Page 2074 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 6 August 2014
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MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Corrective Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Sport and Recreation) (11.49): I thank both Mr Hanson and Ms Porter for raising the very important issue of loose-fill asbestos and the difficult challenge it presents for many people in the Canberra community, for the Assembly, and, indeed, for the federal government. I want to put on the record as the representative of the ACT Greens my strong support for a comprehensive program to address the serious problems caused by the legacy of loose-fill asbestos. I also want to put on record my sympathy and concern for the people in our community that have been affected by this legacy—individuals and families who face upheaval from their homes and who are worried about their health and finances.
Unfortunately, more than 1,000 families are currently impacted by the issue—that is the current residents in the homes—as well as an unknown number of people who have lived in these homes since the asbestos was installed. Currently 27 families have been displaced completely from their homes due to the danger that the presence of loose-fill asbestos presents.
We also should remember that loose-fill asbestos issues have also been disruptive to a range of other people in the ACT. This includes tradespeople and those working in the property sector. The impact may not be as severe as it is for those living in or displaced from the contaminated homes, but it is important as well that these people are assisted where required and certainly that they are kept informed of progress.
The issue of loose-fill asbestos has been an issue of concern for the ACT Greens for some time. It is an issue we started raising in the last Assembly through some questions put on notice. My former colleague Amanda Bresnan, for example, asked a series of questions on notice in December 2011 about Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos which revealed some early information to the Assembly. She asked, for example, if all residences in the ACT were covered by the federal asbestos remediation program and, if not, how many residences were not covered. She asked whether the minister could provide information about how many and which buildings in the ACT still contain Fluffy asbestos, and if the ACT government would proactively assist any residents, businesses or community groups occupying buildings that were not covered by the Fluffy asbestos removal program.
At the time, the ACT government said it considered the commonwealth removal program extremely reliable and that it provided a high level of assurance that properties identified as containing loose asbestos insulation had been remediated. Of course, we now know that this is not the case. New evidence has come to light which clearly shows the previous remediation program did not deliver a lasting solution.
In recent months, as we know, the government has developed an active response to the Mr Fluffy issue, and in my dual role as a minister in the government, I have been aware of and agreeable to that approach. The key response of the government is the establishment of the asbestos response task force, reporting to the Chief Minister and led by Andrew Kefford. I met with Mr Kefford recently to discuss the Mr Fluffy issue, and I believe the centralised task force approach is the right one in terms of coordination, administration and providing information to those who need it.
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