Page 3707 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 28 October 2015
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(f) an inquiry into the legacy of Mr Fluffy could only achieve its goals with the involvement and close co-operation of the Commonwealth and NSW Governments as the ACT does not have jurisdiction over activities of the Commonwealth and NSW Governments; and
(g) that a board of inquiry is likely to cost the Territory tens of millions of dollars and would likely take more than a year to complete;
(2) calls on the Chief Minister to formally raise this issue with the Prime Minister and the NSW Premier to seek the views of the Commonwealth and NSW Governments on the form of an inquiry into the legacy of Mr Fluffy and to seek support for the cost of an inquiry; and
(3) update the Assembly on the outcome of discussions with the Prime Minister and NSW Premier as part of the Asbestos Response Taskforce quarterly reports to the Assembly.”.
It is timely that we pause today, on the first anniversary of the government’s announcement of the loose-fill asbestos insulation eradication scheme, to reflect on what has transpired in the 20 months since the Work Safety Commissioner sent letters to the owners of affected properties in February of 2014.
In that period we have seen first a trickle and then a flood of positive asbestos tests from affected properties. We have implemented an emergency assistance package providing immediate help to families who discovered that pure asbestos was in their living rooms, their cupboards and their kids’ bedrooms. We took the decision, based on a consensus of expert advice, that the only enduring solution to the crisis of contamination was the demolition of all of the affected houses.
As of today, 950 owners have accepted the government’s offer to acquire their contaminated property; 750 properties have been acquired by the territory; and we have begun the demolition process, with 16 houses demolished so far.
In that same time, in this place and in individual conversations, sometimes in different parts of the world, we have all heard individual stories. When you are on a trade delegation, you will meet people who are impacted directly by the Mr Fluffy circumstances. I reject the assertion made by the Leader of the Opposition that I have not been engaging with families and households that have been impacted. That is an unfair and unnecessary politicisation of this issue.
We have all heard the individual stories of grief, anger, loss and frustration from a wide variety of families who by chance owned an affected house and who may have participated in what has been a merry-go-round of property acquisition and sale of these properties in this city over 50 years. We have also heard, though, stories of great strength, resilience and, importantly, hope as families have moved into new homes or have progressed plans to rebuild on their blocks, starting what is both a physical and a psychological rebuilding process.
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