Page 3354 - Week 11 - Thursday, 22 September 1994
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Mr Moore: Unanimously?
MR STEFANIAK: Yes. I mentioned your report, Mr Moore, and that, I think, is a sensible suggestion, with the appropriate safeguards. I was pleased to hear Ms Ellis read that. I will not read it out again, but I certainly agree with what is said there. I think there is considerable community support for that type of action.
I do not know what we should do in relation to Mr Moore's suggestion of registering the suburban moggy. That, I suppose, is a real problem. Dogs, of course, are registered, and you cannot have more than three dogs. The average moggy is a real problem. I have had a number of cats, one of whom was quite a terror in terms of killing wildlife. It was a bit of a worry. This cat would kill five or six birds a week. Controlling the cat was a real problem. We did try. Luckily, the cat we have at present is a bit of a wuss. It is called Mozart and it has trouble looking after itself. It is a male cat, and it has trouble stopping the other cats in the area eating its food. It is yet to kill any native species, mice, or anything like that. I suppose that, if you have to have a cat, it is preferable for the environment to have something like the cat we have. But there is a real problem caused by cats. The figures quoted as to just how many small animals and birds the average suburban cat can kill are frightening.
So, Ms Ellis and Minister, there are a number of issues that are very relevant to the environment in the ACT. I have only touched on several; but all have a big impact on our community, and some have an impact on south-eastern Australia and our main river system in this country. That makes it all the more important for this Territory, and this Government, to start with, to get it right. There are a lot of areas where, quite obviously, it has not got it right. We are the bush capital and we must do the right thing by the environment and ensure that adequate measures are in place to ensure proper environmental protection of not only Canberra but the region. Having a reputation as the bush capital is terribly important for tourism. We need to ensure that Canberra remains the bush capital, and that the necessary environmental benefits that Canberra enjoys continue and are expanded upon so that we can remain the envy of not only Australia but also many other parts of the world.
MRS GRASSBY (5.00): Madam Speaker, let me say from the outset that I am very proud to be part of one of the most green governments in Australia and to have an Environment Minister who is so green that some people think his blood runs green.
Ms Follett: It does.
MRS GRASSBY: He is certainly not blue-blooded, Chief Minister. He must have something green in his blood. My colleague Annette Ellis has provided details of some very significant achievements of this Government in its environmental management of the ACT, but members of this Assembly would be well aware by now that this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the busy work program of this Government to protect and enhance the ACT environment. The initiatives which I will discuss today are testimony to an administration mindful of the multitude of environmental responsibilities it faces.
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