7558

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

Wednesday 14 May 2008 ______

The Speaker (The Hon. George Richard Torbay) took the chair at 10.00 a.m.

The Speaker read the Prayer and acknowledgement of country.

AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT

The Speaker tabled, pursuant to the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983, the report entitled "Auditor-General's Report—Financial Audits—Volume Two 2008", dated May 2008.

Ordered to be printed.

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

Notices of Motions

General Business Notices of Motions (General Notices) given.

HEMP INDUSTRY BILL 2008

Agreement in Principle

Debate resumed from 7 May 2008.

Mr ANDREW FRASER (Coffs Harbour—Deputy Leader of The Nationals) [10.10 a.m.]: The Coalition will not oppose the Hemp Industry Bill but has some concerns about the way it will be administered. We want guarantees from the Government that the inspection, regulation and licensing of growers will be through a regimented process. As members are aware, the north coast has had problems for many years with the cultivation of Indian hemp for drug use. Within the electorate are concerns, and I must reflect those concerns, that people will seek licences for an opportunity at some stage of mixing the crop. But I note that since its introduction in Queensland about six years ago, where 60 licences were issued, only two breaches occurred, and both breaches were referred to the police and prosecutions ensued.

We must remember that varieties of hemp such as skunk are derivatives of industrial hemp. Industrial hemp has been used for many years in commercial areas across the world, including clothing, fuels, plastic, cements, stationery and rope. From the limited research that I have been able to do in the past few days, industrial hemp has advantages. It requires very little in the way of pesticides, which I suggest is a positive factor across the agricultural community, improving soil and other conditions, and the indication is that it may be more water-efficient than other crops. I was somewhat concerned some time ago when the now Federal Labor Government in Opposition were promoting the utilisation of hemp as a crop in the Riverina area and suggested that crops such as rice would have water allocations taken from them and applied to hemp production.

If hemp is going to be utilised as a crop that can be grown in Australia for commercial purposes, we must not divide the farming sector. We must not turn around and say that crops such as rice and cotton, which are great income earners for regional and rural New South Wales, are going to be disadvantaged by the growth of hemp. We do not want to see the Government encouraging people to move away from industries where farmers have made a huge investment, for example, in rice, especially in the Riverina area, and in cotton, in Narrabri and the north-west. We do not want to see farmers being given favourable treatment in relation to water because they will be planting hemp crops. The science is not yet evident on how water-efficient hemp is and one sometimes wonders whether the lobby groups that want the hemp crop are pushing that line without having the science to support it. We caution the Government in relation to that. We do not want to see a licensing regime where water allocations are taken from other producers in New South Wales. The commercialisation of hemp has long been pushed, probably more so by the extreme Green element or those from Nimbin—

Mr Steve Whan: A completely different type. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7559

Mr ANDREW FRASER: As the member for Monaro says, a different sort of hemp. The unfortunate reality is that those who have been most vocal in promoting the commercial use of hemp are those who smoke the variety that is illegal in New South Wales. That is a grey area and raises a question mark and suspicion across society generally. It is the thin edge of the wedge. The Coalition is only supporting the industrial use of hemp that has a tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] level of less than 1 per cent. Seed producers in Queensland have a level of .05 per cent THC. We want varieties that do not have flower heads that can be utilised by others or, for that matter, can be hived off. As I said, skunk is a derivative of the original hemp plant and it is one of far greater strength.

A number of years ago, at Grafton jail they could not work out why prisoners were so interested in the garden. They had a nice little crop of skunk in the jail garden. Because of its strange look by comparison to ordinary hemp plants, no-one really picked it up until the crop was well and truly underway and the so-called benefits of it were being utilised within the prison system. That was quickly scuttled and a large number of those doing the gardening suddenly lost interest. We want assurances that sufficient levels of Department of Primary Industries staff are available to police it. We want assurances that the scrutiny process, as outlined in the bill, is upheld. Clause 16 of the bill states:

(1) A licence may be revoked by the Director-General …

I would like the Parliamentary Secretary to indicate that the director general will revoke a licence if the licensee contravenes any provision of the Act or the regulations, whether or not the licensee has been convicted of an offence for the contravention. If licensees contravene the conditions of their licence, the wording should not be "may be revoked", it should be "must be revoked". The bill continues in other sections as follows:

(2) The Director-General must revoke a licence …

I believe it should be "must" in clause 16 (1). We cannot have people saying, "We accidentally contravened our licence conditions". When the licence is granted, the conditions must be made very clear to the person wanting it. The indication from this Parliament should be that the licence "must be revoked", not "may be revoked" should any conditions within the licence be contravened. This also gives an opportunity for the farming of fibre products in the marketplace, which have long been sought. Only a couple of weeks ago I was speaking to a farmer of long standing in the Dorrigo region who was looking to plant industrial hemp. He has great belief in it in a number of areas.

I assured him that the Coalition would look favourably on the legislation when it came through, and coincidentally the legislation has come through not long since I spoke to him. It gives an opportunity to growers who want to expand their operations and make their profitability more versatile across the farming sector. As long as it is well maintained, well managed and well overseen, we should not have too many problems with it. The Coalition does not oppose the legislation on the basis of guarantees that it will have the proper oversight.

Mr PAUL PEARCE (Coogee) [10.19 a.m.]: I speak in support of the Hemp Industry Bill 2008. This bill will allow New South Wales farmers an exciting opportunity to develop a different, versatile and very useful commercial crop. The bill provides a licensing scheme to allow the commercial-scale production of industrial hemp in New South Wales for the first time in many years. Historically, hemp was grown in New South Wales from the early 1800s. By 1938 it was wrongly considered a drug crop and was banned in many countries including Australia. A reasonable assumption is that the driving force behind banning industrial hemp was a response to events in the United States of America.

For the purposes of this bill, "industrial hemp" is defined as cannabis that has a concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] of up to 1 per cent. This means that industrial hemp has no psychoactive effect. Industrial hemp not only has significant economic potential but it also has a number of environmental advantages over other fibre crops. Hemp has a long history—it has been grown for more than 12,000 years for its fibre and seed. Until the late nineteenth century, industrial hemp was one of the world's largest agricultural crops and a highly traded commodity. Because of its fibre strength, hemp was the main source of fibre for sailcloth, rope, fabric and paper. In fact, I understand Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper.

However, the mechanisation of cotton processing and the decline of sailing ships reduced the demand for hemp fibre. One suggestion as to why the use of the product declined in paper production was the influence and control that the chemical companies, in particular, Du Pont, had over the process of wood-pulp paper manufacture for which their products were essential. It could also be suggested that the growing size of such 7560 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

corporations meant that they held considerable influence over United States industrial policy at that time. In any event, this decline continued into the 1930s and 1940s with the introduction of synthetic fibres such as nylon, which is a product patented by the chemical companies.

In the United States the industry was effectively doomed by the passage in 1937 of the Marijuana Tax Act, which placed an extremely high tax on industrial hemp and, effectively, made it impossible to grow. In addition, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the successor organisation, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, lumped industrial hemp with its psychoactive cousin. I referred earlier to the suspected role of industrial capital in the decline and legislative response to the hemp industry in the United States. The view of some commentators is that the influence of two fledgling industries at the time—oil and timber—drove the campaign against hemp.

Anything made of petroleum can be made from hemp. The oil industry wanted cars to burn gasoline, not alcohol fuel derived from plants. Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate, owned forests across the country and he wanted trees cut for paper, rather than hemp used for paper. Hearst began publishing horror stories in his newspapers across the country about marijuana. He made up the word based on lyrics in a Mexican drinking song. He fabricated stories of murderous Mexicans high on dope—but that was a word for narcotics, not hemp. The stories frightened and inflamed the public and the United States Congress took action.

In the last decade interest in hemp as a commercial agricultural crop has resurged. This has been very much the case in Europe, and is increasingly so in Australia. Industrial hemp is becoming big business again. There are very sound economic and environmental reasons for the growth of interest in industrial hemp. This versatile product has a wide range of applications, and I will mention some of them. Hemp produces a strong, natural fibre that is particularly suited to paper products and textiles. Unlike cotton, which requires significant amounts of chemicals to assist its growing, hemp is environmentally benign. Hemp fibre is a stronger fibre than cotton, with better absorption qualities. It is a fact that the original Levi Strauss jeans were made of hemp not cotton denim. Properly treated, hemp can perform very similarly to high quality linen.

Hemp is used increasingly in building construction. Medium-density fibreboard and even beams, studs and posts can be made out of hemp. Further, it is considered stronger and lighter than concrete and can be used in its place. A generic term, hempcrete, has developed to describe hemp-based commercial building materials. Hemp can also be used as building insulation and as an alternative to fibreglass. As well, hemp seed oil has a number of commercial uses: it can be used as a base for skin care products and paint, or as a food additive. It should be noted, however, that in 2002 the Food Regulation Ministerial Council rejected hemp as a food in Australia. Notwithstanding that decision, overseas studies have identified that hemp oil is a very rich source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids. Interestingly, hemp oil is quite high in some essential amino acids, including gamma linoleic acid, a rare nutrient that is also found in mother's milk. Hemp may also have potential as a bio-fuel.

Hemp has agricultural benefits. As the member for Coffs Harbour pointed out, it may be useful as a rotation crop in farming systems: as a fast-growing summer crop it can be used in rotation with winter grain crops. Hemp grows well in a variety of climates and soil types and is naturally resistant to most pests, hence the reduced requirement for herbicides. I mentioned earlier that hemp has environmental advantages compared with other fibre crops. In Australia, these benefits are significant. Hemp is potentially more water efficient and requires fewer agricultural chemicals than other fibre plants. These advantages will increase as new varieties of hemp are developed that are even more suited to New South Wales conditions.

Hemp can also be used to replace many products that involve potentially harmful production processes; for example, it can be used to produce environmentally friendly paper. Because of its low lignin content, hemp can be pulped using less energy and fewer chemicals than are needed to pulp wood. This results in less pollution and lower energy consumption. In addition, hemp's natural whiteness means there is no need to use chlorine bleach in the paper production process, which can be extremely toxic. Rather, where needed, whiteness can be achieved by the use of hydrogen peroxide. It also means that hemp paper is acid free and lasts significantly longer than wood paper, without yellowing. Indeed, it has been estimated that wood-based papers have a shelf life of between 25 years and 100 years, depending on the quality, whereas hemp, being acid free, may last up to 1,500 years.

A number of Australian States have already removed prohibitions on the commercial production of industrial hemp. Commercial-scale production is currently taking place in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. In Queensland, commercial production has been possible since 2002, and the Queensland 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7561

Department of Agriculture has a very detailed website on that. In 2007, 46 growers were licensed under the legislation to produce industrial hemp plants. Currently, two large companies with contract growers operate the Queensland industry. Those two companies each have about 300 hectares under production annually in non-drought years.

They harvest, on average, around 8 tonnes to 12 tonnes of hemp per hectare from irrigated land, and 6 tonnes to 10 tonnes per hectare from dry land production. This yield is competitive with commercial yields around the world. Hemp is an agricultural crop with significant economic potential and a range of applications; it demonstrates significant environmental advantages over other fibre crops. This bill sets out a clear, effective licensing scheme that will allow commercial-scale production of industrial hemp in New South Wales. This is a very exciting opportunity for rural communities and I commend the bill to the House.

Mr DARYL MAGUIRE (Wagga Wagga) [10.27 a.m.]: I note that the object of the Hemp Industry Bill 2008 is to enable low-THC hemp to be cultivated and supplied for commercial production and other legitimate purposes in accordance with a licensing scheme to be administered by the Director General of the Department of Primary Industries. The proposed Act defines low-THC hemp as cannabis that has a concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol of no more than 1 per cent. The bill provides that the possession, cultivation or supply of low-THC hemp in accordance with a licence under the proposed Act will not constitute an offence under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985.

The shadow Minister has precised this bill and has indicated that we do not oppose it, but I will make a few points about the trials. First, when researching for this debate I came across articles by a rural reporter, Paul Maguire—no relation. I congratulate him on raising in the Newcastle Herald on several occasions the prospects of trials and on following the issue intently. If we are to make progress in developing other opportunities for the agricultural sector we need diligent journalists who will follow through on a particular issue—in this case, the development of hemp crops. The article in the Newcastle Herald states:

Secret trials have found the Hunter Valley to be one of the best places in the State to grow hemp.

The region has one of Australia's best supplies of hemp seed.

The Department of Agriculture has been co-ordinating trial plantings since late 1995 at nine secret locations in the State to assess the commercial potential of hemp.

An Upper Hunter planting has produced yields of about five tonnes of dry stems a hectare.

This is the State's equal best result to date, along with a plot beside the Murray River.

The article goes on to state:

The trial involved plants with a low drug content, specifically known as low-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] hemp.

Low-THC hemp stem fibre and seed can be used for textiles, paper rope, food and a variety of oils and other products.

Dr Spurway said the trial location would remain secret to prevent theft.

Low-THC plants looked the same as hemp with a high drug content.

Dr Spurway said that all hemp varieties tested so far had performed "well below expectations".

"For anything to be commercially viable we need to get 10 or more tonnes to the hectare," he said.

"Trials done in Tasmania had yields of between 10 and 15 tonnes to the hectare."

Dr Spurway said he was "deadly serious" about hemp's commercial potential.

"If we can get an industry going, farmers could earn an alternative income by diversifying."

I will elaborate on that point. Rural and coastal communities want to diversify, which is why these trials are important. The canola industry has been conducting trials under regulation or legislation to establish alternative ways of producing crops with better outcomes. Several articles in the Daily Telegraph refer to the dismal failure of industrial hemp trials. One article dated 26 March 1999 refers to the fact that many of the crops that were grown yielded poorly, and states:

Dr Spurway, NSW Agriculture program manager for fibres, oilseeds and specialty crops, said 20 hemp trials had been permitted across the State under the supervision of NSW Agriculture and NSW Health between 1995 and 1998 ...

7562 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

He said it was a case of continuing to experiment in a bid to find varieties suitable to be grown in NSW.

Most of the illicit-type crops that are suitable to be grown in New South Wales are irrigated. When major drug busts occur we tend to find that the crops have been cultivated using drip irrigation methods and technologies. If we conducted some of those trials the new techniques and underground systems that reduce evaporation could be used to increase crop yields. I am alarmed by the comments made by Bill Shorten in an article dated 1 March 2007, which states:

Union leader and Labor recruit Bill Shorten called yesterday for cotton and rice growers to be forced out of business and their water-intensive crops replaced with a less thirsty option such as hemp.

I regard those comments as outrageous, reckless and alarmist as they will impact on communities that grow rice and cotton in the north and the south that have invested many millions of dollars in infrastructure and that make a contribution economically across this State. In the article in the Australian Mr Shorten attacked the then Federal Government. The article states:

Mr Shorten's comments go further than those of Labor's water spokesman Anthony Albanese, who will not commit to a policy of compulsory acquisitions but has called on John Howard not to rule them out ...

Mr Shorten said at the Australian Water Summit in Melbourne yesterday:

"The world wouldn't end if instead of growing cotton, we started growing hemp," he said. "Hemp needs half the amount of water to produce the same amount of cotton, has huge potential by mitigating dry-land salinity, and can also be used to replace native trees from paper pulp."

Mr Shorten is badly misguided if he is suggesting that hemp uses half the amount of water that is needed by rice and cotton. His comments would have been more believable if Mr Shorten had said that hemp should be grown using drip irrigation methods and water-saving techniques. The article continues:

Mr Shorten's comments were questioned by growers, scientists and green groups, who said annual crops such as rice and cotton were an important part of the irrigated agricultural industry.

I agree with that sentiment. The article then states:

Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kaye said there was no market for hemp, and the crop used the same amount of water as cotton.

And the executive director of the Ricegrowers Association of Australia, Victoria Taylor, said, "In my view, Mr Shorten has as much credibility on water as I do on industrial relations."

Ms Taylor said ricegrowers played by the rules. "That is why, because of the drought, we have the smallest crop in the ground for 50 years."

Ms Taylor forgot to mention that rice growers have increased their water-use efficiency by some 60 per cent. That industry has risen to the challenge caused by the lack of water allocations and it has performed exceedingly well. This article reveals that communities should be concerned now that Labor is in power federally. I am alarmed by the statements being made by Mr Shorten and others that farmers should be forced from their land or lose their water entitlements. Mr Shorten said that hemp used half the water that is needed to irrigate rice and cotton. However, he did not explain how he arrived at that equation, which demonstrates that he does not understand the technicalities involved in growing rice, cotton and hemp.

Rural communities are challenged by the continuing drought. Yesterday I gave notice of a motion that calls on State and Federal governments to prepare for a potential agricultural disaster if rain is not imminent. Initiatives such as hemp trials are important but the Government should also encourage the growing of other products. I encourage this Government to examine alternative value-adding crops that tolerate low rainfall and that do not require too much of our precious resource—water. I thank the shadow Minister, the member for Coffs Harbour, for leading the debate on this issue on behalf of the Opposition. However, I am extremely concerned that the new Federal Labor Government has expressed alarmist sentiments and suggested that farmers should have their entitlements removed. The Federal Labor Government must clarify what the future holds for people who depend on water allocations. They have invested a great deal in an industry that adds to our gross domestic product.

