Page 4035 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 16 Sept 2009
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Mrs Dunne: You had an investigation.
MR CORBELL: Again Mrs Dunne perpetuates the lie.
Mrs Dunne: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ms Le Couteur): Mr Corbell—
MR CORBELL: I withdraw that.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Corbell.
MR CORBELL: Again, Mrs Dunne perpetuates the myth, and the myth is that the government did nothing since—I do not know whatever it is, whatever year she chooses lately—I think, 2004. It is simply wrong. I have outlined in detail what the chronology was, what requests were made of Actew, when, and what the government did. Each and every time, the government acted in a timely fashion in response to Actew’s advice and recommendations. To say otherwise is simply misleading and an attempt to make a cheap political point.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (11.40): Firstly I would like to move the amendment circulated in my name, and I will speak to that shortly.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: I believe, Mr Rattenbury, we can only deal with one amendment at a time. I guess you are foreshadowing that this will happen.
MR RATTENBURY: I foreshadow that later on I will come back with an amendment. You would think that, as Speaker, I would understand the standing orders.
This process of choosing the path to achieve water security for Canberra has been a considerable one and while the Greens would also like to see the government take very seriously urban water management and efficiency measures, particularly in the development of our new suburbs and precincts, with the tremendous opportunities that exist for grey-water implementation in our new suburbs, we do acknoweldge the need to secure the supply side of Canberra’s water security. That is probably where the Cotter Dam project fits into the equation.
Actew and the government undertook a series of studies to investigate which of the major infrastructure projects would be the best option for the ACT, with decisions made on the basis of cost, environmental impact and, of course, rainfall patterns in the immediate region. They settled on two significant investments for Canberra’s future: the Cotter Dam extension, to increase of the capacity of the Cotter reservoir from four gigalitres to 80 gigalitres, and the Murrumbidgee to Googong pipeline, to fill the Googong reservoir using water bought from the Snowy Mountains scheme. They are the two options we have settled on.
We are well aware that Canberra faces significant water challenges. We have seen a significant reduction to our inflows over recent years, as the minister has outlined
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