Page 5149 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 27 October 2010
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MR CORBELL: While Mr Hanson is beating his chest about being tough on the issue of drugs, he is proposing to mandate a level of testing which is already far below—
Mr Hanson: No, no—voluntary testing.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Hanson: Tests for rehab programs. Entry testing.
MR CORBELL: —that which is in place in the ACT prison currently. It is very embarrassing for the Liberal Party—
MR SPEAKER: Order! One moment, Mr Corbell. Mr Hanson, I have asked you a number of times during this question to stop interjecting. I expect you to comply. Mr Corbell.
MR CORBELL: It is very embarrassing for the Liberal Party that they are mandating a level of testing below that which currently occurs in the prison. I am sure it will be of much interest to members to know that, in the last 12 months, two complete whole-of-prison drug tests have been undertaken in the AMC, where every single prisoner has been tested. On average, we test about 44 prisoners every month for drugs. By comparison, Mr Hanson only wants to test 10 per cent. That is the big difference between his approach and the government’s. Unfortunately, I have run out of time.
Trees—removal
MS LE COUTEUR: My question is to the acting minister for TAMS and concerns the removal of a tree at Ainslie shops, as reported in today’s Canberra Times. Minister, why was this large, healthy and very popular tree destroyed? What attempts did the government make to solve any problems with the tree so that it could live?
MR CORBELL: I thank Ms Le Couteur for the question. There has been the removal of one tree at the Ainslie shops as a result of the current shopping centre refurbishment program. I think it is a program that Ms Le Couteur has been very supportive of—the need to refurbish and upgrade the Ainslie shops.
Unfortunately, that has involved the relocation of the public toilets at the front of the shops, landscaping, new play elements, street furniture and lighting. As a result, and unfortunately, one tree has had to be removed. That tree was removed following a detailed assessment. The tree was not part of the original planting at the shops. It was assessed in the conservation management plan for Wakefield Gardens and its removal is consistent with that plan. Nor was the removal of any concern, I am advised, to the Heritage Council when the council was consulted during the design phase of this project.
I think that the claims made by some members of the public—I think a Mr Pegrum—about lack of consultation on this issue are not correct. The TAMS project officer had
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