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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 2370 ..
MS TUCKER
(continuing):the South Coast which we could be burning as firewood here, of which, according to the chemical company Dow, they cannot guarantee the safety and about which I am still waiting to get a letter from Minister Corbell.
We also know, apart from the complications of the poisoning, that State Forests does not have a good record at all in terms of being able to state accurately what it calls residue of the forests, so I am extremely concerned that the government has swallowed this line. I will be putting more information before the Assembly on this issue and, hopefully, persuading the government to rethink its attitude here. Of course we need a sustainable supply of firewood and I would support any way of pursuing how to find one, but I can assure the Assembly that the State Forests proposal is not the way to go on this one. It will actually result in further destruction of the forests of the South Coast and it is not sustainable use at all.
I wish to make a quick comment on the question of continuous registration. I responded to this-
MR SPEAKER
: Order! The member's time has expired.MS TUCKER
: I will take my next 10 minutes. I did raise comments about continuous registration, on the tabling of the budget. I do not believe that it is a just policy. I think that it will hit hardest people who are economically disadvantaged and do not see it, therefore, as a good policy.I think that covers most of the comments I wished to make on the Estimates Committee's report. We have only had the government's response since today and I have not had time to go through it thoroughly and see what they have said in detail on some of the recommendations of the committee.
I will make a quick comment on water. I did mention it at the beginning of this debate on the budget. I would just like to stress, as have other members tonight, that it is a critical issue for the ACT. I acknowledge that the government is working sincerely on the issue, but it is something on which we cannot afford to be slow.
MR PRATT
(9.51): I rise to speak on a couple of issues relative to DUS. Firstly, I want to say that I reckon that the green areas around suburbs are not as well looked after as they once were. I know that we have had a drought and, therefore, one might think that mowing is not important, but it is. I am glad that the government have put funding into the budget to take care of ground and area maintenance, but I do not know whether they have put enough there. Either they have not put enough in to keep up with operational growth, for want of a better term, or they are being let down by their contractors, I do not know, but the place is looking just a bit untidier.In wandering around the tracks in the Farrer and Fadden hills region, close to my place, and over toward Wanniassa, I noted that, despite the dryness, there had been an unacceptable undergrowth all the way through the last summer. Firstly, it looks untidy and, secondly, it is clearly a fire hazard, so it is very important for our DUS capabilities to get out into these areas and keep up with the mowing, thrashing and general trimming of these areas because-
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