Mr PHIL KOPERBERG (Blue Mountains) [10.38 a.m.]: I support the Hemp Industry Bill 2008 and, in doing so, acknowledge the various comments that have been made by Opposition members. The bill will set up a licensing scheme that will enable the production of industrial hemp in New South Wales. Under the bill a 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7563

licence may be granted to cultivate or supply industrial hemp for commercial production or use in manufacturing processes. Hemp can also be cultivated for scientific research, instruction, analysis or study. I will refer in more detail to those types of licences. Field trials of low-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] hemp have been carried out in New South Wales since 1995. The first trial crop was sown in October 1995 and since then there have been trials each spring and summer.

The purpose of this trial program was to assess the yield potential of low-THC hemp crops in a range of environments across New South Wales. Where possible, the stem, fibre or seed was also evaluated for use in paper, textiles, dog food and other products. The trials were permitted under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 under authorities obtained from the director general of the Department of Health. Applications to conduct trials were assessed by an interagency committee. The committee included representatives of the Department of Health, the Attorney General's Department, the New South Wales Police Force and the Department of Primary Industries. Trials were permitted for the purpose of scientific research, instruction, analysis and/or study. Therefore, planting was limited to small areas and trials were approved for only one year.

Early trials were not very successful. Yields were less than half that obtained in trials in Tasmania and in commercial production in Europe. As trials progressed it became more evident that European varieties of hemp are not well suited to the climate and soil types in New South Wales. Later trials used varieties from China that have been developed for Australian conditions. These trials produced yields that were comparable to commercial production around the world. The drought conditions over most of the State for the past three seasons have impacted on the success of recent trials. However, indications are promising for commercial yields, particularly with the varieties that have been developed in Queensland, again for Australian conditions. Although this bill seeks to make commercial production possible, significant research and development work will be undertaken to establish the industry in New South Wales. For example, the development of varieties suited to the environmental conditions in New South Wales will be ongoing.

In addition, further research is required into optimum planting and irrigation processes to ensure maximum yields and minimum susceptibility to pests and diseases. Hemp is unlikely to be attacked by pests and diseases, hence the reduced need for agricultural chemicals. Industrial hemp has been promoted as a potential rotational crop and for use as a mop crop for effluent management, and there is scope to explore these applications even further. Finally, there are likely to be many new applications for hemp fibre and hempseed oil that will be developed only through appropriate research programs. In Queensland, research is mainly carried out by the companies involved in the commercial cultivation of hemp, often in partnership with government researchers. This involves continuous development of varieties of plants better suited to local conditions and continuous improvement of harvesting and processing systems. The bill will facilitate valuable research into developing this emerging industry in New South Wales. I believe it to be timely and responsible legislation. Thus I commend the bill to the House.

Mr PETER DRAPER (Tamworth) [10.43 a.m.]: I am pleased to make a brief contribution in support of the Hemp Industry Bill 2008. As other members have pointed out, this fibre offers hope to farming communities that are under increasing pressure to reduce their reliance on water. Industrial hemp has been used throughout history, and it is timely for New South Wales farmers to be able to access an alternative income source from a crop that can be manufactured into a wide range of products. Hemp fibre can be used to manufacture clothing, building blocks, skincare products, paper, paint and a multitude of other products. The Parliamentary Secretary in his agreement in principle speech also identified load-bearing masonry for building—which I had not heard about—insulation and the opportunity to use the fibre as an alternative to fibreglass.

I am pleased that the Government has indicated an intention to allow farmers to plant industrial hemp for the 2008-09 summer season. While the release of industrial hemp will probably attract some level of criticism from community members who will confuse this product with the illegal hemp that has high levels of THC, marijuana will remain an illegal product and its use or production will continue to be prosecuted under the Crimes Act. People looking to get high on industrial hemp are in for a great disappointment because it has almost negligible levels of THC. Should this bill be passed by Parliament, it is the Government's intention to release draft regulations for public comment in August. I have had a number of conversations with farmers who live in some of the harsher areas of our State to whom an alternative crop that requires little water and minimal application of agricultural herbicides or pesticides seems very attractive. Farmers in other States have had an advantage over those in New South Wales in being able to access the hemp market. This bill will give our farmers an opportunity to compete. 7564 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

I am pleased to see that the bill has been developed following extensive consultation between the Department of Primary Industries, the Attorney General's Department, the New South Wales Police Force and the Department of Health. This follows trials of industrial hemp that have proven that the crop can be commercially viable—even though there are question marks over current returns—and does not present a threat to public wellbeing. The bill will remove industrial hemp's classification as a prohibited plant under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985. However, its illegal cousin with high THC levels will remain on that list.

I am also pleased that opening up access to industrial hemp for farmers will not compromise the integrity of drug law enforcement in New South Wales. Marijuana plants are virtually indistinguishable from industrial hemp plants: introducing a quantity of the illegal plant into a commercial industrial hemp crop is a potential problem. It is critical that the farmers licensed to grow hemp are of good character, and are willing to have their crop tested regularly and monitored to prevent problems arising. The bill will establish a licensing scheme to facilitate the commercial production of industrial hemp. The director general of the Department of Primary Industries will administer the scheme to issues licences to grow industrial hemp. The bill provides that the licences will be granted for various purposes, including commercial production, manufacturing, scientific research, instruction, analysis or study, or any other purpose prescribed by the regulations. It is important to stress that the licences will not be granted to everybody who applies, because the bill provides for a rigorous application process.

I was pleased to hear the Parliamentary Secretary point out that every application must be made directly to the director general of the Department of Primary Industries, and that a person must prove himself or herself to be of good character to qualify. The applicant's character, honesty and integrity will be considered as part of the process to determine whether a licence application is successful. The director general can also refuse to grant a licence to an applicant should a close business associate of the applicant fail the character test. This is designed to ensure that people of unsavoury character do not infiltrate the industry. No licences will be granted to applicants who have been found guilty of serious drug-related offences, or even if a close business associate of an applicant has been found guilty of a drug-related offence.

The director general will have very broad powers to investigate applicants when considering licence applications. The bill provides that the director general can undertake all appropriate investigations before deciding whether an application is successful. The bill also provides that all applicants and their close associates will be the subject of a criminal record check, and applicants can be compelled to produce any information or records as directed to assist the director general in determining the outcome of their application. The director general's decision is final. Licences will be granted for five years and it will be an offence to breach any condition of the licence. It will also be an offence to cultivate or supply low-THC hemp other than in accordance with a licence.

Successful applicants will be subject to regular inspections, with inspectors having substantial powers to enter and search premises, to seize property and to question people in relation to the crop. The director general can suspend or cancel a licence should there be reason to do so. The commercial production of industrial hemp in New South Wales will offer significant hope to farming communities struggling under the burden of reduced access to water. My investigations suggest that it uses comparatively little water when compared with other broadacre crops. I own a hemp shirt and I have written on hemp paper. Industrial hemp is a yearly crop that has the potential to be of great benefit to our State. I commend the bill to the House.

Mr FRANK TERENZINI (Maitland) [10.48 a.m.]: I am pleased to support the Hemp Industry Bill 2008. It is a timely and opportune bill. All members would agree that it offers exciting opportunities for the farming sector and the community in general. Members have mentioned the commercial crop's benefits, including the fact that it is resistant to pests, requires less water and fewer chemicals than other crops, and can be used to produce biofuels, oils and so on. Those characteristics make it a very attractive crop. However, we must ensure that the clauses dealing with licensing, enforcement and investigation are good, sound and balanced and are drafted in the public interest. The principles behind, and the integrity of, the bill must be upheld. I fully support the balanced regime that has been put in place; it will ensure that the integrity and policy of the Act are upheld while at the same time allowing not only the cultivation, supply and selling of industrial hemp, but also the opportunity for further research and development.

In the past 12 years I have witnessed many court cases involving the illegal cultivation of hemp and seen people convicted under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act. The places the plant may be grown are limited only by one's imagination. Typically it is grown in the bush, on a farm or in other large areas, as mentioned. I remember one particular case involving a medical practitioner from the Hunter Valley who decided 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7565

to grow a few acres of low-THC industrial hemp but who did not have a licence or permit to do so. He was prosecuted and convicted. I do not know what this offender will think now because what he did, with the best of intentions, will be permitted under the bill. That case was well known in the Hunter region and proves that people from many different backgrounds want to take advantage of the benefits of this product.

The two main provisions of the bill are the licensing clause in part 2, and the investigation and enforcement clause in part 3. It is important to note that the licensing scheme will be strict. The director general of the Department of Primary Industries will be allowed to call for all information and make all investigations necessary to determine whether an applicant is eligible for a licence. Of course, associates of an applicant also will undergo strict scrutiny to ensure the bona fides of the applicant. The THC level of the plant will be set at 0.5 per cent to a maximum of 1 per cent. Climatic conditions such as heat and water may change the level of THC in industrial hemp. For this reason the bill contains that tolerance level to take into account changes in climatic conditions.

It is important to note also that the licence conditions will be strict regarding the size of the crop, expected tonnage, type of crop and exactly for what it will be marketed. All these conditions, which will contain the finest details concerning the production and sale of this product, will be noted on the licence. The monitoring and investigation regime will be checked thoroughly—nothing will be left to chance. The authority will make sure that the licence conditions accord precisely with what the applicant says he or she intends to do with the crop. I am happy with the investigation and enforcement regime in the bill. The bill enables police officers to be defined as "an inspector". Clause 27 (2) of the bill empowers an inspector, who must produce identification, to enter premises for the purpose of investigating and carrying out surveillance to do any or all of the following:

(a) carry out surveillance activities,

(b) examine and inspect any part of the premises or any article or thing on the premises,

(c) make such examinations and inquiries as the inspector considers necessary,

(d) require records to be produced for inspection,

(e) examine and inspect any records,

(f) take copies of any records,

(g) take and remove samples of any plant or thing for analysis— and other like powers. Not only will we have a licensing scheme that sets out particular conditions, but also we will have power to make checks and take samples to ensure that THC levels are within the specifications. Furthermore, concerns can be allayed about the rights of the individual under this part of the bill. As I mentioned earlier, hemp crops are usually grown in wide areas, such as bushland or farms. However, it is important to remember that, whilst inspectors or the police will have the power to enter premises—which are usually defined as a dwelling and the surrounding curtilage area—they will need a warrant, which must be obtained in the normal manner from an authorised officer.

An inspector or the police will not be able simply to enter premises. This enforceable regime will maintain the integrity of the Act, which seeks to license someone to grow industrial hemp under strict conditions. The bill creates a regime to inspect, investigate and enforce the proper operation of the Act without allowing police or inspectors to enter someone's house without a warrant. I am aware of many cases when hemp has been grown inside residential premises using intricate methods and technologies. The bill is about creating a regime for the farming sector for the production of hemp for industrial purposes. It achieves that purpose whilst balancing the rights of individuals by requiring warrants to enter premises, for example.

It is important to note that because hemp is an illegal drug under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act and is, unfortunately, grown in large quantities in many areas—the member for Coffs Harbour said it was a problem in his electorate, and it is an issue in the Hunter Valley because it grows so well there—these tight enforcement procedures are needed. The bill is about balance, and it will enable great things. Industrial hemp with no psychotic active component will be no good for selling on the illegal market. Anyone wishing to achieve psychotic satisfaction from this drug will be disappointed because it will not produce the desired effects.

Stringent enforcement rules will be in place. I am advised that one benefit of growing industrial hemp is that it will be a deterrent to would-be growers of illegal plants. Once industrial hemp is established in an area 7566 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

or district, inspectors will visit the applicant or licence holder. Consultation with other States reveals that regular inspections prove to be a deterrent to those wishing to grow illegal marijuana. The bill presents an exciting opportunity for New South Wales farmers to combat climate change and to make better use of resources, chemicals and water. I have no hesitation in commending the bill to the House.

Mr ANDREW STONER (Oxley—Leader of The Nationals) [10.57 a.m.]: Some people might find it unusual that The Nationals would support the growing of marijuana. However, we are happy to lend our support to the Hemp Industry Bill 2008. In so doing, The Nationals note that industrial hemp has been grown in Tasmania since 1991, Victoria since 1997, Queensland since 2002 and Western Australia since 2004. Industrial hemp has a wide range of uses. Our paper banknotes were made from industrial hemp, which is used to produce strong paper. That is why those notes lasted so long. Modern uses of industrial hemp include clothing, plastics, cement, rope, other forms of stationery and fuels. The product has a wide range of uses and potentially offers a great commercial bonus to those areas able to grow it. Industrial hemp is essentially a weed that requires very little maintenance in the form of chemicals or irrigation. The plant does not require large amounts of water and it can help control the erosion of topsoil and replenish the soil with oxygen and other nutrients.

The chief concern of anyone would be the danger of growing large quantities of any form of marijuana anywhere in the State, given that marijuana is a problem drug. I would go so far as to say—and this is supported by a number of studies—that marijuana use contributes significantly to the mental health problems of many people in New South Wales. The number of young children smoking marijuana is increasing, and the psychiatric effects of its long-term use are evident. Mental health wards in country hospitals are crammed with young people suffering from mental illnesses such as psychosis, schizophrenia, depression and anxiety. We must have a strong regime to control the availability of marijuana in the context of its being grown for industrial purposes. I note that the industrial variety of cannabis or hemp contains very little tetrahydrocannabinol—

Mr Brad Hazzard: Say that again?

Mr ANDREW STONER: Tetrahydrocannabinol.

Mr Brad Hazzard: Very good.

Mr ANDREW STONER: It is one of 64 cannabinoids in marijuana.

Mr Brad Hazzard: What is the—

Mr ANDREW STONER: I am not going to enter into a debate with the member for Wakehurst.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wakehurst will not engage in dialogue across the Chamber. The Leader of The Nationals has the call.

Mr ANDREW STONER: The THC is what gives users a high. The industrial hemp plant has about 1 per cent of THC whereas the illegal variety, which is increasingly grown hydroponically with an increasing percentage of THC, has up to 25 per cent. They are two different beasts. I dare say a drug user would have to smoke the industrial variety all day to get any effect, by which time the user probably would die of lung cancer. There is very little incentive for drug users to raid industrial hemp crops. The different varieties of hemp plant can be discerned by the naked eye. A farmer would be able to tell if somebody had planted the non-industrial variety with the higher THC variety in his or her crop. I note that the Government proposes a range of safeguards, including police background checks of farmers and their hemp industry business associates, and that licence holders will be subject to regular random police inspections.

The Government is also of the view that, as the experience in Tasmania and Queensland suggests, growing industrial hemp crops may lead to a reduction in growing and harvesting the illegal variety because of the increased police involvement in the area. That would be welcome, certainly on the mid-North Coast where, as the member for Coffs Harbour indicated, we have a problem with illegal crops of marijuana. I congratulate Superintendent Paul Fehon and his police officers in the Mid North Coast Local Area Command who, just a couple of weeks ago, made a major drug bust, seizing over 100 kilograms of high-quality marijuana and other drugs, and making some 15 arrests in and around Laurieton.

The crime syndicate, which involved a particular family and associates from the Laurieton-Camden Haven area, had spread its wings far and wide over the State. The syndicate was growing marijuana as far away 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7567

as Yarrowitch and was distributing it throughout the State. The efforts of our police on the mid North Coast are much appreciated by the wider community. Minimal breaches of the regulations in terms of biosecurity issues in the States where industrial hemp has been grown have been dealt with and referred to the police. The Nationals are happy to support the Hemp Industry Bill 2008, which will provide support for the New South Wales farming industry by giving it an alternative crop which is relatively easy to grow and has a ready market.

Mr BRAD HAZZARD (Wakehurst) [11.05 a.m.]: As a number of members of the Opposition have already said, the Opposition does not oppose the Hemp Industry Bill. Some would say it is long overdue, bearing in mind the trial of the growth of industrial hemp in other States, particularly Tasmania and Queensland, and the fact that they had had a legislative framework for the growth of industrial hemp, having accepted that it is a worthwhile agricultural product. Some members have canvassed the relationship between industrial hemp and marijuana, which is commonly used for illegal purposes. Cannabis sativa is the taxonomic classification for plants known as industrial hemp. The marijuana plants that cause so much concern, particularly among young people, are taxonomically in the same category. The big difference is the level of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which is a psychoactive drug.

Any one of us who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s will know it was commonly available on the campuses of Australia. It is a dangerous substance that we should all have major concerns about and it is commonly referred to as THC. The impact of THC on people's mental state can be extremely devastating, but that is not part of this debate. This debate is about the industrial plant that has THC concentrations of less than 1 per cent in its leaves and flowering heads. Hemp has an ancient and revered history, and mankind has long used it. The more recent negativity surrounding hemp focuses on the use of marijuana with the higher levels of THC. In the few moments that I have been in the Chamber it has been drawn to our attention that hemp is a useful product. I acknowledge that in the past years a couple of members in the upper House mentioned the use of industrial hemp, but the Government has been reluctant to introduce a legislative framework in New South Wales to allow its appropriate use.

Industrial hemp has had a chequered history in Australia because the trials that were first implemented relied on seeds from Europe. Like any vegetable or any product that comes from another climate, it may not have had the appropriate genetic make-up for our climate. It has taken a lot of work to produce appropriate seed material to cultivate industrial hemp that is most suitable to Australia's various environmental conditions. In Europe it was noted that hemp fibre becomes much more coarse with any change in climate—such as water supply and temperature—which makes it quite unsuitable for textile spinning. These days members of the public tend to think of hemp as a textile-type product, but that is only one of the possible uses for industrial hemp.

