Page 2677 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 10 August 2016
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budget for the fertility trials. It will be of continuing interest to us to see whether the funding does in fact deliver both the operational implementation of kangaroo management and the research and monitoring component.
Also in the estimates hearings I asked some questions about the Riverview development near west Belconnen and some concerns that have been raised with me about the nature reserve areas. The Riverview development is adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River and Ginninderra gorge. There are many species in the area, including the swift parrot and Rosenberg’s goanna, that are on a number of lists. Some groups have raised environmental concerns with me about the Riverview development; that the proposed reserve is not sufficient to maintain and support all of the threatened and endangered species in that area.
I will make a few comments about the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment. The commissioner is an independent statutory position that undertakes functions and activities including investigating complaints about the management of the environment by the territory or a territory authority and issues relating to ecologically sustainable development in the ACT; conducts investigations as directed by the minister; conducts, on the commissioner’s own initiative, investigations into actions of an agency where those actions would have a substantial impact on the environment of the ACT; and delivers the state of the environment report.
The state of the environment reports are prepared every four years. Some feedback I have had from various constituents is that the format of the state of the environment report could be more user-friendly and more useful to members of the public rather than addressing the government’s agenda. It would be great for members of our community to have access to a more user-friendly state of the environment report.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
Health Directorate—Part 1.10
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (7.40): I am very pleased to stand in this place tonight to talk about health, which for me is a number one priority. Fixing the health system is something that we have put on the agenda and, if we are elected in October, is something that we will do. Today’s announcement makes that very clear. This is something that we see as our number one priority. It is a significant announcement and I am delighted with the reception that we have received from nurses, nurses unions, doctors and members of our Canberra community.
It is clear that after 15 years this is a health system that is in crisis. Mr Corbell did not really deny it tonight; he was just looking at whom to blame. It was quite interesting to see the way he put his predecessor, Senator Gallagher, in it for creating this problem. It seems to be Mr Corbell’s excuse that he is now trying to clean up the mess. I am not sure what Ms Gallagher would think if she were to read the transcripts of Mr Corbell’s answers in question time.
We have seen a lack of capacity. We have seen terrible reports of a toxic culture. We have seen decaying and ageing infrastructure. It is being crisis managed. We have had
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