Page 470 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 June 1989
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is a finite task that the committee can attack and probably deal with in the time.
I am not proposing an amendment, but I would suggest to the committee that it should tend to ignore the opening part of this which talks about an integrated environment policy and focus on what the motion is really about, and that is the use of energy in various forms and its impact on the environment. If the committee does that and comes back by the first sitting day in 1990 with a comprehensive report on that subject alone and gives us some sensible recommendations that we can adopt, I hope that it will have regard to the things that other people have spoken about. I refer to the rights of individuals, and the fact that you cannot impose things on people - although I would question that to some extent. I think that we might be reaching the stage on this planet earth where in terms of the common good and the common interest we may just have to start making some impositions on people.
If the committee comes back with a report on that matter alone and does not try to get into the broader implications of environment policy - for which it will have plenty of opportunity and time in the next three years, I am sure - then it will have done a great service to this Assembly and to this community. So I would ask the committee to be a little careful. I disagree with the Chief Minister, because I thought I heard her say that she wanted the committee to discuss the broad aspect of the environment. I do not believe that the committee can do that in the time frame, and I think it ought to address this specific problem, which is an important problem in its own right.
Let us take the environment in small, manageable sections and deal with it a bit at a time, so that over the life of this Assembly, at the end of three years, we will then be able to look back and say, "We have done something constructive and substantial to enhance and improve the environment that we live in". If we try to tackle the whole universe, I think we may in three years' time have discovered that we have achieved nothing.
MR MOORE (11.51), in reply: It is very heartening to see such a positive attitude to the environment coming through from all members of the Assembly. Perhaps I should make a small point on plagiarism, before the Chief Minister leaves. The suggestion of plagiarism of one document from another is very difficult to sustain when you see that the ALP environment policy has two and a half pages and the Residents Rally environment policy - of similar typing, except that it is typed a little bit closer - comprises 17 pages. So if the Labor Party is suggesting that we have been plagiarising its policy, I cannot quite see how we can move from two and a half pages to 17 pages.
Mr Whalan: But we make economic use of paper, you see.
MR MOORE: I see.
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