Having said that, the government has no real objection to the publication of the Namadgi draft plan of management, and I am happy to support the motion to publish the document. Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the Namadgi revised draft plan of management and the attachment.
Leave granted.
MR GENTLEMAN: I table the following document:
Namadgi National Park—Plan of Management—Revised draft, dated October 2007.
There is nothing secret, as Mrs Dunne has said, in the document. It is just a bit of a stunt by the opposition to take up some time. We would be very happy to see the NPA come back with another submission to the committee.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (11.41): I am not sure of the status of the motion now. I was certainly planning to support the motion, given that it seemed to me that, without the second draft management plan, the inquiry would indeed be about a black hole. I am very pleased that Mr Gentleman has seen the worth of tabling the document. It would have been churlish to withhold it. I accept the good grace with which he has tabled it. I perhaps have reservations about some of the remarks he made beforehand, which somehow cancelled out the good grace of the tabling. Nonetheless, I am very pleased that that has now been made public. The Greens, through me and my office, will be very pleased to have a good look at it.
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