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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 10 Hansard (24 November) . . Page.. 2786 ..

Ms Carnell: I said it wasn't distributed to me.

MR BERRY: The fact that people do not distribute it to you, if what you claim is true, is extraordinary and difficult to believe. It is even more extraordinary that expert staff - they are expert staff, excellent staff, who apparently serve you well - would not advise you of a report of the magnitude that you have given it in your response. So, Chief Minister, I was disappointed at your claims. I thank Mr Corbell again for the question. Yes, it was distributed electronically as well as in hard copy, and your staff and departments were advised that it was available from the secretariat's office in hard copy form from the beginning of business hours this morning. So there was plenty of time. Whether you bothered about it or not is your problem. Do not blame anybody else.

MR CORBELL: I am pleased that Mr Berry has been able to correct that false allegation the Chief Minister made. My supplementary question, Mr Speaker, is to Mr Berry again. Mr Berry, what further action will you take to seek an apology from the Chief Minister now that she has been proved wrong yet again?

MR BERRY: I will take long steps and often. The first one is to call on the Chief Minister to apologise to those loyal staff who serve us well in this Assembly for the slight on them that she has made. So that is the first step. If the Chief Minister is not prepared to apologise - I think she should, although it would be out of character for her to do that, I know. That is the very first step. I think it is an important one, and one that I am proud to take in the interests of the defence of the good staff in this place. I trust that the Chief Minister will apologise at the earliest moment.

MS TUCKER: My question is to the Minister for Urban Services. Minister, next Saturday will be the first anniversary of the Government's announcement of a greenhouse gas reduction target for the ACT. In that announcement the Government stated that it would implement 10 new measures to assist in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which would eventually become part of a bigger ACT greenhouse strategy. Some of these measures have been implemented, such as the mandatory disclosure of house energy ratings at time of sale and the establishment of an energy advisory service. However, most of these measures have not been implemented. For example, whatever happened to the Greenfleet program, where motorists could pay a contribution with their registration to pay for tree planting, or the cash-back program for the installation of low-flow showerheads, or the investigation into energy efficiency in government buildings? Minister, could you tell us why you have not implemented the greenhouse measures that your Government stated a year ago it would?

MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, I thank Ms Tucker for her question. As the Assembly would be aware, the Government has released for comment its draft greenhouse strategy. There are many initiatives in this strategy, which is currently out for public comment. As to the specifics of those three programs that Ms Tucker has mentioned, I will inquire of the department as to their progress and get back to her on them.

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