Page 4687 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 7 December 1994
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MR CONNOLLY: Yes. We will ascertain the facts first. But let me say, as a general statement, that a person who is contemplating purchasing real estate off the plans in this way should always, prudently, ask whether planning approvals have been put through. Equally, anybody who is offering to sell such a product should, prudently, advise any potential purchaser whether or not they have obtained all the necessary approvals.
Garbage Collection Service - Drivers
MR KAINE: Madam Speaker, I have a question for Mr Lamont, as Minister for Urban Services. It is in connection with our new garbage collection system. Minister, is it a fact that drivers employed by Thiess Pty Ltd who operate the new vehicles are required to empty 1,500 bins in a 10-hour shift, while in other centres where Thiess has contracts to provide garbage services, using the same one-person system, drivers are required to empty only 1,000 bins in an eight-hour shift? That means that our drivers are expected to empty 150 bins an hour and in other places drivers are expected to empty only 125 bins an hour.
MR LAMONT: I thank the member for his question. It once again provides me with the opportunity to promote what is, indeed, the best total waste collection system that has yet been devised and implemented in any city in this country. In response to the specific issue, the difference in the hours worked is an obvious position that you would need to take into account when establishing what is commonly called the "darg", which is the daily average requirement of garbage.
Mr Wood: We get our share from over there do we not?
MR LAMONT: I was about to go on to suggest that the other side of the house has been exceeding its darg somewhat monumentally over the last two weeks; but I will leave that for another stage. The daily average requirement of garbage has not been set taking into account what has come from the other side of the house, but is, indeed, a realistic assessment of the capacity of the vehicle and the driver over a given time.
Mrs Carnell: Why is it taking them 22 hours to complete a shift?
MR LAMONT: If Mrs Carnell will stop carping, she may be edified. We established the darg from a realistic assessment of the trials that were undertaken for over a year in Kaleen, Melba and Dickson. As you would recall, Mr Kaine, in that quite magnificent trial that this Government authorised, we trialled a range of collection systems. I am pleased to say that none of those vehicles is required to lift, as part of their garbage load, your colleague Mr Stefaniak. It would probably take them 25 hours to get through the full daily average requirement. I remember at some stage in the past seeing a photograph of Mr De Domenico hiding Mr Stefaniak in one of the bins.
The reality is, Mr Kaine, that the daily average requirement of garbage is tested and is a provision within the contract that was tendered for. As you would appreciate, with any new system of garbage collection, there are variations between systems. As an example, in Queanbeyan, I think, a 250-litre bin or a 310-litre bin is used for garbage collection.
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