Australia and New Zealand have done a great deal of research into the various uses of industrial hemp. These days, companies are using industrial hemp as replacements for fibreglass, and I understand that it provides an exceptional structural material for use in building. Indeed, it is even being considered for use in constructing bridges. Other companies have considered the use of hemp fibre as a biodegradable mop-up material impregnated with oil-eating bacteria. Industrial hemp generally provides all sorts of opportunities as a crop for farmers, and would particularly benefit those in New South Wales who are having difficulty in the current environmental circumstances. Earlier I heard a suggestion that the growing of industrial hemp uses less water than does the growing of cotton, albeit only marginally: It may be that hemp crops use almost as much water as cotton crops.

However, used as a rotational crop with cotton it can provide a break in the insect cycle that might otherwise impact on the primary cotton crop. Also, research indicates that it is a good rotational crop with wheat that can provide substantial improvement to soil conditions between wheat crops. Farmers adapted easily to the growing of industrial hemp because agriculturally it has the same production requirements as sorghum. All in all, it makes sense that New South Wales should finally get on the bandwagon to provide a regulatory framework, as this bill does, for the licensing of natural people and for companies to produce industrial hemp. I am sure that my colleague the member for Pittwater will highlight who can apply for licences. I note that if it is a company, individual directors can be liable, but, sensibly, only if they knowingly breach the conditions of their licence. All in all, it makes sense that New South Wales is finally catching up with Queensland and Tasmania. It is unfortunate that we have had a State Labor Government for 13 years.

Mr Steve Whan: It is not unfortunate at all.

Mr BRAD HAZZARD: The member for Monaro says it is not unfortunate. If he were to listen to the broad views of the community, he would know what people are saying: It is unfortunate that we still have this 7568 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

Government. With a bit of luck we will not have the same Government in three years time. We are unfortunate to have this Government on a whole range of fronts, whether it is the Government's miserable failure to provide infrastructure, which was acknowledged last night in the Federal Budget through the setting up of an infrastructure fund; whether it is education and health; or whether it is in this area. It took someone to sit up and take note of what was happening north of the border and down in Tasmania to finally introduce the legislative framework. The regulatory framework will follow. This bill is timely and provides great opportunities for our farmers to develop alternative agricultural products.

Mr ROB STOKES (Pittwater) [11.14 a.m.]: With the rest of the Coalition I do not oppose the Hemp Industry Bill 2008. Hemp was first harvested by the Chinese about 8,500 years ago and for most of its history, hemp was most valued as a fibre source, and considerably less so as an intoxicant. It also has had some limited use as an oilseed crop. Until the beginning of the nineteenth century hemp was the leading cordage fibre. Indeed, until the middle of the nineteenth, hemp rivalled flax as the chief textile fibre of vegetable origin and had many uses as a fibre. However, as the member for Coogee pointed out, the growing use of hemp as an intoxicant led to the suppression of hemp cultivation in most Western countries from the late 1930s, principally in the United States from about 1938.

As members in this place have already alluded to, hemp is a multipurpose crop and I will outline some of its uses. Different parts of the plant have different uses. Hemp seed can be used in confectionery, baked goods, salad oil, body care products, cosmetics, animal feed, birdfeed and press cake for livestock. Indeed, hemp seed is so useful as birdseed that the big problem in some areas where hemp is grown is that birds eat the seeds of the crop before it is harvested. Hemp seed is also used for dietary supplements and specialty industrial oils. Hemp fibre is particularly useful for plastic-moulded products, specialty papers, construction fibreboard, biodegradable landscape matting and plant culture products, coarse textile such as carpets and upholstery, and fine textiles.

Members will have seen the Hon. Ian Cohen of the upper House wearing his hemp jacket. The woody stem core of hemp is used for animal bedding, thermal insulation, fibreboard and plasterboard. The whole plant has potential use as a fuel source. Much has been said about the environmental and biodiversity benefits of hemp cultivation. It is true that hemp is suitable for agriculture and is remarkably less toxic than many other crops. For example, hemp can be grown with little or no fungicides, herbicides and pesticides, and little fertiliser, making it far less environmentally damaging to grow than many other crops. One of the biodiversity benefits of hemp is that it can be cultivated in a wide variety of climatic and soil conditions.

However, a 1999 United States study by Montford and Small published in the Journal of the International Hemp Association noted that the environmental benefits of growing hemp have been greatly exaggerated in the popular press. Of course, hemp has some disadvantages, the main one being that it is illegal and that the psychoactive ingredient of THC leads to its use as an illegal drug. The intoxicant potential is measured by the presence of THC. There has been some debate about the level at which the psychoactive ingredient of THC creates problems. In a 1976 study, Small and Cronquist suggested a split between cultivars with less than 0.3 per cent of THC in the upper or reproductive part of the plant and those with more than 0.3 per cent of THC. That suggestion was adopted by the European Union and Canada as a dividing line between the cultivars that can be legally cultivated under licence and those that are considered to have too high an intoxicant potential. However, the legislation accepts a level of about 1 per cent THC as the threshold for cannabis to have an intoxicating potential so that the cultivation of cultivars with no more than 1 per cent will have no potential to increase the intoxicating effect of THC.

Part 2 of the bill deals with the scheme set up to licence people who want to grow industrial hemp. I note that the suitability of the applicant for a licence to grow industrial hemp and his or her close associates will be assessed. The definition of "close associate" in part 1, clause 4 is a little bit hazy. It states that a close associate is a person who holds or will hold any relevant financial interest in the business of cultivating hemp or hold any relevant position in the business of the licence applicant or licence holder. The definition does not include a spouse or child of an applicant, which means that a spouse or child of a person with a conviction for drug importation could hold a licence to grow industrial hemp. I seek clarification on that matter. The definition in the bill does not say that a close associate will include family members. Part 2 clause 9 (4) states:

The Director-General must not grant a licence to a person if the person, or a close associate of the person, has been found guilty of a drug related offence.

Once again, the definition of "close associate" does not include a family member, which could lead to a potential problem. Part 4 clause 38 provides for a person to make an application to the Administrative Decisions 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7569

Tribunal for a review of a decision by the director-general to refuse or revoke a licence granted to a person who makes an application or who holds a licence. Conceivably, if the director-general became aware that a spouse, child or parent of a licence holder was convicted of a drug-related offence, the director-general could revoke the licence, but, again, because a family member is not included in the definition of "close associate" an appeal could be made to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal. I seek clarification from the Minister on those matters. With that caveat I do not oppose the bill.

Mr DONALD PAGE (Ballina) [11.22 a.m.]: I declare an interest at the outset: I have been a wearer of hemp clothing for many years. I support the Hemp Industry Bill 2008, which will establish a licensing scheme for the commercial cultivation or supply of low-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] industrial hemp and amend the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 to legislate that it will no longer be an offence to possess, cultivate, manufacture, produce or supply low-THC industrial hemp. I note that the Department of Primary Industries, the Attorney General's Department, the New South Wales Police Force and New South Wales Health were consulted on the provisions in the bill.

The bill proposes a licensing scheme that will enable the commercial growing of low-THC industrial hemp for use in manufacturing or scientific research. The definition of low-THC industrial hemp includes the leaves, flowering heads, seeds and seed products such as oil and fibre, all of which contain less than 1 per cent THC. Licences will be granted only to applicants who meet the strict qualifying criteria. Applicants will be required to undergo a criminal record check, and the bill empowers the director general to carry out extensive investigations and inquiries during the application process. Once granted, licensees will be subject to strong enforcement powers provided under the bill. The licences will be valid for four or five years.

For several years The Nationals have supported the commercial hemp industry at its annual conferences. We see the potential of this industry in New South Wales as an addition to the suite of opportunities available to farmers. Hemp products are becoming very popular. Hemp clothing, for instance, is extremely durable and keeps one cool when it is hot and warm when it is cool. Hemp clothing is widely worn in my electorate—I have been wearing hemp products for years, and I thoroughly recommend them. Commercial hemp is grown as a fibre crop and has a broad range of uses, including as paper products and building materials, not to mention its time-honoured use as rope.

The benefit to agricultural producers of growing industrial hemp is that it gives them access to the commercial hemp industry, which is likely to grow rapidly due to the increasing interest in hemp as a commercial crop. This environmentally friendly crop, which requires small amounts of water and little or no pesticides, is suited to broadacre farming. Already industrial hemp can be grown in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory under licence or permit. Anecdotal information from Queensland indicates that growing industrial hemp leads to marijuana-free zones. This legislation will bring New South Wales into line with other States. The commercial hemp industry will provide opportunities to, and benefits for, the agricultural industry. If properly supervised—and I believe the legislation contains significant safeguards—it does not constitute a threat in terms of the growing of illegal marijuana. I commend the bill to the House.

Mr THOMAS GEORGE (Lismore) [11.26 a.m.]: The purpose of the Hemp Industry Bill 2008 is to establish a licensing scheme for the commercial cultivation or supply of low-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC]— 1 per cent—industrial hemp and to amend the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 to legislate that it will no longer be an offence to possess, cultivate, manufacture, produce or supply low-THC industrial hemp. The Hemp Industry Bill 2008 does not represent significant deviations from current policies—industrial hemp has been grown in trials in New South Wales since 1995. The bill has been prepared in consultation with the New South Wales Police Force, the Attorney General's Department and New South Wales Health. Industrial hemp is currently grown in Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, and has a variety of commercial uses, including clothing, fuels, plastics, cement, stationery and cordage, that is, rope.

Growing hemp requires little or no pesticides and may be more water efficient than other broadacre crops. It also helps to control erosion of topsoil, and replenishes the soil with nutrients and oxygen. Hemp contains THC which is the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana. While THC is present to some extent in all cannabis varieties, industrial hemp does not contain high enough amounts to produce intoxicating effects. For industrial hemp, male and female plants are grown closely together, creating a higher biomass content that results in low-THC levels of approximately 1 per cent. For marijuana, male varieties are removed and female varieties are spaced far apart, creating higher THC levels—from 4 to 24 per cent—in the unfertilised female plants. 7570 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

The bill also provides that five-year licences will be granted to eligible parties following police background checks of the applicant and his or her hemp industry business associates. Licence holders will be subject to regular, random police inspections. As the member for Lismore, I trust that those licences will be subject to strict control. The bill provides that if a licence holder seeks to transfer the licence that the person to whom it is to be transferred reapplies for it. I want the Parliamentary Secretary to assure me that if a person who is licensed to sell industrial hemp decides to sell the property in two years, the licence is not automatically transferred with the sale of the property.

Getting departments to speak to each other concerns me. I would hope there would be an indication to the Director General of the Department of Primary Industries from the Department of Lands when properties that have had a licence granted to them are sold. I am advised that in six years there have been only two breaches of the 60 licences issued in Queensland—that provides me with a little comfort—and Biosecurity referred both matters to the police. All departments should work together to maintain security. I know this matter has been worked our between the Attorney General's Department, the New South Wales Police Force and NSW Health, but in cases of transfer it should also include the Department of Lands. As the member for Coffs Harbour indicated, the Opposition will not oppose the Hemp Industry Bill 2008.

Mr KEVIN HUMPHRIES (Barwon) [11.31 a.m.]: I support the Hemp Industry Bill 2008. The object of the bill is to enable low- tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] hemp to be cultivated and supplied for commercial production and other legitimate purposes in accordance with a licensing scheme to be administered by the Director General of the Department of Primary Industries. The proposed Act defines "low-THC hemp" as that having no higher a concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol than 1 per cent. The bill also provides that the possession, cultivation or supply of low-THC hemp in accordance with a licence under the proposed Act will not constitute an offence under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985. I spent 5½ years in Tasmania in the late 1980s, where hemp trials began. I now live near the Queensland border. Hemp has been grown just north of the border in the Darling Downs and Wide Bay area for some years.

I believe the hemp industry has significant growth potential not only in Queensland but also around New South Wales. Industrial hemp is a significant player as a fibre crop. It is a future world crop and Australia has the capacity to meet growing demand. My Federal colleague Bruce Scott has been active in calling on the Queensland and Federal governments for the extension and growth of the industry in and around the Darling Downs. Australia is short of a fibre-processing mill, which would create jobs in regional areas not only for domestic consumption but also for export. Currently most of the hemp that is produced in places such as Queensland—where 200 hectares is currently under production—sadly is exported to France because we cannot get a mill to establish this value-adding process.

Australia has the growers, the varieties and the technologies but we do not have the processing infrastructure. The challenge for New South Wales, and other States, is to fulfil the capital requirements and look at seed funding industrial hemp fibre processing mills. Places such as Barwon—because of the nature of the soil, the climate and water availability—have the capacity to ramp up hemp production quite quickly. I will be talking to the Government about this matter in the not too distant future. In the area around the Darling Downs in Queensland there have been a significant number of hemp trials. For example, 10-hectare crops have been planted in and around Dalby. As I said earlier, well over 200 hectares of hemp is being grown at the moment and most of that crop will go to France for processing. That is a shame.

Hemp fibre is processed into products such as superior paper pulp—which will alleviate some of our need for deforestation for paper supply—biodegradable plastics, automotive and aerospace components, animal bedding, absorbent materials, textiles, building products and insulation. It is also a potential source for renewable fuel in the biofuel industry. In recent years the Federal Government has incorporated hemp production in Australia's Free Trade Agreement with the United States. This will potentially give Australia, New South Wales and some of our electorates exporting capacity into countries such as the United States, which is currently undersupplied, Europe and Canada. It demonstrates a developing vision for the hemp industry in Australia. We have the capacity, with our sustainable agricultural practices and our environmentally friendly techniques for fibre production, to build a new industry. I support the bill to give the hemp industry all the resources and backing that it needs over the next few years.

An acquaintance of mine from Moree, Mr Ross Munro, was involved in one of the pilot plants conducted in Dalby by a company called Ecofibre Industries Limited. Ecofibre installed a pilot processing plant, in conjunction with local partners, as a "proof of concept" mill to test the Australian design and processing capability of the fibre produced by this country but particularly on the Darling Downs. The pilot mill was built 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7571

to look at overcoming the hurdles of processing in Australia instead of exporting most of the product. Hemp is a bast fibre plant—"bast" is the German word for "bark". The pilot mill has been in place for some time and was designed to help fill the missing gap within the supply chain in an emerging industry. We know that large-scale processing will follow once the supply chain has the ability to meet the three levels: grow, process, and on-sell.

There are things happening in the hemp industry in north-western New South Wales, particularly in the electorate of Barwon, around Moree. I inform the House that a number of growers will be applying for a licence to grow hemp in that area based on the agricultural capability of places such as the Gwydir and Namoi valleys. Ecofibre Industries, in conjunction with local partners, will be moving what are called mobile hemp processing plants. As we speak it is instigating the design and construction process in Moree. I would expect in the not-too-distant future—hopefully as soon as the bill is passed—on the completion of the first plant in Moree, modules of hemp will be heading down the Newell Highway from the Darling Downs. The idea is that the processing plant will be built on the pilot plant that was constructed in Dalby—I expect that plant will be deconstructed. There will be trial modules—such as cotton modules—of hemp in Moree in the not-too-distant future.

The idea is for the mobile plants to be moved around. My understanding is that once trials have been undertaken in my area they will be relocated to Tasmania to help with the processing of the hemp crop. That plant then will be moved back to places such as Queensland and Moree. Over the next couple of years we will see the design and construction of a number of hemp processing plants, which will service the east coast of Australia. The bill not only supports trials, it also recognises that there are people who are ready to take the next step and invest in growing and processing the crop. Australian agriculture faces the difficulty of competing with many of our European cousins who are heavily subsidised. The only way we will meet global pricing structures and enter the hemp market on a serious scale is through efficiency gains and smart logistics.

The fact that people already are taking the hemp industry to the next level—and I say that based on the initiatives of our neighbours across the border to the north—will hold us in good stead. We know that our agricultural industry can compete in the global market because our farmers are the most efficient and the most environmentally friendly farmers in the world and they are always looking at ways to do things better. Hemp that is grown in north-western New South Wales, perhaps the Murray Irrigation Area, will compete with other crops, such as cotton, for water use. During the trials, the use of water and water efficiency will be looked at. But the processing is a critical factor. To make savings, particularly with the cost of transport these days, a flexible approach must be taken to processing. As I said, we know our farmers can compete in the global market. The trial system has been proved in other parts of Australia. The fact that the Government has supported the trials and regulated them in a commonsense way will assist the growth of this industry. I am fully supportive of the bill.

Mr STEVE WHAN (Monaro—Parliamentary Secretary) [11.41 a.m.], in reply: I thank the members representing the electorates of Lismore, Barwon, Tamworth, Oxley, Wakehurst, Pittwater, Coogee, the Blue Mountains and Maitland for their contributions to the debate on the Hemp Industry Bill.

Mr Andrew Fraser: And Coffs Harbour.

Mr STEVE WHAN: The member for Coffs Harbour is next on the list, as I want to respond to some of the points he raised. The bill establishes a licensing scheme for the commercial production of industrial hemp in New South Wales. Farmers who establish that they are of good repute will be allowed to grow low- tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] hemp under licences granted by the Department of Primary Industries. Licence applicants and their close business associates will be subject to a criminal record check. I will refer to that issue in my response to a comment from the member for Pittwater. Licences will not be granted to people who have been found guilty of a serious drug offence.

