Page 599 - Week 02 - Thursday, 23 March 2023
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ACT government to promote the public use and visibility of Aboriginal languages in the Canberra region.
These are just some examples of the work that will be advanced by the phase 2 action plans. These new action plans sit in the context of a significant reform agenda, underpinned by the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement, the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and other identified priorities of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. The ACT government will continue to work in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, and the broader Aboriginal community, to implement these action plans and close the gap.
I present the following papers:
ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019-2028—Delivering equitable outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples—Phase 2 focus area action plan—July 2022 to December 2024.
Action Plan.
Ministerial statement, 23 March 2023.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the ministerial statement.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Environment—wood heaters
Ministerial statement
MS VASSAROTTI (Kurrajong—Minister for the Environment, Minister for Heritage, Minister for Homelessness and Housing Services and Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction) (10.39): I rise today to table the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment’s investigation into wood heater policy in the ACT. Clean air is a foundational priority for us all, and I thank the commissioner for her comprehensive and detailed investigation and associated recommendations that seek to reduce the impacts on the environment and our community from wood heaters.
The commissioner’s report has eight recommendations: phase out wood heaters in ACT suburbs, excluding rural areas, and replace them with electric alternatives, supported by financial assistance for lower income households; ban the installation of new wood heaters in all ACT suburbs, excluding rural areas; establish a register of wood heaters in the ACT to determine their number and age; mandate the removal of wood heaters before a property can be sold in any ACT suburb, excluding rural areas; introduce mandatory labelling explaining the health risks associated with wood heater usage at point of sale for both wood fires and firewood in the ACT; include explicit messaging about the health risks associated with wood heater usage in ACT government education and communication activities; develop and apply empirical criteria for determining environmental harm or nuisance from wood heater smoke,
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