Page 457 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 June 1989
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others, and it would be very useful, I am sure, for all of us to have the time to look at these issues in some detail and ensure we do not rush into anything. The lengthy lead time this committee has to work on these issues I think is very useful.
MR COLLAERY (10.59): I will just take up some points made by the Minister and say that of course all of us in this chamber basically agreed on those issues that are raised, and so it is very good to hear all of these good things. But the Rally, of course, is an active community based grouping and it wants to see this standing committee recommend practical implementation of the outcome of these studies.
The Chief Minister said on the weekend at the ALP conference that the Rally had trendy policies. One presumes that she was referring to our environment policy. It is 17 pages long, it is detailed, and the preparation of the Rally's environment policy was, of course, aided significantly by the executive member of the Environment Centre here in the ACT, Chris Donohue, who is, of course, president of the Rally now. He has a long history in the environment movement. The Rally's environment policy is extremely detailed, 17 pages long, and it is not a trendy policy. The Rally gives notice to the ALP that we will not regard these policies as trends. They are going to become the real lifestyle of our Australian community, and Canberra will be exemplary and will give the lead in that regard.
Some of the matters that the ALP seems to find trendy are really going to the very essence of our existence at the moment. The Rally has indicated over time that the inversion layer problem, particularly in the central valley of Canberra, needs to be attended to. That has been raised, and we all heard during the election campaign Professor Runciman making very informed comment on that problem. The Rainbow Alliance people were probably concerned that they could not see their rainbow any more, but that is their problem.
The real problem in Canberra at the moment is a visible inversion layer that hangs around certain levels of the upper strata of Canberra, around Campbell and Red Hill. You can think what you like about the pollution at those levels, but the fact is there is a serious inversion problem. It will increase because fossil fuel and other exhaust emissions are increasing in the ACT. The integrated policy that my colleague Mr Moore speaks of seeks to ensure that we do not have a smokestacked industry base in the ACT, but by the same token many Canberra people may not be aware that there has been a company or two in the ACT - one has fled across the border to Queanbeyan - which has been attempting to get into the market for metal stove fabrication employing late technology in the ACT.
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