A key priority for the Government in developing this legislation has been to ensure that drug law enforcement in this State is not compromised. For this reason, the bill will put in place strong investigation and enforcement powers. I welcome the comments of the member for Maitland, as a former lawyer, about the adequacy of those provisions. The bill is the result of extensive consultation between the Department of Primary Industries, the Attorney General's Department, the New South Wales Police Force and NSW Health. During debate the member for Coffs Harbour raised a number of issues, including the potential for hemp to be grown as a cover crop for marihuana. I can assure the member that the Department of Primary Industries will work closely with the New South Wales Police Force to ensure compliance with the licensing scheme. The bill includes broad and effective powers to ensure that drug law enforcement is not compromised. 7572 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

In practice, industrial hemp is unlikely to be an effective cover crop for marijuana, for several reasons. Firstly, the cultivation practices used in the production of marijuana and industrial hemp are different. As the member for Lismore said, the hemp plants are harvested for their fibre, and they need to be tall and grown closely together. Typically, hemp plants are allowed to pollinate and they are harvested before their seed is set. In contrast, marijuana plants are manipulated to increase the amount of leaf and seed-head production. They are given more space to grow and need to be harvested at a different time.

Mr Andrew Fraser: He is speaking from personal experience!

Mr STEVE WHAN: The member for Coffs Harbour talks about personal experience. When he talked about the other sort of hemp, the one with the higher THC level, he did not tell us whether he inhaled. Members have done reasonably well not to get into a debate about the other uses of hemp. Secondly, hemp would not be used as a cover crop because pollen from a hemp plant can pollinate marijuana plants within a 12-kilometre radius. This suggests that people in the illicit drug trade will not want to have marihuana crops in the vicinity of industrial hemp. As I understand it, and I am not an expert or a scientist, cross-pollination would result in the marijuana crop having a lower THC level. It may be interesting to see the types of people who do not want hemp grown in their area.

The member for Wagga Wagga and the member for Coffs Harbour raised the issue of water use. It is not the Government's intention for the production of industrial hemp to bump off, say, the production of rice or to promote its production so that farmers produce less of another crop. It is another choice for farmers to grow to diversify their crops. It is entirely up to the farmers to decide which crops they grow. The member for Wagga Wagga talked about new Federal Labor members, which was interesting. I can assure the member that from my consultations with the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, the Federal Minister for Regional Development, Anthony Albanese, and the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong, I know they have a strong interest in country New South Wales They are taking steps to ensure the long-term viability of our farming community and to put in place irrigation and water arrangements that are fair for New South Wales irrigators.

The member for Pittwater asked whether family members came within the definition of "close associate". The definition of "close associate" is broad enough to capture a family member in appropriate circumstances. The definition of "close associate" in clause 4 captures anyone who is or will be entitled to exercise any relevant power. This could include a spouse or a child. As the member for Maitland observed, the definition is broad in relation to the people who can be investigated. The member for Lismore asked when a property was transferred whether the licence also was transferred. The licence will not automatically transfer with the sale of a property. The licence is granted to a person or company for a property. Individuals are investigated when they enter the process.

I note the comments of the member for Barwon about the lack of processing infrastructure in New South Wales. I also note his comments on Ecofibre Industries and the development of a pilot plant. A key to the development of sustainable processing infrastructure in the long term is the development of a predictable industry, so people have a basis for long-term planning of crops. The bill will provide a fundamental first step in that process. The member for Wakehurst said that the bill was long overdue, but timely. I once again thank all members who contributed to the debate and the Opposition and Independents for their support. Industrial hemp, with its many applications, is an exciting potential alternative crop for agriculture in New South Wales. I commend the bill to the House.

Question—That this bill be now agreed to in principle—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Passing of the Bill

Bill declared passed and transmitted to the Legislative Council with a message seeking its concurrence in the bill. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7573

AUSTRALIAN JOCKEY CLUB BILL 2008

Bill introduced on motion by Mr Graham West.

Agreement in Principle

Mr GRAHAM WEST (Campbelltown—Minister for Gaming and Racing, and Minister for Sport and Recreation) [11.50 a.m.]: I move:

That this bill be now agreed to in principle.

The main purposes of the Australian Jockey Club Bill are to modernise the corporate structure of the Australian Jockey Club [AJC] by recognising the incorporation of the Australian Jockey Club Limited, to provide for necessary transitional arrangements from the unincorporated Australian Jockey Club to the recently formed Australian Jockey Club Limited and to enable the trustees of Randwick Racecourse to grant a lease of the racecourse lands for up to 99 years. It is essential for the Australian Jockey Club to move to a modern corporate structure to enable the club to conduct its business effectively in the twenty-first century. Many people would be surprised to learn that the Australian Jockey Club, which was formed in 1842, is an unincorporated association. The current arrangements under the Australian Jockey Club Act 1873 impose a level of personal liability on the Australian Jockey Club chairman and the club's officers and members.

Similar traditional arrangements existed in Victoria until recently, and the Australian Jockey Club requested the Government to assist it with reforms along the lines of those implemented for the Victoria Racing Club. The 135-year-old Australian Jockey Club Act clearly has been overtaken by modern corporate practices, and is now obsolete and inappropriate. The AJC committee recently took steps to incorporate a new body to be known as the Australian Jockey Club Limited. The club undertook the process of incorporation with an appropriate awareness program for its members to advise them of the many benefits of the transition to membership of a company limited by guarantee. The bill will recognise the Australian Jockey Club's incorporation and will provide for the seamless transfer of the assets, rights, liabilities and regulatory authorisations of the unincorporated body to the new company.

Once this transition has been made there will be a proper measure of protection and limited liability for the Australian Jockey Club chairman and the club's officers and members. Importantly, the bill preserves the current rights and privileges enjoyed by Australian Jockey Club members and provides for the continued tenure of Australian Jockey Club employees. The Australian Jockey Club, through its own endeavours and achievements, has become one of the premier horseracing clubs in New South Wales, and arguably Australia—a status it has enjoyed for more than a century and a half. Through its use of the Randwick Racecourse the Australian Jockey Club has had an unparalleled opportunity to promote horseracing in this State—an opportunity that has been well used to the advantage of the community and the racing industry.

Randwick Racecourse is recognised internationally as one of Australia's major racing venues. Queen Elizabeth II formally has given the title of "Royal" to the racecourse. The venue is an invaluable source of social and recreational activity to the public and is a significant community centre. Randwick Racecourse will play a pivotal role in the upcoming World Youth Day celebrations. The support of the Government in assisting the Australian Jockey Club with its future planning and enhancing its business certainty is also vital to the ongoing viability of the New South Wales thoroughbred racing industry. The bill will enable the trustees of Randwick Racecourse to issue a lease of the racecourse lands for a period of up to, but no more than, 99 years, giving the Australian Jockey Club security of tenure at the venue. It is the convention that upon execution of the new 99-year lease, the current lease, which expires in 2042, is to be surrendered by the club.

The exclusivity of the lease of the Randwick Racecourse to the Australian Jockey Club gives rise to competition issues. However, the uniqueness of the arrangement and its rich history must be recognised, as has been the case in Victoria with the Victoria Racing Club's use of the Flemington Racecourse. Accordingly, the bill provides the trustees with an exemption under the Trade Practices Act 1974 in relation to the grant of a 99-year lease of the racecourse. The opportunity has been taken to also re-write the legislation in line with modern language and drafting practices. The Government is committed to implementing practical solutions to ensure that racing has a sustainable future. The Government's racing policy is driven by the need to provide a statutory framework that facilitates sustainable economic development, the future viability of the racing industry, and ensures the integrity of the conduct of racing and associated wagering on racing.

To this end, the Government recently commissioned two independent reviews. A review into wagering is being undertaken by Mr Alan Cameron. The review will consider all facets of wagering including the 7574 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

significance of racing as an industry and employer, new technology and wagering, and the impacts on wagering from national competition policy. It will provide a framework for future growth and sustainability of the racing industry. A review of the regulatory oversight of the State's racing industry, which is being conducted by Mr Malcolm Scott, will examine whether there are adequate powers and procedures in place for the effective and efficient regulation of the three codes of racing. The proposals contained in the bill are further evidence of the Government's commitment to assisting the racing industry to ensure its future viability and growth. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned on motion by Mr Andrew Fraser and set down as an order of the day for a future day.

SNOWY MOUNTAINS CLOUD SEEDING TRIAL AMENDMENT (EXTENSION) BILL 2008

Agreement in Principle

Debate resumed from 7 May 2008.

Mr ANDREW FRASER (Coffs Harbour—Deputy Leader of The Nationals) [11.55 a.m.]: I lead for the Opposition on the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008. I give a clear indication that the Opposition will not oppose the bill, but we will question the Government about why it has not extended the trial further across New South Wales. I draw the attention of the House to a forum held in Narrabri in November 2006. The current member for Barwon convened that forum prior to coming into this place. Mr Ian Searle from Tasmania—an absolute expert on cloud seeding—attended the forum, together with people from Snowy Hydro, a large number of farmers and other interested people.

Mr Thomas George: People flew in from Broken Hill.

Mr ANDREW FRASER: As the member for Lismore said, people flew in from Broken Hill to attend the forum. People in rural and regional New South Wales understand the importance of providing water to assist one of the greatest industries in Australia—agriculture. It is interesting to note that no Government representatives and no Independent members of this Parliament or the Federal Parliament attended to support the community forum. Over the past 10 years, and I believe even longer—probably from the late eighties and early nineties—New South Wales has been in the grip of drought. Some areas came out of drought only very briefly and then went straight back into it. Last November I travelled around the south-west of New South Wales and listened to the plight of farmers who were not given water allocations and who, collectively, lost millions of dollars—billions probably.

As a result, the economy suffered, many farmers committed suicide and others went bust because of the failure of the crop last year. In fact, when I was in Merriwagga I met with a group of farmers who said never send a meteorological bureau spokesman to that area because they doubt whether they could guarantee his safety. Last season, after good early rains, the meteorological bureau promised the farmers—and I know we cannot forecast weather accurately—good winter rains to follow, and many people, because of the bad times they had been through, borrowed heavily and planted large areas to ensure that they had an income. Then the drought deepened over the winter months and people lost, in some cases, more than $500,000.

A very good farmer and friend of mine from Finley told me he had lost $262,000. He did get some crops off because he had rice and he had planted sorghum in the rice and there was enough moisture there for him to get some crops off. But other farmers saw the promise of a fantastic crop coming off, and in some areas they actually sowed in mud, and the crop got up to about six or eight inches high, headed, withered and died. They could not even get the headers low enough to take seed wheat. These people suffer badly in drought. Despite knowing the benefits of cloud seeding, the Government has not followed through with extended trials across New South Wales. Our farming communities, who work damn hard for long periods for very little reward, would offer rock-solid support for such a move. They want the Government to commit to extended cloud seeding trials.

I commend the Government for making this commitment to extend the trial to 2014 and for conducting these trials in the Snowy area, which is facing water problems. If the trial continues and there is increased rainfall, it follows that we will get more snow. From a tourism point of view that is a great positive. The benefits downstream when the snow melts will also be immense. In fact, it will have ecological benefits for animals such as pigmy possums, who like longer cool periods. Cloud seeding assists us ecologically and environmentally. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7575

The doomsayers tell us it is a travesty to use silver iodide to make rain. The amount used is miniscule and the people who make that claim are nothing more than harbingers of doom. They are scaring the hell out of the people but not assisting or promoting farming communities, which put food on their tables and ensure wealth generation and employment in country areas. Perhaps the Government could vary the trial. It should talk to experts in the industry and perhaps consider using dry ice. It is bizarre for these people to say we should stop all trials because of purported pollution in rain falling as a result of cloud seeding.

On the North Coast of New South Wales we have had a couple of summers that have been second to none. The rainfall this year has been the some of the best I have experienced in my 31 years of living in the area. Over the past six weeks I have driven to Guyra and Tamworth. That area of the Tablelands looks fantastic. However, areas a little further north—for example, at Glen Innes—are slipping back into drought very quickly. The same is true in many other parts of New South Wales. The Minister for Primary Industries, the Hon. Ian Macdonald, stated this week that 48 per cent of the State is in drought yet again and the bumper wheat harvest we were all expecting is not looking good because of the lack of rain. I plead with the Government to ignore the lunatic fringe that does not want cloud seeding and to visit and listen to the real wealth creators in New South Wales, who generate great income for this State and for Australia. The Government should extend cloud seeding. It should talk to the member for Barwon, who held the cloud seeding forum, and talk to the people who attended to hear about the great benefits we can enjoy if we increase precipitation in these areas, especially when drought is biting so hard.

The Opposition will not oppose this legislation; in fact, it strongly supports it. I ask the Government to take on board what I have said and to consider not only extending this four-year trial to 2014 but also extending it geographically. All farmers in New South Wales should have the opportunity to prosper from the benefits this process can produce. The Opposition is happy to support the Government up hill and down dale on this issue to ensure that the agriculture sector, which is represented strongly by The Nationals and country Liberal members, continues to prosper. The Government could do that by investing in further cloud seeding trials across the State.

Mr PHILLIP COSTA (Wollondilly) [12.05 p.m.]: I commend the member for Coffs Harbour for his comments and I agree with much of what he said. We all know that Australia is the driest of all continents and that the recent drought in New South Wales has had an unprecedented impact on rural communities. It has also had a major impact on the output of some of the most efficient primary producers in Australia. These are hardworking Australians trying to grow the wealth of our nation. The drought has also had a significant impact on the survival of many native species. The recent Commonwealth and State government moves to restore water flows to the Murray-Darling Basin recognise the severity of the drought and the importance of healthy river flows to the fabric of regional Australia. Cloud seeding is one means of modifying the impact of lower rainfall. We must understand what cloud seeding involves and the technique being used in the trials.

Mr Paul McLeay: What is it?

Mr PHILLIP COSTA: I will explain it to the member in a moment. Many of the water droplets—or the water vapour—in cold clouds are too small to fall to the ground as rain or snow. Normally this is unused water vapour that passes out to sea and evaporates. The purpose of cloud seeding is to convert this additional vapour into snow. We were all taught about the water cycle in year 4 at school; in fact, I taught it myself. This trial is a lesson in giving Mother Nature a helping hand. The conversion involves the use of ground-based aerosol generators. These create a stream of rising hot air that carries very small amounts of silver iodide and a tracer agent—indium sesquioxide. Silver iodide is very similar in structure to naturally occurring ice.

Water deposits form on the surface of the silver iodide crystals and ice crystals grow as if they were occurring naturally. This allows them to grow to precipitation size—that is, they become heavier—and to fall as snow or rain. When samples are taken from the snow during monitoring, the tracer element—indium—allows monitors to establish whether the precipitation is the result of the cloud seeding efforts. It is most important that we understand how successful the trials have been. Cloud seeding has been trialled over a number of years in different parts of the world, such as the United States and South Africa. It has also been trialled in virtually every State of Australia.

The Snowy Mountains in New South Wales is one of the few areas in Australia considered suitable for cloud seeding, and trials in the area have been very successful. In the past there were disagreements among respected scientists about how the data from the Snowy Mountains cloud seeding trials should be interpreted. The lesson learnt was that extreme care should be taken in the design and evaluation of cloud seeding trials. The trials proposed under this extension of the Snowy Mountains trial will ensure that design and evaluation is as 7576 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

rigorous as it can be. Further, the extended area—which is substantial and is probably one of the largest trial areas in the world—proposed for cloud seeding in the bill will add to the potential for increased precipitation over the Snowy Mountains, with all its resultant benefits.

Mr Thomas George: They get rain all the time out there.

Mr PHILLIP COSTA: They do get a bit of rain. However, not only will the trial area be increased but the design factors for the trial will increase the potential for more rigorous and accurate data to lead to successful outcomes. The potential increased flows from the proposed trials will have multiple benefits. They will increase water flows in the Snowy and Murray rivers, help to replenish water storage systems on those rivers and contribute positively to the habitat of water-dependent native species. They will also assist with the re-establishment of primary industries in some of these areas. The benefits of extending the length of the trial and the area it covers are vital to the wellbeing of communities and environments across south-eastern Australia—not just in the Snowy Mountains region but, as members said earlier, those downstream along the Snowy and Murray rivers that depend heavily upon the water supply that comes eventually as the snow melts and travels to the sea. This is a great bill, and I commend it to the House.

Mr JOHN WILLIAMS (Murray-Darling) [12.10 p.m.]: It gives me great pleasure to speak to the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008. I support the Government in continuing the cloud seeding trial. I am well aware the trial will be ground based and aims primarily to create snow. My electorate relies totally on intakes to the Hume and Dartmouth reservoirs, which currently have levels of below 10 per cent. That has not happened for many years. Obviously, creating snow in the Snowy Mountains can cause extensive run-off to those reservoirs, and that catchment area is very important to us. I am told that a metre of snow converts to an inch of water. I would be very pleased to see that.

I had the benefit of attending the cloud seeding forum held by the member for Barwon, and I was very impressed with the process. There is no doubt that the practice of aerial cloud seeding, particularly in Tasmania and in the catchment area of hydro dams, has produced great results. It guarantees that there will be rainfall in those catchment areas and a continuous supply of water for the hydro dams. There is clear evidence that cloud seeding works, but it is obviously a science that has some variables. We need to identify suitable clouds for cloud seeding. When an air mass reaches a certain height—and, I think, a dewpoint of 48 degrees Fahrenheit is reached—and if the cloud rises further, freezing takes place and the outcome is snow or rainfall.

