Page 3731 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 18 September 2018
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“I have sent the minister an email”—three minutes before they all got out there with the media doing their stand-up, saying, “I demand an urgent briefing.” I said I would provide information when that information was available, and I have provided it today.
All of the work that is happening at Harrison School is happening on the advice of WorkSafe. The Work Safety Commissioner, Mr Greg Jones, in his comments noted in the Canberra Times, said that the response was a “perfect response” to the situation. So I do not know what Ms Lee is calling for: a better than perfect response? In his words, it was a “perfect response”.
With regard to the risk of non-friable asbestos, the risk is low. On the advice of Robson, who are the experts at asbestos management plans, removal and remediation, and on the advice of the Work Safety Commissioner that the risk is low for non-friable asbestos at Harrison School, the work will be continued—
Mr Parton: It has been crushed.
MS BERRY: You need to read about it, Mr Parton, because now you are making up stuff. It is appalling behaviour by those opposite to try to scare the community unnecessarily. I, the Education Directorate and everybody else that has been involved have been calmly and appropriately making a considered response here.
A maintenance and removal plan will be set up. The community will be informed of that. It will be available at the school. A full report from Robson will be available at the school. There is an asbestos risk management plan, which will be available at the school. Information will be posted on the Education Directorate’s website as well as the Education Directorate’s Facebook page, and I am sure the P&C will also communicate this to their school community, as they have been doing all the way through this. I absolutely commend the work of the vice-president of the P&C in particular, Katherine, for all the work that she and her executive have done to ensure that the community at Harrison School are appropriately engaged.
With regard to other school testing, again there is more dog whistling from the Canberra Liberals around non-friable asbestos. That would occur on the advice of the experts—of the Work Safety Commissioner, Mr Greg Jones, and of Robson—on whether that should be the case. If that is the case then that is work that the government will do. But that advice is not the advice that I have right now. There is a very low risk. The Chief Health Officer has also been at those meetings saying it is a very low risk. We can only go on the advice of experts, provide that information in a calm and considered way and not do the sort of dog whistling scaremongering that the Canberra Liberals have been up to.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Adjournment
Motion (by Mr Gentleman) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
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