Page 1719 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 7 June 2016
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Briefly, I believe this is the sort of bill the planning and territory and municipal services committee was constituted to look into. If you have a standing order such as 174, which allows for the referral of bills, what is that standing order for if not for a holistic review by way of legislation as to how waste is managed in the territory? I do not think it is appropriate that we should simply move to a vote on this at the next sitting in August simply because it is perhaps being rushed through at the end of this term. This is, of course, a very significant issue on which I think the ACT has a proud history.
Of course, the minister has just read that the four key outcomes include reducing waste generation, full resource recovery, a clean environment, and a carbon neutral waste sector. These are all worthy aims, and I think it is incumbent upon all of us to make sure that the bill is, indeed, putting us on a trajectory to meet those key outcomes. Therefore I think the planning and territory and municipal services committee would be very well placed to look into this sort of issue and this particular legislation.
I close by simply saying what I have already said: what is the point of having a planning and territory and municipal services committee if it is not to look at legislation such as this?
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (10.31): Mr Coe has given us quite an esoteric speech on the purpose of the committee, and I thank him for that. But what was not clear—and I invite Mr Coe to address this in his closing remarks—was his expectation of the time frame for this committee. This legislation has been under development for some considerable time. It has involved extensive consultation with a range of stakeholders in the sector. Of course, Mr Coe is not privy to that and it is perfectly reasonable that he is not aware of that. But to suggest that this should not be done in the period of this term ignores the fact that extensive work has been done over an extended period by Territory and Municipal Services and the Environment and Planning Directorate staff who work on waste policy.
I think it would be useful if Mr Coe could give us an indication of the time frame he expects on this. I think it is reasonable for the committee to have a look at this legislation, but I do not think that necessarily means that it should not be dealt with in this term. That might be a point of discussion and negotiation amongst colleagues to ensure that it can be dealt with during this Assembly.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (10.32), in reply: I would be happy to have a reporting date of perhaps the first sitting day in August. That would be appropriate; or, indeed, to table a report out of session in late July. Given that an extensive industry has developed in this space, especially in recent years but really over the past 20 or so, I think it would be doing justice to this issue if members of the Assembly could hear from people in the industry to get their views. Despite the fact the minister has said that the agency has already consulted, as part of our due diligence as an Assembly I think it would be a good process to go down.
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