So we need to identify a suitable cloud and find the opportunity to introduce an element that will produce rain or snow. It is an important process that we need to study. We must find a guaranteed, successful technique and use it to create rainfall in the catchment areas of the Hume and Dartmouth reservoirs so that those living on the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers can access a good water supply for their communities, irrigation and the environment. Extra rainfall created by cloud seeding will be of great benefit. I commend the bill to the House. I am totally in support of the rollout of aerial cloud seeding across the State.

Mr PHIL KOPERBERG (Blue Mountains) [12.13 p.m.]: I also support the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008. It is of particular interest to me as a consequence of my having been, in part at least, the Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water for just under 12 months.

Mr Thomas George: You should still be there.

Mr PHIL KOPERBERG: Thank you; you are very kind. The proposed extension to the cloud seeding trial in the Snowy Mountains has the potential, as the member for Murray-Darling said, to significantly increase water flows in south-eastern New South Wales. The member for Coffs Harbour made the legitimate point that the success of these trials—and, indeed, those around the world—depends on altitude, because certain cloud types exist at altitude. As the member for Murray-Darling said, yield depends very much upon the prevailing temperatures at particular altitudes. So far, the Snowy Mountains trial has produced some yield—not as much as we hoped, but the experimentation continues. Much of the success in Tasmania is due to the fact that it has the advantage of having the right type of cloud at the right altitude at the right time. It is important that we continue these experiments in the hope that they will yield results that are not dissimilar to those we have seen in Tasmania.

In the past concerns were raised about the possible environmental effects of cloud seeding. To date, they have proved to be unfounded, but this does not mean that environmental monitoring and reporting on the impacts of cloud seeding should be discounted in any way. They should not be discounted, and they are not 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7577

being discounted. The trial's design is well thought out and takes a rigorous approach in order to minimise adverse impacts on the environment. In 2008, after four years of monitoring and evaluating existing trials, a new environmental management plan will be prepared to address concerns about the implementation of the extended trial and its potential impact on the environment. The environmental management plan proposed for the trial is effective and comprehensive. Like the current plan, the new plan will be developed by Snowy Hydro and must be approved by both the Minister for Planning and the Minister administering the National Parks and Wildlife Act.

The plan will continue to be the basis for ongoing assessment of the extended trial. It will document all the mandatory environmental protection measures that must be carried out during the trial and it will contain stringent requirements to ensure responsible management of the environment in the cloud seeding area. This is in accordance with the principles and requirements of international standards on environmental management systems. The plan must also be designed to monitor, mitigate and manage any adverse environmental impacts. It must set out an experimental design and monitoring program. It will also provide for independent peer review of experimentation, design and interpretation of monitored data. The plan will be of a very high standard, as the community and members would expect. If any environmental impacts are observed, they will be reported to relevant Ministers—who will then be in a position to suspend or terminate the trial if that is deemed appropriate.

In addition to this highly effective environmental management plan, there is ongoing provision for the care of wilderness areas that the yield, if successful, will affect. This will be achieved by prohibiting cloud seeding equipment from the wilderness area. This means that none of the infrastructure associated with seeding discharge can be built there, and it will ensure that these important environmentally sensitive areas are not disturbed. It is timely to comment on concerns that have been raised in the past about the possible environmental impacts of cloud seeding. One of these concerns is the use of silver iodide in the cloud seeding process. Silver iodide, and indium sesquioxide—if there is a scientist among us, he may correct my pronunciation—which is the tracer chemical—

Mr Paul McLeay: That's all right.

Mr PHIL KOPERBERG: Are you happy with that?

Mr Paul McLeay: It's outside Strathfield, isn't it?

Mr PHIL KOPERBERG: Just north of Strathfield, yes. They are not water soluble, and are therefore not bio-available. A further point to be made here is that the chemicals are used in ultra trace quantities over large target areas, and their impact is, as the member for Coffs Harbour has already observed, negligible. Hydro Tasmania has used cloud seeding, both experimentally and commercially, for more than 30 years. Three environmental impact statements have been completed in that time and none has found any adverse environmental impact from the release of silver iodide. These findings are reassuring. With this assurance and that of the proposed environmental management plan, it is clear that the extension of the Snowy Mountains cloud seeding trial will be conducted with the highest standards of environmental care. Accordingly, I have much pleasure in commending the bill to the House.

Mr ROB STOKES (Pittwater) [12.20 p.m.]: Cloud seeding has been carried out in Australia for more than 60 years. It was commenced in 1947 using surplus equipment from the Royal Australian Air Force by the CSIRO, which continued cloud seeding until the early 1980s. State governments have continued cloud seeding variously ever since—it has been conducted in Tasmania since the 1950s. As the honourable member for Blue Mountains pointed out, of the cloud seeding trials undertaken to date, the Tasmanian trials have met with some success statistically. I note that in 1994 the former Fahey Government conducted some cloud seeding trials in the New England region around the Copeton Dam, which also met with some success. However, discontinuation of the trials meant that no meaningful conclusions could be drawn from cloud seeding in that area.

I note also that cloud seeding has been carried out in Israel since 1961, in South Africa—although I understand that the trials there were discontinued recently—and in Texas for some time. For a history of cloud seeding since the Second World War, when it commenced, I commend to members an excellent paper by Ryan and Sadler published in 1995 by the CSIRO. It has become clear from my reading on the subject that silver iodide is certainly not a silver bullet when it comes to resolving our water crisis. A 1999 survey of the international experience of hydroscopic seeding conducted under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund concluded that the seeding evidence is highly interesting, exciting, provocative and problematical. It concluded that, "it seems particularly important to avoid now the often reckless enthusiasm that greeted AGI seeding in the 1950s, in many cases continuing up to the present." 7578 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

While it is vital that we investigate cloud seeding, it will not offer a utopian solution. I point to research by Neville Fletcher for the Australian Government in 2002 in which he concluded that the long and continued experiment in the Snowy Mountains has failed to produce a non-controversial result. That is why continued experimentation is so important. Experience to date has demonstrated the importance of conducting cloud seeding trials over a period long enough to achieve reasonable results. In the past problems arose because trials were not of sufficient length to ascertain the effectiveness of cloud seeding in a particular location. Experiments in Australia and overseas have shown that cloud seeding with silver iodide has probably increased rainfall in some mountain regions by up to 10 per cent, and 8 per cent in Tasmania.

It is important to experiment, and any strategy that can increase flows in the Murray River and rainfall in Monaro must be explored—especially when one considers the likely impact of climate change. It is incumbent upon us to seize any opportunity, and for that reason I support the continuation of the cloud seeding trial. Nonetheless, it is important to remind members that much of Australia is characterised by poor soils with few nutrients, unreliable rainfall and a fragile ecology. Our home has extraordinary biological diversity and is so fragile partly so that weeds are not able to take over. Cloud seeding is vital to using our natural resources efficiently and effectively. I commend the bill to the House.

Mr RUSSELL TURNER (Orange) [12.25 p.m.]: I support the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008. Indeed, I supported the first trial. The bill amends the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Act 2004 to extend the duration of the cloud seeding trial from six years, which was to end on 8 April 2010, to 11 years, which means that the trial will now end on 8 April 2015, and to extend the area that is primarily targeted for precipitation under the trial. The bill will double the current cloud seeding trial area and extend the trial period to 11 years.

According to the agreement in principle speech, the extension of the current trial is necessary in order to increase the statistical strength of the findings as to whether cloud seeding results in increased snowfall. Increasing its geographical area to cover the main catchments of the Snowy Mountains Scheme enhances the public and environmental benefits of the trial. The Minister's agreement in principle speech argues that significant economic and environmental benefits will stem from the current attempt to increase snowfall in the Snowy region. I note that a 17 May 2004 press release issued by the then Minister for Agriculture, and Minister for Fisheries—now the Minister for Primary Industries—announcing the Carr Labor Government's introduction of the trial states:

The research projects could produce up to 10 per cent more snow per season in the targeted areas. This will send an extra 70 GL of water—or the equivalent of 70,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools—down the Murray River once the snow melts in the spring.

These flows could also help improve local water storages, which are at critically low levels …

• The $20 million research projects will be funded entirely by Snowy Hydro Limited. Snowy Hydro will be able to use the extra flows into the Murray River to help generate renewable electricity.

• Seeding will occur using ground-based generators. These generators will create a stream of rising hot air, which will carry very small amounts of silver iodide and an inert tracing agent into winter storm clouds. The process will create no more noise than a backyard barbecue.

It depends whether it is six o'clock in the evening or one o'clock in the morning as to how much noise emanates from a barbecue! The statement continues:

• An 11-member expert panel assessed the research proposal and agreed the project would not significantly impact the environment …

• The Minister for Infrastructure and Planning and the Minister for the Environment will be able to place conditions on the research project and stop it if there are any undesirable effects.

One assumes there have been no undesirable effects, given that the Government and the Opposition now support extending the trial. I will quote also from a press release dated 18 August 2002 from the New South Wales Farmers Association branch in Orange, Molong and Gulgong, which made a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry about cloud seeding as an aid to increase rainfall. In support of cloud seeding the association states:

The present ongoing practice of cloud-seeding in Tasmania which represents an increase of 15% to 25% of annual rainfall, costs approx. $1M per year and continuously results in sales of electricity by Hydro Tasmania of $20M per year.

14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7579

Not a bad return. The document continues:

We often have cloud bands in NSW of a similar type to those in Tasmania, but we mostly do not enjoy any rainfall from them. At a very recent Symposium held in Orange NSW, where five speakers addressed a meeting of 45 people interested in the subject, the panel of speakers, some of whom were hydrologists, conservatively suggested that a 15% to 20% increase in rainfall could be experienced with the use of cloud seeding within the Murray-Darling Basin.

Other members have referred to various seminars and symposiums in New South Wales. I note that Ewan Moffitt, a long-time supporter of cloud seeding, was the convenor of the meeting. On 17 March 2007 in a private member's statement I called on the State Government to carry out a similar trial somewhere in the Central West. I suggested that there be a trial over the water catchment areas of Wyangala and Burrendong dams. As members know, there was no trial and very little rain has fallen. The Wyangala and Burrendong dams still hover well below their 20 per cent capacity, which is an absolute tragedy for those who would normally benefit from downstream flows from those two major dams.

I said that there are known benefits from cloud seeding and I quoted the figures from Hydro Tasmania. I went on to say that the previous Coalition Government was carrying out a trial in the New England area, which was immediately abolished by the Labor Government when it came to office. The only indication of this Government's support since then has been its support of Snowy Hydro, which is funding its current trial—not the Government—and which the Opposition supports. On 7 March the member for Monaro and Parliamentary Secretary said in the agreement in principle speech:

Although the research project has not yet been completed, the feedback I have received is that the project has had a positive impact on snowfalls in the region. The resort operators who are currently covered by the trial certainly have welcomed the project …

The additional water generated from the research project will allow Snowy Hydro to produce a significant amount of hydroelectricity, which provides additional environmental benefits by offsetting carbon dioxide emissions.

The Government has acknowledged the benefits. There have been extra snowfalls in the Snowy Mountains. Hydro Tasmania has acknowledged the benefits of seed clouding in the increased electricity generated in Tasmania. Why does this Government not extend the benefits of seed clouding to regional New South Wales, at least in the water catchment areas where dam levels are desperately low? The Tasmanian and Snowy experiences shows that the benefits far outweigh the costs of the project—in Tasmania it is 20:1. Why does the Government, in these desperate times when so much of New South Wales was coming out of drought but is now heading back into it, not support a similar scheme in regional New South Wales over the water catchment areas? I call on the Government to extend the trial into the drought-ravaged regions of New South Wales to see whether the areas benefit from any rainfall. The Coalition supports the bill.

Mr KEVIN HUMPHRIES (Barwon) [12.35 p.m.]: I support the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008, which will amend the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Act 2004 to extend the duration and area of the trial cloud seeding research project in the Snowy Mountains area. Schedule 1 to the bill includes the local government areas of Tumbarumba, Tumut and the Snowy River. In the second week of Parliament following the 2007 State election I wrote to a number of Ministers about cloud seeding, an issue very close to my heart and a good example of how we have let go of technology and expertise in this country, how we have lost some of the ingenuity that was borne out of World War II and how we rely on much of the social capital.

As a previous speaker said, in November 2006 I hosted a cloud seeding forum in Narrabri. In my distant past I lived for six years in south-western Tasmania and was aware of its cloud seeding program. I not only wrote to the then Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water, the member for Blue Mountains; the Minister for Water, Mr Nathan Rees; and the Minister for Primary Industries, Mr Ian Macdonald, but also gave them a submission based on cloud seeding trials, the history of cloud seeding in Australia and where we could possibly go with it. To date, I have not received a reply, even though we have discussed the matter. The bill, which I support, gives me a good opportunity to talk about the possible effect of cloud seeding on this country.

The November 2006 cloud seeding forum was attended by the team from the Tasmanian Hydro Cloud Seeding Program, headed by Ian Searle—the most comprehensive rain cloud seeding practitioner in this country—members of the Snowy Mountains cloud seeding project from New South Wales, and a number of interested stakeholders, including farming organisations, local chambers of commerce, many of my colleagues from The Nationals, and community members. I noted at that time a gathering of Independents in Narrabri 300 metres up the road, none of whom bothered to attend the forum—which was a little disappointing given that the Federal member for New England has just completed a very extensive trip to other parts of the country to learn about cloud seeding. However, that is a matter for another day! 7580 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

Australia, and indeed New South Wales, has conducted extensive aerial cloud seeding programs for the past 50 years. Works completed in the summer of 1994-95 were very successful in the north-west of New South Wales. It should be noted that the Queensland Government is currently making an extensive commitment to aerial cloud seeding in south-east Queensland in partnership with the Federal Government—the previous Coalition Government supported the project—underwritten to the tune of $10 million. It should also be noted that taxpayers own Snowy Hydro. It is a consortium of the New South Wales Government, the Federal Government and the Victorian Government. Taxpayers are funding the $20 million funding by Snowy Hydro, which is a corporatised entity.

I sent the three Ministers to whom I referred earlier a submission made to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry as part of its inquiry into the future of water supplies for Australia's rural industries and communities. The 2002 submission to the standing committee outlined many of the issues and data in relation to the effect of climate change on water resources. Much of that submission is directly related to New South Wales. I asked the Ministers, and continue to ask, for the Government's support and commitment to conducting a long-term trial of aerial cloud seeding that may advantage both rural and country and city communities by enhancing rainfall. This is not just about rural communities but about urban landscapes as well.

My concern at the time, which has not changed, related to the conservation of water for our irrigation communities and general urban water supplies. There are also opportunities—which I note the trial acknowledges and will, hopefully, expand—to generate clean and green energy, and increase environmental flows for stressed river systems. I offered to introduce former Minister Koperberg, Minister Rees and Minister Macdonald to Mr Ian Searle, a cloud seeding expert from Tasmania who had worked in Australia and overseas, who could brief them on the history of cloud seeding in New South Wales and its potential to ease the current critical water shortage across much of the urban and rural landscape. That offer still stands. I am keen to know the Government's position on aerial cloud seeding in New South Wales, given that the Snowy-based program is largely ground based.

I acknowledge the work being done by the University of Technology, Sydney in trialling, and seeking to trial, ground-based aerial seeding programs. The work is yet to come to fruition. Cloud seeding has been the subject of a lot of research and many trials. Government departments must step up, not just Primary Industries but also Water and Energy, and Environment and Climate Change, to take the lead in this area. Water use in Australian States has become an ever-increasing problem. Increasing demand for fresh water coincides with an ever-growing population—expected to reach a maximum in the next 50 years—and the need to feed and clothe people in our community and around the world. Future water use is likely to be rationed and the water that is available is likely to come at a much higher price—which we have just seen. We will not be left helpless, however, because with changes to management practices and the application of tried and proven technological solutions it will be possible to restore significant proportions of that which has been lost.

In some parts of the world, including New South Wales, evidence strongly suggests that temperatures are becoming warmer and rainfall less predictable. The last frontier for future water supplies is the vast reserves of atmospheric water that is available in the clouds. Harvesting water from clouds was pioneered in 1946, but little commitment and effort has been made since that time to progress the initiative. Water management in New South Wales can be described as immature. No new major water plans have been put in place, apart from the desalination project. No new major storage facilities have been built, and most of the storage facilities that have come into play in the past 10 years have been privately built and largely centred on the irrigation industry. We have an enormous opportunity to harvest and capture water on the east coast and divert some of it for agricultural purposes.

Every summer we experience a weather pattern called the Charleville trough, which starts in central Queensland. Over the past few summers most of the rain-bearing clouds that we observed did not drop the water that they dropped traditionally—although we had some reprieve this year. Most of the water vapour ends up in the Pacific Ocean between Australia and New Zealand. Sydney continues to be concrete in bitumen. The water cycle in the city is moving to the east. Sydney's traditional rain patterns have changed and that is a problem: our population growth is contributing to poor water management.

