Page 376 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 7 March 2006
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June Bronwyn Leslie, dated 18 January 2006
Karl Phillips, dated 1 and 9 February 2006
Lana Junakovic, dated 21 December 2005
Maureen Sheehan, dated 16 February 2006
Stephen Ryan, dated 22 February 2006.
I ask for leave to make a statement in relation to the papers.
Leave granted.
MR STANHOPE: These documents are tabled in accordance with sections 31A and 79 of the Public Sector Management Act, which require the tabling of all executive contracts and contract variations. Contracts were previously tabled on 14 February 2006. I present five long-term contracts, 10 short-term contracts and five contract variations. The details of the contracts will be circulated to members.
National Environment Protection Council
Paper and statement by minister
MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Arts, Heritage and Indigenous Affairs): For the information of members, I present the following paper:
National Environment Protection Council Act, pursuant to subsection 23 (3)—National Environment Protection Council—Annual Report 2004-2005.
I ask for leave to make a statement in relation to the paper.
Leave granted.
MR STANHOPE: We in the ACT are fortunate to enjoy some of the cleanest air, most pristine water and most effective waste management regimes in the country. Our free green-waste facilities at local tips see 180,000 tonnes of green waste recycled a year, more than three times the amount of garbage collected kerbside. Overall, 70 per cent of the waste we generate is diverted from landfill. The level of air pollutants is generally well below permissible standards, and of course the fact that we have no coal-fired power stations means we do not even have to routinely measure the sulphur dioxide concentrations in the air we breathe.
But we know that appearances can deceive. The legacy of our physical layout as a city, our love affair with the car and our relative affluence have meant that our impact on the environment is far from negligible. And it is not something we can tidy away forever. That is why the work of the National Environment Protection Council is as vital to the ACT as it is to anywhere else. The report I tabled today sets out the activities and achievements of the council and our national progress on implementing the national environment protection measures.
During the year the council focused on a number of crucial environmental issues, including water recycling, air quality, waste management, site contamination, chemicals and the national pollutant inventory. The council collaborated with the National Resource Management Ministerial Council on the drafting of national water recycling
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