Page 3443 - Week 08 - Thursday, 23 August 2012
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The Greens are opposed to the introduction of a dirty MRF which, once committed to, will not largely change or not improve the quality of organic material recovered. The compost you get from a dirty MRF will never be high quality. It can only be used for mine site rehabilitation and forestry because it will have toxins in it.
Australia has real soil quality issues, and what we are essentially doing through this process is mining our soils to produce food without replacing the essential nutrients. It is unfortunate from an agricultural and environmental perspective for the nutrient cycle to end in a dirty MRF in Canberra. It is also totally unsustainable. What we see, instead, is an economic burden on the government by digging a new $20 million hole to extend the Mugga Way landfill. If we want to save Canberra money while preserving our environment, we must see a more serious budget commitment to waste reduction and recycling in the ACT.
As to animals, we welcome the allocation for construction of an off-leash dog park in north Canberra and an upgrade of the existing dog park in Belconnen. This is a pet topic of mine, and it is good to see more outdoor facilities. It is good to see dogs unleashed, even the small ones.
An additional one-off amount of $165,000 has been allocated to the RSPCA in 2012-13, which is $15,000 more than the one-off additional support amount provided last year. This increase still does not adequately meet the estimated shortfall of half a million dollars for the RSPCA to properly run all the services they need to run, including those contracted by the ACT government. The question is: why does the government continue to allow such a shortfall?
In conclusion, I have made only a few remarks about some of the areas where the Greens have concerns. As I said, TAMS provides a large number of important and generally high quality services to the ACT community. TAMS is what keeps the ACT running physically on a day-to-day basis. We are all dependent on its services, and we look forward to continuing to help improve and better focus these services.
It being 6 pm, in accordance with standing order 34, the motion for the adjournment of the Assembly was put and negatived.
Sitting suspended from 6 to 7.30 pm.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (7.30): I will just continue on with ACTION, which is part of the TAMS budget. Public transport, which is currently primarily provided by ACTION buses, is a critical investment for the future of Canberra. Overall, the Greens remain of the position that government budgets can give a greater priority to public transport. Before this year’s budget we advocated for a significant investment in improving bus services to areas where they are especially lacking, such as Weston Creek and Tuggeranong suburbs. We know the most significant factor in getting people to use public transport is frequency. This is something the Greens have pushed for through the parliamentary agreement.
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