Initial works undertaken by the CSIRO Division of Radio and Cloud Physics occurred between 1947 and 1970. For a while Australia was a leader in cloud seeding technology until it was handed to the States for operation. Various States have adopted a haphazard approach to the program ever since, with the exception of Tasmania, which has a continued commitment to a cloud seeding partnership with Hydro Tasmania. A rush of activity in cloud seeding was undertaken in the last big drought of the 1960s, but after that the technology, the experience and the social capital was disbanded. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7581

Our city friends should note that the Warragamba Dam catchment was targeted by cloud seeding trials on three separate occasions: 1948 to 1952, 1956 to 1959 and 1960 to 1964. In all cases rainfall was significantly enhanced to well above historical levels. The dam was filled within the four-year trial period, even though Sydney Water Board engineers estimated it would take a minimum of seven years and a maximum of 21 years for the dam to fill. Some 45 years later we are building a $2.5 million desalination plant when we probably did it much better post war in the late 1940s until the mid 1960s.

In my area a five-year trial was undertaken, with the first year showing a 30 per cent increase in average rainfall. Subsequent years did not show a marked increase, with the trial illustrating the need to vary the location of the seeding within the identified areas. We now better understand the phenomenon that, with various weather patterns, seeding in an area will often translate to falls outside the initial target areas. That is why the Snowy Hydro project is important. The trial area must be expanded and further evidence-based research undertaken to show rainfall patterns and how cloud seeding potentially migrates.

The most recent cloud seeding program for drought relief was conducted in north-west New South Wales from November 1994 to February 1995. The 12-week cloud seeding program was based at Tamworth, covering an area of 13,000 square kilometres, targeting the Keepit Dam in the Namoi River catchment area, Split Rock Dam in the Gwydir catchment, and Pindari Dam on the Severn River. The operation was an outstanding success. Suitable cumulus clouds from the Charleville trough appeared every two to three days and, after seeding, heavy rains followed. Rainfall in the targeted area increased from 90 per cent to 160 per cent on the long-term average.

Unfortunately there was a change of government in 1995 and the program was abandoned. Ian Searle and the team from Hydro Tasmania returned home to their island State. Once again science was gazumped by politics. Socioeconomic studies completed in conjunction with the trials concluded that the cost benefit ratio for run-off into storages alone was 9:1, but rainfall on crops and pastures rose to 33:1. The benefit on one average seeded day exceeded the cost of the whole three-month program. Even today a number of people are prepared to finance privately ongoing research into these potential trials.

I call on the Government to re-establish an aerial cloud seeding trial in line with world-accepted practice in countries such as the United States, Russia, South Africa and Israel. As I said, Queensland is progressing a large-scale trial with the support of the previous Federal Government. New South Wales leads the way in post-war cloud seeding. The release of silver iodide into moisture-bearing clouds is environmentally friendly—that should be confirmed—and can only benefit both city and country communities. The Government would be negligent if it continued to ignore this technology. Snowy Hydro, however, continues its responsible ground-based trial in the south of the State with good proven technology.

Global positioning satellite [GPS] navigation overlaying current weather monitoring technologies is extremely predictable for cloud seeding and we have vastly improved targeted outcomes. Costs are minimal, with a full-scale five-year program costing approximately $5 million per identified area. Well-correlated control areas would have significant benefits for the whole Murray-Darling Basin and larger metropolitan areas, such as Sydney. The trial in the Snowy Mountains needs ongoing evidence-based research. It is unfortunate that we are not able to review some of the details of that trial. I look to the Government to release some of that information. Cloud seeding areas must be defined. Moving weather patterns prevents cloud seeding in every area. My last comment comes from a woman who is a member of the Snowy watch group—the member for Monaro might be interested in hearing this. She is actively involved in management within the Snowy area and is a supporter of cloud seeding, as are a number of other people. In correspondence to me she made a pertinent comment:

International science has been dealing with pollution affects on rainfall and snow pack throughout the world. Help is possible for "switched off" clouds to "switch back on" again over the land where rain is needed. All clouds need is tailor-made additions of salt mist or ice crystals [or silver iodide] to aggregate moisture droplets reversing the man-made drought.

Urban development and our growing population are the cause of the man-made drought to which she refers. Rainmaking is possible. We have the technology and we should restore it. I commend the trial in the Snowy Mountains and the significant opportunities to expand further trials throughout the State.

Mr GREG APLIN (Albury) [12.49 p.m.]: I support the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008. As members would be aware, part of the Snowy Hydro system is within my electorate of Albury, which is in the southern part of the State. The expansion of the current cloud seeding program follows on from the approval in 2004 to conduct this trial. The expansion of the trial extends the area by approximately 1,000 square kilometres and the duration of the program through to 2014. Snowy Hydro has 7582 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

been conducting successful cloud seeding operations within the New South Wales Snowy Mountains for the past four winter seasons. To date, results have been promising, with preliminary data supporting the experts' predictions of an average 10 per cent increase in snowfalls over a 10-year period. The target area for the project is within Kosciuszko National Park and includes the alpine region where snowfall precipitation is highest in winter. The target area for the project forms part of the major catchment area of the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme. The expected average annual increase in snow pack as a result of the cloud seeding project is approximately 10 per cent over a 10-year period.

Since 1962 monitoring of temperatures has shown minor increases in both the maximum and minimum winter temperatures. This has resulted in a decline in the maximum snow depth and in mid-late season snow depths in Kosciuszko National Park. These events, which are talked about as climate change, and the decline in snow cover presents a very real threat to Kosciuszko National Park. The Snowy Precipitation Enhancement Research Project is viewed as an opportunity for local mitigation of global climate change. In particular, snow-dependent species, such as the endangered mountain pygmy possum and the corroboree frog, are likely to benefit from a more reliable snow cover. Furthermore, cloud seeding will provide more water for electricity generation, thus offsetting the increasing demand on carbon-based electricity generation, as well as providing additional water for release into our river systems.

How does it work? As the predominantly westerly continental winter cloud systems are forced to rise as they pass over the Snowy Mountains, changes occur within the cloud, causing water vapour to condense into water droplets larger than those that can exist in the pure state below freezing. Winter cloud systems approaching the Snowy Mountains contain sufficient below freezing water droplets and either precipitate naturally, because they are cold and have an abundance of ice particles, or pass over the mountains where they evaporate or pass out to sea, because the natural precipitation processes are inefficient. This is where the cloud seeding project comes into its own, because the project involves adding artificial ice nucleating particles to clouds containing sufficient below freezing water droplets to improve the efficiency of the ice nucleation process. In other words, it assists nature. Twelve automatically controlled ground-based generators will discharge the seeding agent into appropriate cloud systems.

The cloud seeding, which occurs only in winter, involves the concentration of ice crystals in clouds that contain sufficient below freezing water droplets and would not naturally precipitate as snow or rain. The process of creating additional ice crystals is referred to as ice nucleation by cloud seeding. As the ice crystals grow in size, they form snowflakes and fall to the ground as snow. The cloud seeding project involves the use of minute amounts of silver iodide as the seeding agent, dispensed from ground-based generators. I took the opportunity last winter to visit these sites with representatives of Snowy Hydro. I attended a trial where I observed the generator on the base near Khankoban. As has been stated, the process created no more noise than a backyard barbecue. Silver iodide is the most commonly used seeding agent for cloud seeding operations around the world because the structure is very similar to naturally occurring ice nuclei. The expected annual average increase in snow pack over the target area as a result of the cloud seeding project is approximately 10 per cent over a 10-year period. Furthermore, once the snow melts in spring, additional water becomes available for the generation of renewable electricity, as well as for additional water release into our Murray River system.

Cloud seeding technology is not new or untried. It has been successfully used in the United States for the last 56 years and in Tasmania for the last 46 years. I encountered cloud seeding by aerial dispersion in Africa 40 years ago. Water utilities continue to use cloud seeding to augment water supply systems. Scientists now have a significant body of experience and the Snowy Precipitation Enhancement Research Project design has been developed by international cloud seeding experts, drawing on the results of experiments undertaken in the United States and Australia. Due to advanced techniques in radiology, meteorology and cloud seeding, precipitation as snow rather than rain can be reliably predicted. Proven techniques using tracing agents, combined with advanced statistical techniques, enable the evaluation and measurement of snow that has been the direct result of cloud seeding.

People are concerned the research project is monitored to ensure no adverse effects on the environment. An 11-member independent scientific expert panel that assessed the project came to the conclusion that the Snowy Precipitation Enhancement Research Project would not have a significant adverse impact on the environment and would not be likely to significantly affect the environment. They further concluded that it would not impact on the conservation values of Kosciusko National Park, it would be in accordance with ecologically sustainable development principles, including the precautionary principle, and it would have no adverse consequences on the outstanding scientific values of Kosciusko National Park and its ability to be listed on the World Heritage Register. Finally, it would have the potential to act as a benchmark for future scientific 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7583

investigations and environmental initiatives consistent with global climate change research initiatives. In addition, the panel noted that there are no statistical indications that any rainfall or snowfall decreases downwind from any long-term winter seeding project would occur. They concluded that the research project would not have any negative impact on precipitation in any areas downwind of the target area.

There is high-level confidence of no negative effect caused by the seeding agents. This is because the amount of silver iodide and indium sesquioxide, which is the tracer, that is being added to the environment would be in ultra-trace quantities over the very large target area. For this reason, it is expected that the agents will be undetectable above background levels in the environment and well below any threshold for either acute or chronic toxic effects. In addition, the agents are not water soluble and will not be readily bioavailable, which further reduces the likelihood of any adverse environmental impact, even in potential zones of accumulation. Nonetheless, the project includes a rigorous environmental monitoring program, using some of the most precise analytical techniques, to provide additional confidence that there will be no environmental harm.

How will this project better provide information about cloud seeding in the Snowy Mountains? The effect of the bill is to extend the research time of this project. The design of the project is based strongly on the use of physical and chemical techniques for assessing the results of the snow enhancement project. The design includes a randomised treatment process in which two of every three storms would be seeded, leaving the third unseeded. New physical and chemical techniques have been developed, which identifies the seeded components of the snowfall—one of the challenges to be overcome in measuring cloud seeding efficacy. These techniques will be used in the project as a primary assessment tool. In carrying out these physical and chemical evaluations, the objective is to establish and record the chain of events consistent with the predicted effects of seeding. Throughout the following winter seasons of the extended project, submicron particles of silver iodide and indium oxide will continue to be released into the atmosphere.

The seeding is randomised and managed by an independent organisation. As I said, two-thirds of the snowstorms will be seeded, one-third will not. This allows for statistical analysis of the seeding results. The altitude of the freezing level will limit seeding operations. When it is above 1,400 metres or rainfall is occurring at 1,400 metres above sea level, no seeding will occur. This will ensure that there is no adverse impact on the snow pack over the ski resort area. Having seen the operation in the Snowy Mountains area, having visited a site at Khancoban, having been to the Cooma monitoring station and observed the rigour that is involved in monitoring, evaluating and working this project, I have no doubt that Snowy Hydro is effectively abiding by every single rule the Government has laid down and that the effect of the seeding project is going to be greatly beneficial not only to the Kosciuszko National Park in regard to snowfalls but also to all those downstream users as a result of the water that will flow eventually into the Murray system. I commend the bill to the House.

Mr MICHAEL RICHARDSON (Castle Hill) [1.00 p.m.]: The Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008 extends the period of the cloud seeding trial in the Snowy Mountains by five years. The trial was originally intended to end in winter 2009 but will now go on until winter 2014. I well remember the Government's urgency when it introduced this bill. The Government said this trial had to start in winter 2004, that it would be the end of civilisation as we know it if the trial did not start then. I understand the need for extra water for hydro electricity, thus reducing our dependency on coal-fired power stations and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that there will be extra water for farmers. We heard the member for Orange and the member for Murray-Darling talk at some length about the impact of the current drought on their constituents and, of course, the extra snow for the ski fields would be enormously welcome. The ski field operators are very good at making their own snow, but at high cost, and obviously the real thing is vastly preferable.

But the real issue so far as Snowy Hydro is concerned—which is funding this trial to the tune of $20 million—is that there is not enough water in the reservoirs to release downstream for agriculture and to turn their turbines. There is no doubt that the water levels in the Snowy Mountains reservoirs are low, but the figures given by the member for Monaro were for the beginning of May when dams are traditionally at their lowest. It was a little misleading and he did not qualify what he said. It is still not clear to me why this bill has been introduced now rather than next year when the original trial finishes, or indeed why the trial is being extended in the absence of some preliminary results. Last Friday I rang Snowy Hydro and I asked whether it had a preliminary report on increased snowfalls from the trial. I was told that it does not have any results. It did have some excellent environmental papers relating to the trial and its impact, or lack of impact, on the environment, but there was nothing about the amount of snow or precipitation that had been created by the trial.

I thought the trial was designed to increase snowfall and that would be the one thing that should be measured. As I said before, the original bill was rushed through so the trial could start in winter 2004. We have 7584 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

now had four winters during which we could have evaluated the results, and they should have been forthcoming. But Snowy Hydro does not have them, the Government does not have them, and the member for Monaro certainly does not have them. So what is the compelling argument in favour of extending the trial? I understand the trial area will be doubled, but I would have thought the rationale for doing that would have been because of a significant improvement in snowfall in the area currently being seeded. If that is not the case, where does one draw the line? The member for Orange talked about how he would welcome a cloud seeding trial in his electorate and, as the member for Barwon said, back in 1994 there was a very successful trial of cloud seeding in Tamworth. The line might be drawn at the Queensland border. Why not seed the whole of the Great Dividing Range and be done with it? Because the way this trial is being conducted it is almost no trial at all. Indeed, the Government has not moved on in four years. I quote what the member for Monaro said in his agreement in principle speech:

Research has indicated that snowfalls in the Snowy Mountains region have been decreasing on an average of 1 per cent per year for the past 50 years. The decline in snowfalls, if continued, may lead to the extinction, within 70 years, of between 15 and 40 of the 200 alpine plant species. Additionally, the research project has the ability to potentially benefit other species and ecological systems in the Snowy alpine regions.

Let us turn the clock back four years and go back to when the original bill for the cloud seeding trial was introduced. The former member for Newcastle, Bryce Gaudry—a very good member—introduced the first Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Bill.In his second reading speech he said:

Research has indicated that snowfalls in the Snowy Mountains region have been decreasing on an average of 1 per cent per year for the past 50 years. That decline in snowfalls, if continued, may lead to the extinction, within 70 years, of 15 to 40 of the 200 alpine plant species. Additionally, the research project has the ability to potentially benefit other species and ecological communities in the Snowy alpine regions.

Somebody might take a point of order against me for tedious repetition, but I am quoting from two separate speeches given four years apart and they are word for word the same. Since the member for Monaro did not acknowledge the author of what he said, at the very least he is guilty of plagiarism. Not only that, on the basis of what we have heard, those 15 to 40 plant species may now become extinct within 66 years because we have moved on four years. The member for Monaro did not talk about that. Those plant species must be inching closer to extinction because of the lack of rainfall in the Snowy Mountains.

The member for Monaro also went on to talk about the huge snowfalls in the early 1970s. I was around in the early 1970s—indeed, at that time I spent a lot of time in outback Australia—and I remember it was a time of record rainfall in Australia: Lake Eyre filled twice, in 1974 and 1976. In fact, in 1974 Lake Eyre spilled over into Lake Eyre South, and that had not happened since Lake Eyre had been discovered. The BBC even made a documentary on the transformation of central Australia, called The Green Centre. So to say that snowfalls in the Snowy have declined by an average of 1 per cent a year for the past 50 years certainly was not true then and may not be true today either. It all depends on where the baseline is. I draw attention to a report to the Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage from Neville Fletcher in December 2002—already cited in this debate—entitled "Advice on the impact of pollution on rainfall and the potential benefits of cloud seeding". In that report Dr Fletcher said:

It is not clear upon what evidence claims of a severe decrease in rainfall over the Snowy Mountains and Victorian Alps are based. Given the large inter-annual variability in total rainfall in Australia, it is always possible to select decade-scale time windows over which the trend is markedly positive or markedly negative, this being largely correlated to global-scale climate shifts such as those associated with the El Niño – Southern Oscillation.

One can see that the argument mounted by the member for Monaro is a little less than compelling. Dr Fletcher was replying to assertions by Mr Neville Gingis of Melbourne—to whom I have spoken recently—that industrial pollution from Adelaide and Geelong had reduced snowfall in the Snowy Mountains and Victorian Alps by 30 per cent. Even Mr Gingis, who is a bit fanatical about this issue, did not claim it was 50 per cent. Indeed, Dr Fletcher wrote:

Long-term records of Australian rainfall show that there has, in fact, been an increase in rainfall over the past century.

That is something many people in the grip of the current drought would find hard to believe. In other words, as the member for Pittwater remarked, silver iodide is not a silver bullet, although I note that the Chinese Government plans to seed clouds around Beijing just before the Olympics in an attempt to eliminate rainfall probably during the opening and closing ceremonies. The question is: Under what timeframe should the trial operate? The member for Newcastle in his second reading speech four years ago specifically said:

This legislation will authorise only this trial, only for research and only for six years. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7585

He did not mince his words; he did not hedge his bets; he led us to believe at the time that the trial could be conducted over six winters, but it is now to be extended to 11. We are being asked to consent to that extension in the absence of any information about the results of the trial as far as snowfall and rainfall are concerned. The Parliamentary Secretary would have been far more credible if he had said that precipitation in this country is highly variable and that the Government realised it made a mistake in being so dogmatic about the original six-year time frame. Instead, he simply restated word for word the second reading speech made four years ago. I also question how the Parliamentary Secretary can state categorically that the extension and expansion of the research project will lead to increased snowfalls and inflows to storage systems in the Snowy Mountains when he clearly does not know the preliminary results of the trial. As I said, Snowy Hydro Ltd does not know, the Government does not know and the Parliamentary Secretary does not know.

