Page 3033 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 August 2008

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retained to do the work. The steering group was a community panel established by me to provide advice to me, to the minister, based on the work that the consultants have done. The consultants will continue that work; that is, the health impact assessment will be done. It will feed into the environmental impact assessment.

As the steering committee was established to provide advice to me directly as the Minister for Health in interpreting the consultants’ work that was done, and as I am no longer in charge of that process—and a full EIS is underway—there is no need for the steering committee to continue their work.

The health impact assessment is being done. The consultants are continuing on that work. That will feed into the EIS. But in terms of a panel that reports to me based on that, there is no need for that to continue as the environmental impact statement is being completed.

Mr Pratt: Why not? Who is the independent authority in the EIS that replaces the—

MS GALLAGHER: You will get your turn, Mr Pratt.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Pratt, Mr Seselja is asking the questions. And he will ask a supplementary.

MR SESELJA: Indeed, thank you, Mr Speaker. Minister, will a similar body be established to advise the planning minister in relation to the outcomes of the health impact assessment?

MS GALLAGHER: You will have to ask the planning minister what happens in response to the full environmental impact statement. I cannot speak on his behalf. All that I know is that, with respect to the community panel which I established, the health impact steering group terms of reference actually outline the process and go to the fact that a consultant will be appointed to do the work in undertaking the HIA, and that the health protection service will be the project manager. That work is still ongoing. The consultants will simply provide that to ACTPLA through the statutory process, rather than to me as the minister for health, in a non-statutory way, which was the process that I had initially established.

Rhodium Asset Solutions Ltd

MR SMYTH: My question is to the Treasurer. Treasurer, I refer to your announcement on 22 July this year that the sale process for Rhodium Asset Solutions Ltd had been terminated. Treasurer, what went wrong with the sale process for Rhodium?

MR STANHOPE: Mr Speaker, the sale process was terminated as a result of a breakdown in negotiations between the Treasury and the potential purchaser. It is as simple as that. The offer that was being negotiated between the ACT through Treasury and the proposed purchaser simply did not meet the expectations or requirements of the ACT government or Treasury in relation to the sale. At the end of the day, the terms and conditions offered by the potential purchaser simply were not acceptable, and negotiations were terminated.


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