Page 1948 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 June 2016
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I would like to make an important point about our community legal services. These services do so much for the community and they save money for government by supporting and educating the community and diverting people from the courts. They were hit hard by the federal budget cuts of 2014 but the ACT has been able to support Legal Aid and Canberra Community Law.
But in the ACT, our Environmental Defenders Office is faced with the threat of closure. Complete funding cuts from the federal Liberal government have left it in a place where it cannot continue without supplementary funding. The EDO has sought funding from the ACT government to keep it afloat. This is not unprecedented as other states have stepped in to assist their local EDOs. But in this budget there has not been the ability to provide funding for the EDO. There was an either/or choice and this budget has chosen to withhold the small amount of funds required and has left the EDO to its own devices.
I understand the reluctance to fill the gap left by the federal government’s poor decision but we simply cannot hang our EDO out to dry. Is the ACT really going to let itself be the only jurisdiction without an environmental defenders office—the ACT, a champion of environmental issues, a jurisdiction with a beautiful natural environment and a jurisdiction with a high level of involvement in the environment? This is not an outcome that I support and I repeat my call for us to try harder to dedicate the small amount of money required to save the ACT’s Environmental Defenders Office.
There are, of course, good initiatives in this budget when it comes to biodiversity. There is an additional $700,000 for pest plant and animal management, as well as land management funding, an important part of our parliamentary agreement.
Let me turn briefly to green waste bins. I have supported the introduction of a green bin trial to collect data to inform the ongoing waste feasibility study that is underway. The Greens are still concerned that this pilot does not deal with kitchen waste, which is one of the key domestic waste issues that are still going to landfill. The trial will help gain a better understanding of green waste: how much is produced by different households and at different times of the year and the likely costs and opportunities involved in implementing this service more broadly—collection, processing and finding an end use.
This trial must involve consultation with industry and aim to minimise impacts on existing businesses. It is something that we recognise a strong desire for in the community and I think this is an important provision of a municipal service that our community has asked us for.
In summary, I speak today on behalf of the Greens but I am also proud to speak on behalf of this Labor-Greens government, and it is indeed a unique place to speak from. The people of the ACT can be clear that this government is a progressive government, a stark contrast to the conservative government that is vying for office on 15 October.
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