Page 262 - Week 01 - Thursday, 10 February 2022
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(3) further notes that:
(a) human rights are universal, indivisible, interrelated, interdependent and mutually reinforcing;
(b) the right to a healthy environment includes substantive elements, procedural elements and rights of the most vulnerable;
(c) internationally, substantive elements to a healthy environment include the right to clean air, a safe climate, healthy ecosystems and biodiversity which deliver healthy and sustainably produced food, clean water and sanitation, and a non-toxic environment;
(d) internationally, procedural elements to a healthy environment include the rights to information, participation in decision-making, access to justice and effective remedy;
(e) internationally, the right to a healthy environment protects the most vulnerable to environmental harm in our community and protects our environment for future generations;
(f) the impact of an unhealthy environment on people is immense, and disproportionately impacts the most disadvantaged and marginalised people and communities;
(g) our mental health and wellbeing is intricately linked to a healthy environment, including access to nature, spending time outdoors for exercise, recreation and leisure. Spending time in a healthy environment meets our inherent need for physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing;
(h) Canberrans are fortunate to benefit from local bushland, national parks, the Canberra Nature Park, pocket parks, grasslands, rivers, lakes and ponds; and
(i) the ACT Government has committed to a wellbeing framework for the ACT to assist the ACT Government to measure living standards beyond the gross domestic product; and
(4) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) investigate the inclusion of a right to a healthy environment into the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT), conduct community consultation and meet with stakeholders, including but not limited to the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Conservation Council ACT Region, the Environmental Defenders Office (ACT office), GreenLaw, the ACT Council of Social Service, the ACT Children and Young People Commissioner, the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, Dhawura Ngunnawal Caring for Country Committee and any other Indigenous stakeholders, to actively explore the inclusion of a right to a healthy environment into the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT); and
(b) report back to the Assembly by the first day of the last sitting week in 2022 with the substance of these consultations and a timeframe to introduce a right to a healthy environment.
I wish to speak to the motion circulated in my name on the right to a healthy environment in the ACT. There are times that I really love my job, and this is one of
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