Page 5824 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 7 December 2010

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

dinkum it would be out there. But the reality is that it probably contains the survey that the minister almost misquoted from. And that, of course, would be embarrassing as well.

Amendments agreed to.

Question put:

That the bill as a whole, as amended, be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Ayes 10

Noes 5

Mr Barr

Ms Hunter

Mr Coe

Mr Smyth

Ms Bresnan

Ms Le Couteur

Mrs Dunne

Ms Burch

Ms Porter

Mr Hanson

Mr Corbell

Mr Rattenbury

Mr Seselja

Mr Hargreaves

Mr Stanhope

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.

Sitting suspended from 12.26 to 2 pm.

Questions without notice

Planning—Molonglo land release

MR SESELJA: My question is to the Minister for Planning and relates to the discovery of 90,000 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated waste at the site of the pond in the new Molonglo development. Minister, when did the government first discover the asbestos dump in Molonglo and when were you first personally made aware of the problem?

MR BARR: I think members would be aware—indeed, most people in Canberra are aware—that that particular area had been a site for a former sewerage works, and indeed a site where some building waste had been dumped over an extended period in the 1970s and 1980s prior to self-government. That the area was expected to contain contaminated material was indeed anticipated. That was the reason that the ACT Planning and Land Authority engaged a team of consultants and experts in relation to these matters and undertook, as I understand it, more than 350 bore drills of the area to identify levels of contamination.

It was clear from that process and then the ongoing process of delivering the particular project at the north Weston pond that more contaminated soil has been discovered. As a result, the Land Development Agency and Territory and Municipal Services, who are the agencies engaged in delivering the project, have taken the actions that they have, which the Chief Minister has outlined. I understand that the Chief Minister has referred certain matters to the Auditor-General in relation to this

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video