Page 4777 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 20 October 2010
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period of two weeks which began a week ago. And on page 2 of today’s Canberra Times, Mr Sullivan is reported to have said, when he was launching a program at Rosary primary school:
We’re very proud to have committed to this ground breaking project—the results of which we’ll see in our sustainable lawn and turf areas in future years.
Then he went on to say:
Dam levels are nearing 90 per cent and a relaxation in water restrictions which will remove the ban on sprinkler use on lawn watering is likely to occur soon …
In fact, it was so soon that on page 1 of the Canberra Times, the same paper, we had a “stunning turnaround”, as it was called by the journalist who wrote the story called “Watershed moment as restrictions end”. On page 2 the head of Actew was reported as saying, at a launch of an event sometime yesterday, “Sometime soon we may lift water restrictions.” He had previously said that it would not happen until autumn next year, and he had told my staff and other members of the Legislative Assembly that there was to be a consultation period.
We now have a new definition of “soon” which exceeds even the definition provided previously in this place by Mr Quinlan. In Mr Quinlan’s parlance, “soon” meant “tomorrow”. But for Mr Sullivan “soon” means “sometime after I make this announcement”. Sometime yesterday he changed his mind.
There have been and there are clear mixed messages coming from this government in relation to water policy. People have talked about the fact that they do not have any real warning system. The people of the ACT tell us that they do not have any real warning system that tells them when changes from one restriction level to another might be triggered. They have waited for the government and Actew to tell them how the proposed Murray-Darling Basin plan might impact on their future—and there again the messages are mixed.
Most importantly of all, a divergence of views is emerging in our community as to whether or not water restrictions should be eased. Indeed, there are questions in the community about whether we should have a range of restriction levels and whether we should have one simple set of permanent measures from which we never move regardless of the amount of water we have stored. These views are important, but the government does not seem to be listening or even to be cognisant of them.
These views are important because they underscore the need for a review of our water conservation arrangements. The government are going to tell us today that they are already doing that. I certainly acknowledge that they are doing some things internally. Indeed, Mr Sullivan told my staff a week ago, at a briefing which I was unable to attend because I was ill, that he was consulting with government departments on the question of whether to ease restrictions from stage 2 water restrictions.
I am talking here about a process that looks at where we have been, what we have learned, what future influences there are and how the community feels about these things. We need to know what the community thinks about its future needs and
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