Page 796 - Week 02 - Thursday, 10 March 2011

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cooking and cleaning. There may also be few people in the area that have been trained in the design, installation and maintenance of any facilities and infrastructure.

So, while citizens of some countries have a constitutionally protected right to access broadband internet services, others have no access at all to basic necessities. People across the world and in our own country and region have been affected by natural disasters that have also cut off their supplies to drinking water and destroyed drainage and sanitation infrastructure. Our thoughts are with them as they work to restore their services and their lives.

What this highlights is that the swinkful conditions that billions of people live with as normal are considered states of emergency and indications of disaster and hardship areas in the First World. In contrast, according to ActewAGL’s annual drinking water quality report for 2009-10, in that year over 50,000 megalitres of drinking water were supplied to Canberra and Queanbeyan. Our daily consumption ranged from 87 megalitres in September to a maximum of 213 megalitres in February, and our per capita consumption was 312 litres per person per day.

The ACT has over 2,500 licensed plumbers for water supply and sanitation and our apprentices are trained in a system that is arguably the most comprehensive in the world. I must acknowledge the excellent standards of teaching provided by our registered training organisations offering plumbing training.

The relative good health of our population is in no small way due to our water supply and our plumbing systems. We now rely on these systems to help with our environmental, social and economic goals. As our standards increase and advanced plumbing technologies become integrated into our water and energy efficiency initiatives, it is worth reminding ourselves tomorrow and again on World Water Day on 22 March how lucky we are.

There are many ways one could mark the occasions, and I am not necessarily advocating this afternoon that everyone should go and hug a plumber, although, if you do, please make sure that he or she is appropriately licensed. You can make a donation to one of the many organisations working to improve access to clean water and sanitation across the world and, if you are a plumber, you can attend the morning barbecue starting at 7 am hosted by the ACT Planning and Land Authority offices in Mitchell—and you can do both. ACTPLA is partnering with Magnet Mart, the ACT Master Plumbers Association and the Australian Building Codes Board for the fundraising event and all money raised will be donated to Queensland and Victorian flood victims and to water projects run by Oxfam.

For all of us, maybe the most appropriate way to note the event is to raise a glass of clean, safe Canberra water to World Plumbing Day. (Time expired)

Ms Bianca Elmir

Brisbane Broncos

MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (5.09): I rise today to congratulate Bianca Elmir, who has graced us with her presence in my office, who won the Australian flyweight championship on Sunday at the Australian boxing championships in Melbourne; I


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