Many people believe that aerial seeding with dry ice—the original method pioneered by Vincent Schaefer at General Electric in 1946—is the preferable cloud seeding method. If this is a trial, why has the Government elected to use silver iodide? Dry ice is non-polluting; it is frozen carbon dioxide and, therefore, better for the environment, and it could potentially produce better results. We heard the member for Blue Mountains say that no cloud seeding would be done in wilderness areas and that that would be good because there would be no infrastructure located in those areas. However, if one were looking for a beneficial outcome and the maximum possible precipitation and inflow into reservoirs one might consider aerial seeding of clouds over wilderness areas using non-polluting dry ice. Surely that method should be included in the trial.

I note that the Queensland Government is also working on a cloud seeding trial in the south east of that State. It has not yet decided on the technology or method that will be used. As the member for Barwon said, that program is being funded to the tune of $10 million by the Federal Government. A four-year trial was commenced in January involving aerial seeding using silver iodide and salt. Radar will be used to see whether the silver iodide or the salt has an impact on the clouds and whether precipitation is increased as a result of using these two nuclei. It is said that although there will be no statistical analysis of the results there should be some signs of success from the radar observations. If either of the seeding methods appears successful, a randomised cloud seeding experiment will start in year two.

As far as I know, that is not what this Government and Snowy Hydro Ltd have done in the Snowy Mountains. No attempt has been made to use any method other than the ground-based discharge of silver iodide particles. We have not seen the results, although we have had some anecdotal advice from the Parliamentary Secretary that rainfall and snowfall have increased. Very successful trials were conducted in the Snowy Mountains in 1955 and 1960. The results indicated a 17 per cent increase in rainfall. That project was evaluated in accordance with the statistical design plan produced by the CSIRO. However, an unseemly squabble developed between CSIRO scientists and Snowy Hydro engineers about an alternative analysis not canvassed prior to the experiment.

The trial regrettably ceased in 1960 and no cloud seeding was done for 44 years. I wonder why the Government has not been building on what has been done. It had an opportunity to do that and to talk about the success of the previous trial. The Government did not do that when the original bill was introduced and it has not done it in this debate. In conclusion, that $20 million is taxpayers' money. Any prudent government would have ensured that taxpayers' money was spent in the most appropriate fashion. To date the trial has not provided the sorts of results that would lead to this House wholeheartedly endorsing an extension of the trial. The Government should have said that it got it wrong in the first place and that it should have made the trial period 10 years in 2004.

Mr DONALD PAGE (Ballina) [1.15 p.m.]: I support the Snowy Mountains Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008. I have been a long-term supporter of cloud seeding dating back to the days when I was shadow Minister for Land and Water Conservation from 1995 to 2003. Cloud seeding has been successful in Tasmania. From memory, it increased rainfall by about 8 per cent. Successful trials were also conducted in north-western New South Wales when the member for Upper Hunter, George Souris, was the Minister for Land and Water Conservation in the Coalition Government.

I agree with the comments of the member for Barwon that in many ways Australia has fallen behind in this area in the past 20-odd years. It is notable that a great deal of the research that has been conducted overseas has delivered more reliable rainfall to areas that need it, and particularly those areas that have suffered industrial pollution. There seems to be a connection between industrial pollution and the ability of clouds to form rain. That was first noted in the days after the big fires in Asia when everyone expected the wet seasons to happen as they normally had, but they did not. It was later discovered that the smoke in the atmosphere reduced the ability 7586 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

of the clouds to make rain. A great deal of research has subsequently been done on that issue, particularly overseas. Some Australian advocates, such as Mr Gingis, are firmly of the view that that issue should be explored in more detail.

This bill authorises Snowy Hydro Limited to undertake further cloud seeding research for an extended period over a greater geographic area. The extension of the trial to 2014 will allow Snowy Hydro to increase significantly the statistical strength of the trial to determine more clearly whether cloud seeding increases rainfall. The Nationals have long had a policy commitment to the adoption of cloud seeding as part of a viable solution to the water crisis in New South Wales. The aim of the trial in the past has been to increase snowfall in a defined area. This has the potential to reduce the impact of drought and to increase water flows into storage facilities. It is hoped that if cloud seeding is successful it will reduce the impact of extended drought conditions in the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys. Increasing water flow in the region will also enable Snowy Hydro Ltd to produce more hydro electricity with its associated environmental benefits through the offset of carbon dioxide emissions.

I note that Snowy Hydro Ltd concludes that the cloud seeding trials are not causing significant adverse environmental effects. Increased water flow is also important for the ecology of the native alpine regions. Some wildlife species have become vulnerable to declining snowfalls and cloud seeding provides an avenue of hope to stem the effects of global warming. There are also additional benefits to be gained for the tourism industry because of the extended ski season. Snowfalls have been declining in the snowfields for a number of years and that has led to a decline in the associated tourism industry. The bill also includes the Mount Selwyn resort in the trial, which will benefit from the increase in snowfalls. This is good legislation. We have taken our eye off the ball in Australia with regard to cloud seeding in the past 10 to 15 years. It is good to see the Government once again becoming more proactive by extending the trial to enable cloud seeding to reach its potential in addressing some of the issues that face our community because of drought and climate change. I commend the bill to the House.

Mr DARYL MAGUIRE (Wagga Wagga) [1.19 p.m.]: The Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill is an important bill. I will state for the record some facts about the current drought and its impact on the Snowy storage system. This information was provided to me by Snowy Hydro Limited on 11 May 2007. The document provided to me states:

• The current drought sequence is now longer than the previous worst dry sequence which occurred from 1936 to 1946; • Snowy Scheme water storage levels are currently at their lowest May level since the Snowy Scheme was completed in 1973; • Our main water storage, Lake Eucumbene is at its lowest level since construction; • Water inflows for the last 12 months are only around 25% of long term average; • Water inflows during the last 12 months were significantly below the previous lowest ever minimums—minimums recorded over 101 years—and were worse than could have been anticipated; • The impact of the current drought on Snowy Scheme storages has resulted in the Snowy Water Licence dry inflow sequence provisions being activated.

Because of the extremely low water inflow pattern over the last 10 years, water levels in Snowy Scheme storages have steadily decreased since 1997 and are currently around 8% of active capacity.

There was unfounded speculation that Snowy Hydro will need to shut down its generators if Snowy scheme storages reach 9 per cent of capacity. That speculation is incorrect. Snowy Hydro is operating its generating plant quite comfortably at the present water storage level and can continue generating at even lower levels. Snowy Hydro has undertaken a number of prudent water conservation and management strategies over the past few years to ensure that the water that remains in the Snowy scheme is used to obtain the best result for all stakeholders. These strategies include the use of over 600 megawatts of gas-fired generation plant in Victoria; recycling of water through its largest power station, Tumut 3; and winter cloud seeding programs to increase water inflows from increased snowfalls. The community remains divided over the efficacy of cloud seeding. However, given the statistics I have just read about the Snowy scheme, I believe all opportunities should be explored. Also, many irrigators rely on harvesting water from the Tumut-Murrumbidgee-Murray system for agricultural purposes, which creates enormous benefits for our economy.

Cloud seeding research in Australia has mirrored that in the United States. According to a briefing paper I have received from the library, research peaked in the 1960s and 1970s, then tapered off, and currently no research is being done by the CSIRO. Cloud seeding experiments began in Australia in 1947, with the first cloud seeding trials being held near Sydney. Between 1955 and 1963, four experiments were carried out in Australia—in the Snowy Mountains, in South Australia, in the New England district of New South Wales, and in the Warragamba catchment area—the purpose of which was to find out if the rain over a specified area could 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7587

be increased by seeding the clouds with silver iodide released from aircraft. Of these four experiments, only the one conducted in the Snowy Mountains produced statistically significant evidence of rainfall increases over the duration of the entire experiment, with a 19 per cent increase in precipitation.

In the years from 1965 to 1971, State governments were active in operational cloud seeding and in the ongoing debate concerning the effectiveness of cloud seeding. The Melbourne Water Corporation conducted a five-year cloud seeding experiment—from 1988 to 1992—over the 487 square kilometre Thomson Reservoir catchment in the Great Dividing Range, about 120 kilometres east of Melbourne. The results from a series of cloud seeding experiments in western Victoria from the early 1980s have been extrapolated to other inland plain regions in New South Wales—notably Wagga Wagga and Gunnedah. In Victoria it was found that successful cloud seeding was dependent on suitable weather systems. Near Wagga Wagga only 11 per cent of the season's rainfall comes from potentially suitable synoptic systems. At Gunnedah the seedable opportunities increased to 37.8 per cent of occasions, and these accounted for some 36 per cent of the rain.

The effectiveness of cloud seeding in the New England district of New South Wales, like that in the Snowy Mountains, is still controversial. A re-analysis of the earlier New England experiment suggests a substantial increase in rainfall over all years. However, this re-analysis is not consistent with the published design for the experiment, and therefore remains controversial. In 1992 a precipitation enhancement feasibility study in the region of the Copeton Dam within the New England district concluded that there is good potential for cloud seeding, with the odds being one in four of detecting a 30 per cent increase in rainfall in a five to six year experiment, and about one in two for a 20 per cent increase.

The trials that have been conducted have excised the wilderness area from the program and undertake a seeding regime that can be interpreted by the ski industry. If the freezing level is too high above ground level at specific resort locations, using ground generators as the primary silver iodide dispensing methods, the trial aims to increase snowfall by 6 per cent, which is estimated to result in more than 100 billion litres or 100 gigalitres of extra water flowing down the Murray River each year. Snowy Hydro has requested the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service to fast-track consent. All of this has occurred already and that brings us to consider an extension of the trial.

There are two diverging views on the effectiveness of cloud seeding. The CSIRO view is more sceptical, as is apparent from the somewhat negative tone of the cloud seeding guidelines issued in 1995. In evidence before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests, Dr Ryan of the CSIRO, co-author of the 1995 guidelines, in a spirited debate on the statistical techniques required to prove that cloud seeding works stated:

Even showing that a single cloud has not rained because of you putting the seeding in there is quite difficult … [and in response to being able to easily replicate the science of cloud seeding in a refrigerator] … No. What you can show is that you have changed the microphysical structure of the cloud. What you have not shown is that this has actually changed the amount of rain that is going to reach the ground.

By contrast, Mr Terry Charlton, Chief Executive Officer of Snowy Hydro, when speaking before the same committee about the current proposals in the Snowy Mountains, stated:

… There is a long history of cloud seeding … we are fairly comfortable with the technologies and with our belief and confidence that we can get a return on the money we are spending …

… I have to say we are not all that concerned about proving to the scientists that it works … I do not want to spend a year debating with the CSIRO whether we structure it this way or that way … It may be perfect in a scientific outcome sense, but in a business sense I am pretty sure it will be.

I have checked the dam levels. Burrinjuck Dam, in Burrinjuck electorate, is at 41 per cent; Blowering Dam, in Wagga Wagga electorate, is at 26 per cent; and Eucumbene Dam, in Monaro electorate, is at 49 per cent. The level of Talbingo Dam is not given because its water is recycled to generate electricity in the system. Jindabyne Dam is at 58 per cent; Lake Mulwala dam, 80 per cent; Dartmouth Dam, 17 per cent and Hume Dam is at 10 per cent. I refer members to a fantastic website I discovered when I was researching this information— wwwwron.net.au, which is the Water Resources Observation Network home page. It gives every water resource storage in Australia, with up-to-date levels and geographic information. It is a terrific tool when one is trying to understand the great grip the drought has on regional and rural New South Wales. The area I represent depends on rainfall to provide water for irrigators and winter sports operators. The member for Monaro and I share those areas with the member for Albury. We depend on them. If cloud seeding causes more snow, enables more water harvesting, and brings more tourism, we should be supporting and encouraging the use of this technology. 7588 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

Mr RAY WILLIAMS (Hawkesbury) [1.29 p.m.]: I support the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008. There could be no greater proactive initiative, after this State has suffered one of the longest droughts in its history, than to promote cloud seeding. In the past, cloud seeding has been proved to stimulate rainfall. Recently, at the invitation of the member for Wagga Wagga, I travelled to the area to address the Liberals ladies luncheon. The women told me of the suffering of their husbands, many of whom endure depression. Many had been farmers all their lives; indeed, the farm had been in the family for generations. They are suffering because of a relentless and endless drought. My heartfelt sympathies go out to these people. I was shocked because they were successful farmers and were living comfortable lives but crop failures were causing severe depression. These men had been professional farmers for 50 or 60 years. Cloud seeding is a wonderful initiative—there should be more of it. For farmers across the Hawkesbury electorate, a predominantly rural area, the drought broke two years ago. We were fortunate.

Pursuant to sessional orders business interrupted and set down as an order of the day for a later hour.

[Acting-Speaker (Mr Thomas George) left the chair at 1.30 p.m. The House resumed at 2.15 p.m.]

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

Notices of Motions

Government Business Notices of Motions (for Bills) given.

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

Notices of Motions

Private Members' Business Notices of Motions (for Bills) given.

QUESTION TIME ______

ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY PRIVATISATION

Mr BARRY O'FARRELL: My question is directed to the Premier. Given that he supported this Chamber's 1994 insistence that the Auditor-General provide a report to Parliament before the half billion dollar sale of the State Bank, why is he refusing to allow the Auditor-General to do a similar report before the $15 billion sale of the State's electricity industry?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: We have not. The Auditor-General has wide-ranging powers, and can do so. The Leader of the Opposition, who mistakes invisibility for leadership, has latched onto his press release, issued in the dying moments of sittings last week, after being tied up and not able to state a position on one of the biggest issues that confronts the State.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: And now he is hanging onto the five points. By the way, we addressed the five points while he was asleep. He now thinks he has some sort of credibility on this issue. Let me recount the situation for the Chamber, because we are going to keep reminding the Leader of the Opposition of it every single day.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: The Government has been consistent in stating that legislation is required. It has commented also on the type of legislation. There is enabling legislation as far as the transactions are concerned. There is enabling legislation also in the treatment of employees. I underline that because 12 months ago the Leader of the Opposition said in this Chamber, "I've got an idea. I've stolen it from Peter Beattie, but it is an idea nevertheless. I am going to sell retail electricity." He said in relation to workers "Mmm, we should take them into consideration." This Government does the hard yards and states a policy. It has given the Leader of the Opposition plenty of the details of it, for example, what will happen to employees. There is enabling legislation for the transfer of workers. The Government has outlined the circumstances under which that will happen.

Mrs Jillian Skinner: What about the Auditor-General? 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7589

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: Yes, we have addressed the auditor and we will continue to address the auditor. The third part, as the Leader of the Opposition is talking about legislation, is legislation regarding price regulation. There is enabling legislation for the transactions, there is enabling legislation to allow for the transfer of workers, there is legislation regarding prices and there is legislation regarding environmental benefits of our policy.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: That is what the legislation will include. As the Leader of the Opposition knows, the Government has no difficulty whatsoever with the Auditor-General being involved in the process to whatever extent he wants. He has a role and he will carry it out, and he will do so with the support of the Government. The Leader of the Opposition should not stand up in this place and try to parade his lack of credibility about oversight bodies. He is the one who, one month ago, launched an extraordinary attack on the Independent Commission Against Corruption commissioner. The Leader of the Opposition said that the commissioner had no credibility and could not do his job. However, he does not have the courage to go to his office, look him in the eye and tell him that he thinks he is hopeless! The Leader of the Opposition should not lecture us about support for oversight bodies.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting.

Mr Barry O'Farrell: What about the Auditor-General?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: Exactly, the Auditor-General. This Government will support whatever involvement he wishes to have but that does not detract from the simple fact that whether it is water, transport, electricity or energy, the Leader of the Opposition simply goes missing in action when it comes to crafting a policy prescription that addresses the key issues for this State. Electricity is just the latest example.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: Sitting next to the Leader of the Opposition is the man who said he would rather see Sydney turn into the Sahara before he pushed the button on a desalination plant. The Leader of the Opposition is the one who went to the last election unable to cost his former leader's policies because "the photocopier broke down". He is the one who refused to sign up to the budget honesty process. He is the one who refused to submit his costings to Treasury to have them independently costed.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: He is the one who had to pull his transport forum in the week in the lead-up to the election because he did not have a policy. Twelve months later the Leader of the Opposition still has not been able to devise a transport policy, except the one paragraph from Bret Walker, special commissioner, that states that we should have a transport coordination authority. The Leader of the Opposition cobbled that together, he conned a few people in the gallery that that was a new policy—got a run for it for one day—and that is it. Twelve months later the man who ached to be Leader of the Opposition, the man who was always the first one straight after an electoral defeat to have an analysis as to why the Coalition failed and the man who always said, "If only they'd give me the job, I could do so much better" has no transport, water, infrastructure or energy policies, except to steal Peter Beattie's policy. He has then pretended for one year that he did not have that position. He has spent the last fortnight not knowing what he would say until the member for Manly got seven of his team together after a breakfast and paid him a visit.

