Page 225 - Week 01 - Thursday, 13 February 2020
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nature wants to throw at us in the future. The Canberra Liberals are pleased to support the motion.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Children, Youth and Families, Minister for Health and Minister for Urban Renewal) (11.07): I am pleased to rise today in support of the motion moved by Minister Rattenbury regarding the smoke pollution that impacted the lives of all Canberrans this summer. We certainly saw across south-eastern Australia an extraordinary bushfire season. The impact on the territory has seen more than 80 per cent of our beautiful Namadgi National Park burned and the biggest ecological disaster in ACT history. It could not be clearer that the impact of climate change is leading to longer, hotter, drier summers across the country. This summer also brought new challenges to our community and our public services.
As we all know, this bushfire season led to prolonged and unprecedented periods of heavy smoke and poor air quality never witnessed before in the territory. It saw the New South Wales South Coast burn from Braidwood down the Clyde, from Currowan and Bawley Point to the Victorian border, and well beyond that in Victoria. Smoke from these fires travelled around the world. When the wind was blowing from the east, the smoke settled on Canberra in a choking smog.
Canberrans appreciate being the bush capital of Australia, with the close connection to the environment and the clear, clean air that that usually brings. Our air quality issues are usually associated with pollen and with winter smoke from wood fuel heating. The community was shocked at having to grapple with air quality that, at times, was worse than that of any other city on earth.
Between 28 November 2019 and 28 January 2020, there were 47 days where at least one of the ACT Health Directorate’s air quality monitoring stations recorded an air quality index above the national standard, registering a poor rating. On 35 of these days, the reading exceeded the hazardous rating of 200. This means that on 47 days out of 61 days this summer, the air quality in Canberra meant that health advisory advice prepared by the ACT Health Directorate came into play. This is why the government’s communications over this period have been so important to the community.
I would like to again recognise the extraordinary work of our health sector, in particular the Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerryn Coleman, and her team at the health protection service. Dr Coleman’s tireless work kept Canberrans informed and up to date. Between 1 November 2019 and 31 January 2020, the directorate issued several public health alerts. Complementing that work, the directorate’s social media channels posted more than 60 updates on Facebook and Twitter. It is important to recognise that much of this work took place on weekends, on public holidays and during the ACT public service shutdown period between Christmas and New Year. Many people across the ACT public service were unable to take planned leave and worked very long hours to support our community through this very difficult period.
The unique challenges this summer saw our services respond by increasing the availability of information about air quality for the community. In normal
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