Page 3387 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 20 August 2008
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the world and it’s so difficult and it’s really hard. We’ve looked at some of these systems and then they blow up on people.” Recently, Mr Pratt and I went across Marcus Clarke Street and visited the ANU. And what did we find? We found a system that works, and works well. It has been operating and turns out tonnes and tonnes of high-quality compost every week, every year. I understand that Dr Foskey has also visited the hot rock system.
I asked the people from the ANU whether urban services or the minister had visited, and they said: “No.” So they could go around the world but they could not cross Marcus Clarke Street to see something that works in our own town. This is emblematic of everything that is wrong with John Hargreaves’s management of “no waste”. He probably should be put out to waste and should be condemned for his approach to Dr Foskey’s thoughtful motion today.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (5.46), in reply: In 15 minutes, I did not have a chance to cover all the really exciting possibilities around dealing with waste. I talked about when I was a child—when Mr Hargreaves was a child too, probably—and we used to buy our biscuits from a biscuit tin and they were put in a brown paper bag. I know there is a sense of romanticism here, but it is really important to let people know that these things are possible. It is not out of the realms of possibility.
I do not know whether people are aware of the issue of plastic bags, for instance, in the Pacific. Some people may have seen the incredibly graphic footage. It is like watching a polar bear trying to cling to an ever-shrinking piece of ice. It breaks your heart. It breaks my heart to see all of the plastic waste—not just ours but waste from the American side, our side, probably the Asian side and from the Pacific islands—that has become a vortex and more or less an island in the Pacific that is toxic and that is killing our marine life. This is actually quite a small thing that we can do. Our waste is a tractable problem. It is not like climate change, which requires really far-reaching behaviour; our actions on waste will be part of our efforts on climate change. It is so important.
The hot rock system is a beauty. I happen to know about it because I visited it a couple of years ago. I also visited ANUgreen four years ago, before they even had this hot rock system. They told me they had approached the ACT government about getting in with them on the hot rock system, because at that time they were not sure they had enough material on campus to feed the thing. This thing is very long. I do commend it to the minister; he should go and see it. It is a terribly simple principle and it works. It means that the ANU have got the material to feed their gardens.
I will conclude by reading something from the Sydney Morning Herald. It is not just a problem; it is actually a really exciting possibility. What we are doing is great. It is great that the government has set up a centre for receiving fluorescent lights. That is always an issue that you are never sure about when it comes to rubbish—where you should put those damn things. But we can turn it into much more of an adventure. People might have heard of Michael Mobbs. He is famous for developing his sustainable house in Chippendale. He calls his house a “trivial, well-intentioned failure”, I think because he did not see how it was going to benefit society. It certainly benefited himself, and I actually do not agree; I do not think it was a trivial, well-intentioned failure. His house has become a model for everybody who wants to build a sustainable house.
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