Mr Andrew Fraser: Point of order: It is obvious that the Premier is debating the issue. He should either answer the question as to whether the Auditor-General will report to Parliament before the process or sit down.

The SPEAKER: Order! I have heard enough of the point of order. I will listen further to the Premier.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: As tempted as I am to repeat the words of Mike Carlton from last week, I will not.

FEDERAL BUDGET

Ms DIANE BEAMER: My question is addressed to the Premier. Will the Premier advise the House how the Federal budget will add to the efforts by the New South Wales Government to improve services and build better infrastructure? 7590 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: The Government welcomed last night's Federal budget, with its focus on fiscal discipline and infrastructure investment. It is a responsible budget that aims to deliver for hardworking families, while at the same time allocating some $40 billion in surpluses for investment in health, education and infrastructure across the nation. It is a commitment to investment in key services and economic infrastructure and it represents a solid down payment on our future. The budget also represents a dramatic shift from the previous Federal Government. What a contrast! The previous Federal Government said, "We do not have a role in building the nation. We do not have a role in funding infrastructure. We do not have a role in tackling urban congestion. We do not have a role in tackling the big infrastructure bottlenecks across the nation." Contrast that to last night's budget—the first budget of Mr Rudd and Mr Swan—$22,000 billion—

Mr Andrew Stoner: You should be grateful. They're bailing you out.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: What was the last piece of infrastructure your Federal friends built? The Burdekin Dam was the last one. That was it—after 11 years of record surpluses and riding the waves of prosperity built during the Hawke-Keating years. After 11 years can members think of another one? Not one?

[Interruption]

We did some research and, yes, it was the Burdekin Dam.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: The Federal budget allocated $22 billion in the future infrastructure fund, $10 billion in health and $10 billion in education. That is a clear signal from the Commonwealth Government that it is getting back into the business of building the infrastructure of the nation, and doing so in cooperation with the States. There is no shortage of projects for New South Wales to submit to the Commonwealth.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Epping to order. I call the member for Terrigal to order.

Mr Thomas George: To do the things that you did not do, Morris.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: I am sure the member for Lismore will be with me at the end of this month when we open the Richmond Clinic at Lismore Hospital.

Mr Thomas George: Will it be finished?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: A great piece of mental health infrastructure has been built without Commonwealth assistance.

[Interruption]

We had to bring that one forward without any help from Tony Abbott.

Mr Thomas George: It should have been finished 12 months ago.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Lismore will cease interjecting.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: Following an invitation from the Commonwealth Government to participate with it in two feasibility studies, the New South Wales Government will contribute $25 million to two projects: the M5 East duplication and a Euro-style metro from Parramatta to the city.

Mr Brad Hazzard: What about the F3 extension?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: There is plenty more to come.

Mr Alan Ashton: Stay tuned!

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: As the member for East Hills just said, stay tuned—there is plenty more to come. The $22 billion is a down payment. What we have in Canberra is a government that believes in investing 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7591

surpluses into the future prosperity of the nation and not just bringing down a budget surplus for the sake of a budget surplus. It acknowledges that health, education and economic infrastructure are the keys to our future prosperity and a sustained improvement in services for hard-working families. That is why we are going to partner with the Rudd Government in the feasibility studies for the M5 East and for the Parramatta metro. There will be no shortage of additional infrastructure projects coming from New South Wales to submit to the Commonwealth for that future infrastructure fund to build the nation's prosperity.

ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY PRIVATISATION

Mr ANDREW STONER: My question is directed to the Premier. Will the Premier confirm that it is proposed that only 25 per cent—or around $2.5 billion—of any proceeds from the Government's power sell-off will be earmarked for new infrastructure, which would stretch only as far as the cost of his white elephant desalination plant?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: The electricity package starts with this—

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Clarence to order. I call the member for Coffs Harbour to order.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: The Government's electricity reform package is not about proceeds—

Mr Andrew Stoner: My question is.

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: It is about ensuring that New South Wales has enough electricity for its future growth. Professor Owen erred on the side of caution and said, "I will come down on the side of 2014"—but it could be 2015 or as early as 2013. That is the purpose of the energy package: to ensure that New South Wales has enough electricity for its future growth. The State is growing, businesses and families need more electricity, and the package starts and ends with that. A side benefit is that it will improve the State's balance sheet and there will be proceeds. The Leader of The Nationals might like to know that those proceeds will be invested in infrastructure, schools, hospitals and transport projects such as the North West Metro.

Mr Andrew Stoner: How much?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: We will come to that in a second. That is about our dividends—the member for Miranda was an economist; he might be able to assist you after question time—to invest in additional infrastructure for the State. What kinds of projects? The kinds of projects listed in this morning's reports of last night's budget. More metros—breaking free from our country rail system and building a twenty-first century public transport system. We will have a revolutionary transport system with more metros, but the timing of that would be dependant on seed funding from the benefits of electricity.

As to the investment of the proceeds into the community infrastructure fund, the investment will earn interest and that will cover the dividends from the generators—that is the answer to the first part of the question—but by restructuring the industry we also end up restructuring the State's balance sheet. In doing that we reduce State debt and when we do that we reduce our interest payments. The Leader of The Nationals has not taken that into account. One does not just look at what is in the community infrastructure fund as capital and what will be earned as interest, one also takes into account the fact that the State's balance sheet will be restructured and strengthened and that will provide additional capacity for the State to invest in infrastructure and services. The member for Miranda, being a former economist, can assist the Leader of The Nationals.

FEDERAL BUDGET

Ms TANYA GADIEL: My question is directed to the Minister for Health. Will the Minister advise the House how the Federal budget will complement the Iemma Government's efforts to improve health and cancer services in New South Wales?

Ms REBA MEAGHER: One of the biggest health challenges we face nationally is cancer. It is the biggest killer of Australians—with more than 35,000 deaths and 88,000 people diagnosed every year. The Iemma Government is working hard to provide our brilliant clinicians, researchers and nurses with the support they need to diagnose, treat and ultimately defeat this terrible disease. Today I am pleased to unveil the latest weapon in our fight against cancer. This morning I joined health staff at Westmead Hospital for the official 7592 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

opening of the new Westmead Cancer Care Centre with the member for Parramatta. This is a $17.6 million facility purpose-built to provide a comprehensive range of cancer research, diagnostic and treatment services.

It means that cancer patients can now be cared for in the one location and by the same team of medical experts throughout the course of their treatment. The obvious benefits in this model of care for patients and their families include reduced stress at a time that is often confusing and very daunting. Our highly qualified doctors, nurses, researchers and other health professionals will also benefit from the co-location of services through a more supportive team environment. As many as 300 patients will receive treatment and care at the Westmead Cancer Care Centre each day. The centre includes a 27-chair chemotherapy ward, radiation medical and surgical oncology services, consultation rooms, a three-bed acute bay, a pharmacy, a clinical trials unit and a brachytherapy unit.

Although the Westmead Cancer Care Centre provides a comprehensive range of in-hospital services, one of the key aspects of the centre is the provision of outpatient and outreach clinics. Through the outpatient clinics and outreach services, staff are able to deliver vital health services to patients within their home, reducing the amount of time cancer patients need to spend in hospital. The Westmead Cancer Care Centre is located next to the Westmead Breast Centre and the New South Wales Breast Cancer Institute. It will also have close ties with the Westmead Institute for Cancer Research at the Westmead Millennium Institute. I am sure over the coming years it will develop links with the Comprehensive Cancer Centre to be located at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, as announced in last night's Federal budget. The announcement last night of $50 million over three years to build a comprehensive cancer care centre co-located with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital indicates that our efforts to tackle cancer are not being undertaken in isolation.

Last night's Federal budget was good news for many reasons. It was the first Federal budget since 1995 that had any good news for health. For 11 long years under the former Federal Government public health in this country suffered, as John Howard led an ideological war against Medicare and our hospitals. Now, with last night's Federal budget, those dark days are behind us. For the first time in 12 years we have a Federal Government that takes seriously its obligations in health. The first Rudd Government budget has delivered on its election commitments and has set the platform for reforming public health across the nation. The common thread that runs through the Federal health budget is the down payment it makes in the future health needs of this country. The budget contains measures that are good for New South Wales' patients and families.

Mr Andrew Fraser: Is he going to reduce waiting lists?

Ms REBA MEAGHER: The member for Coffs Harbour can say thank you for Coffs Harbour hospital any time he likes.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Coffs Harbour will cease interjecting.

Ms REBA MEAGHER: The budget confirmed the extension of the current Australian Health Care Agreement for a further 12 months, with an extra $1 billion provided to public hospitals. This immediate cash injection helps to reverse the decline in the Commonwealth's share of public hospital funding, which under John Howard crashed to 41 per cent.

Mr Andrew Fraser: What has it done under you?

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Coffs Harbour the order for the second time.

Ms REBA MEAGHER: The Federal Government has also taken the visionary decision to invest budget surpluses in our hospital infrastructure. From 1 January next year the $10 billion Health and Hospitals Fund will provide for upgrades to health and hospital facilities, equipment, medical technology and medical research. This pool of funds will assist us with our $2.4 billion capital infrastructure program. The Federal budget also confirmed funding of $600 million over the next four years for the elective surgery waiting list reduction plan. This plan, which will reduce waiting times for elective surgery for all public patients, again builds on the good work that we have been able to achieve through our Predictable Surgery Program in the past few years in New South Wales. In the past three years the number of patients waiting more than 12 months for elective surgery has reduced from more than 10,000 in 2005 to approximately 255 in March this year. Similarly, the number of patients waiting more than 30 days for urgent surgery has been slashed from more than 5,000 in 2005 to just over 102. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7593

The first stage of Federal funding has been already allocated to the States, with New South Wales receiving more than $43 million to undertake an additional 8,743 elective surgery procedures. Stages 2 and 3 of the plan involve capacity building to sustain the increased procedures and reward good performance. New South Wales will be in a strong position to qualify for increased funding in this area. The new Federal Government has also recognised what the former Government had long ignored, that is, the importance of the primary health sector in delivering a successful preventative health care strategy. A strong primary and community health sector will help take the pressure off our emergency departments, as patients are often left without any alternative option for treatment.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is too much audible conversation in the Chamber.

Ms REBA MEAGHER: Recent research conducted for NSW Health by Booz Allen Hamilton found that 75 per cent of patients in emergency departments said they attended there because they could not access general practitioner [GP] services and only 34 per cent of those patients believed they actually needed emergency level care.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Upper Hunter will cease interjecting.

Ms REBA MEAGHER: We need a sustained effort to rebuild and boost our primary and community health sector to help keep people out of hospital for as long as possible. The New South Wales Government's response has been our $40 million HealthOne program. The Federal Government has recognised this fact and has allocated in its budget $275 million over five years to establish and support 31 GP Super Clinics across the country. Eight of those super clinics have been committed for New South Wales. GP Super Clinics, like HealthOne, will provide infrastructure for general practitioners and other health professionals, including allied health workers, nurses and other specialists, to work together in one place and a greater range of quality services tailored to meet the need of local communities. I have already met with Federal Health Minister Roxon to discuss ways in which our governments can work together on a joint rollout of these facilities.

The best way to keep people out of hospital is to keep them as healthy as possible for as long as possible. That is why I am pleased to see a commitment in the Federal Government's budget to develop a National Preventative Health Care Strategy. This strategy, which will be produced later in the year, will provide a blueprint to address the growing burden of chronic disease caused by obesity, tobacco and alcohol. Kevin Rudd has also committed funding of $26 million over four years to roll out the Healthy Kids Check for all children starting school. This program will assess each child's basic health, assist in the early detection of risk factors and promote healthy lifestyles at the start of life.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will remain silent.

Ms REBA MEAGHER: Again, this is a far-sighted investment in the future health of our country's young people. The Federal budget is even more important in that it heralds a new era of cooperation, collaboration and honest and open dialogue between the Federal and State-Territory governments. We finally have a government in Canberra that is prepared to accept its responsibility for public hospitals and public health care. I contrast that to the approach of Tony Abbott: put your head in the sand and ignore the pleas of the States for additional funding and reform of the health care system. The attitude that is now taken in Canberra is assistance to reform and build a health care system that will meet the increasing demands of health as we move into the future. The Rudd Government is making a much greater financial contribution than we ever could have hoped for from John Howard.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STATE TAX LIABILITY

Mr MIKE BAIRD: My question is directed to the Premier. Given that last night's Federal budget papers reveal that the Commonwealth Government still has not paid $400 million in stamp duty on the sale of Sydney airport and the Premier's accusation last year that the Commonwealth Government was "cheating their way out of paying tax and behaving in a cowboy-like fashion", are Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan tax cheats and cowboys?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: Who was defending Howard and Costello last year? Our good friends on the Opposition benches were. The New South Wales Government's position has not changed. We have been advised that there is a liability for the tax. Our position is that it should be paid. 7594 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

AGEING AND DISABILITY SERVICES

Mr ALAN ASHTON: My question is directed to the Minister for Ageing, and Minister for Disability Services. Can the Minister update the House on the ways in which the Federal Budget will add to work being done by the Iemma Government to deliver better ageing and disability services?

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: I thank the member for East Hills for his question. He is a concerned and active member on behalf of his community for some of the most vulnerable members of our State. Society is best judged on how it treats the most vulnerable.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting. I ask the Minister for Ageing, and Minister for Disability Services to face the microphone so that Hansard can hear her answer.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: Perhaps Hansard could hear if the members opposite were not bleating so loudly. They do not want to hear what I am about to say. Society is most often judged by how it treats the most vulnerable, and last night we saw in the Federal budget a commitment to care for those who cannot care for themselves; a commitment to work in partnership with the States and Territories to create a more compassionate and caring society in New South Wales, and indeed across Australia. We also saw a significant endorsement of the Iemma Government's plan Stronger Together and of our spending and policy priorities to look after the most vulnerable in the community.

Mr Wayne Merton: Point of order: The Minister has clearly made a fundamental mistake. The Serjeant-at-Arms is seated at the back of the Chamber and you are the Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order! I thank the member for Baulkham Hills for pointing that out. The Minister has the call. The House will come to order.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: He resembles the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz: is their policy going that way or is it going the other way? They have no idea.

Mr Wayne Merton: Point of order—

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Baulkham Hills will resume his seat. The Minister will refer to other members by their correct titles. Members will cease interjecting.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: You are right, Mr Speaker, because the scarecrow eventually found a brain.

Mr Brad Hazzard: Point of order: Obviously this is a sensitive issue and the tin man without a heart should not criticise the people who are trying to raise relevant issues.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wakehurst will resume his seat. All members will come to order.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: There is probably nothing more important than talking about how we are going to support the most vulnerable people in our community. In last night's budget we saw the Federal Government make a real commitment to partnership with the State Government. It bears remembering that the Howard Government was cutting disability services. In 2003 the Howard Government was contributing 19 per cent of all disability services funding in New South Wales. In 2007 that had dropped to 16 per cent, and what was Mal Brough proposing? He was proposing a cut that would have seen the Commonwealth share drop to 13 per cent of all disability services spending in New South Wales. Last night Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan confirmed their election commitment to put $900 million back into the Commonwealth State Territory Disability Agreement, back into working in partnership.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Bega to order.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: The Howard and Brough plan was to set up a separate disability services stream, creating bureaucracy, additional regulation and a competing service system. I cannot remember any family or any disability service provider standing up next to Mel Brough when he announced that. The Rudd Government has recognised that our plan Stronger Together is delivering real benefits to people with a disability, their families and their carers, and it is committing that $900 million to the Commonwealth State Territory Disability Agreement and $100 million in addition to capital expenditure.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Bega to order for the second time. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7595

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: That recognises that our plan Stronger Together is delivering 1,400 new supported accommodation and intensive in-home support places. Some of the other significant benefits for people with a disability, their families and carers, and for frail older people include a business services wage assessment tool of $25 million over four years. The purpose of this is to determine fair wages for people with a disability in supported employment, which certainly members on this side of the House support. The funding will also support our highly successful Transition to Work Program, which has seen 70 per cent of school leavers who have gone through the program move into employment or to higher education.

The budget includes $114 million over four years for new child-care centres in Australia, including six autism-specific child-care centres. That recognises, endorses and complements our early intervention plan of $6 million for New South Wales in autism, including the announcement the Premier made of the first autism-specific child-care centre in Western Sydney. We are already in conversation with the Parliamentary Secretary for Disability Services, Bill Shorten, to ensure that the Commonwealth's early intervention plan for autism and New South Wales' plan is delivered in a coordinated way that provides more help and more assistance to children with autism and their families.

There is much in this budget for seniors, including a national reciprocal transport entitlements scheme. Many members, including the member for East Hills, have asked me if we can provide reciprocity of transport entitlements for seniors across the nation. Now we have a Federal Government that is willing to commit to that. In New South Wales we have some of the most generous public transport entitlements for senior citizens, and it will be a significant benefit to seniors who visit from other States and to our seniors who travel interstate to be able to enjoy reciprocal public transport entitlements.

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: I will touch on two more things. A regular review of the ratio of aged care places will ensure that the supply of aged care places meets current and future demand. Members have heard me talk about our plans to prepare for the demographic shift in 2030. In 2030 the number of people over 65 will have doubled. In fact, there will be more people aged over 65 than aged under 14 in New South Wales. Our plan towards 2030 works with all levels of government, the private sector and the community sector to ensure that we are prepared for that demographic shift.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is too much audible conversation in the Chamber. