Page 1163 - Week 04 - Friday, 23 April 2021
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MR BARR: I have attended now three meetings with the group. They have also formed some subcommittees, I understand, and had some further engagements with each other and with officials when I have not been present. There was a major workshop held in the last few weeks where the advisory group, a number of them who are involved in running their own businesses and activities, took a lot of time out to undertake that work.
The small business representatives are Nick Tyrrell who members might be familiar as the owner of the GoBoat franchise that operates in Canberra and Alan Tse who is a cofounder of the Altina Drinks company. They are both local small business people. The broader membership of the group includes representatives from other businesses. There are about a dozen names. I am happy to provide those on notice.
MS CASTLEY: Chief Minister, were Nick Tyrrell and Alan Tse consulted about your government’s failed ChooseCBR trial that only 336 businesses signed up to?
MR BARR: In rejecting the premise of Ms Castley’s question, yes, I engaged with Nick specifically on a number of elements of the trial. He made a few suggestions that we were able to adopt very quickly, including a geolocation map for where businesses were located. So the short answer is yes. But I reject the premise of Ms Castley’s politically loaded question. But I have come to expect that now from her in terms of how she approaches matters in her shadow portfolios. So we factor it in. But taking the politics out, yes, these individuals were indeed consulted.
Trees—urban canopy
MR MILLIGAN: My question is to the Minister for Transport and City Services. Recently, you announced that the Labor-Greens government would put a price on city trees, in a novel scheme to protect them. Individual trees will have a price tag and tree culprits could be liable for steep fines, into the tens of thousands of dollars. The government is taking advice from authorities in Melbourne, where a similar scheme operates. Minister, given that one tree in Melbourne is valued at $54,000, what will be the average price of a tree here in Canberra?
MR STEEL: I thank the member for his question. The ACT government is committed to protecting and growing our urban forests. That is why we have released the Living Infrastructure Plan and now the final Urban Forest Strategy to help make sure that we can, number one, protect the trees that we already have, many of which are mature trees that are providing fantastic canopy cover. We need to make sure that they are retained for the benefit of people in their neighbourhoods and for biodiversity reasons. That is why we have looked across the country at how we can better protect trees. We have been working with Ian Shears from the City of Melbourne on the development of the strategy, and we are certainly interested in the canopy contribution scheme that they have introduced there.
Ms Lee: A point of order, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Ms Lee?
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