Page 195 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2016

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provide further instructions to Access Canberra to make sure these complaints were being put through to the correct area.

A number of issues are at play here. I know there has been some work going on. According to Ms Fitzharris, EPA and other officials visited the tip about this issue starting back in November. November, December, January—now we are almost halfway through February. How much longer is it going to take? How many more reports do they need from residents to take this matter very, very seriously and do something to fix it? Residents are rightly outraged that nothing seems to be being done. Obviously the EPA and other agencies are doing work in the background, but residents feel that they are being kept in the dark, not to mention a somewhat smelly dark, about this issue. They are very disappointed in the dismissive response of this government to the problem to date.

There are some good points in Ms Fitzharris’s amendment, but it does not add anything new. It calls on the government to work with affected residents in isolating the source of the odour, communicate with affected residents and report back. I already had that in my motion, but there is nothing more about the action that will be taken to identify the source of the issue and what actions might be taking place.

Very soon the worst of the summer period will be over; we will go into cooler weather and odour patterns may change as a result of that. Does that mean that in November 2016 we are going to start at the same point again, perhaps from residents making complaints and the EPA going to investigate? Is this what it is going to be year after year after year for residents of Tuggeranong? At what point is the government actually going to do anything? I thought I had provided some action points in my motion as to what might be done to identify the source of the issue, and they have been removed with this amendment.

I do not think we can keep on doing the same thing. We cannot just keep on sending people out to investigate the tip. We need to actually do something a bit different, starting now and not waiting until late this year and having to start all over again. For that reason, Madam Speaker, we will not be supporting this amendment today. I believe and the opposition believe that Tuggeranong residents deserve better than that. They deserve action and they deserve it now. We will be opposing this amendment.

Question put:

That Ms Fitzharris’s amendment be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Motion, as amended, agreed to.

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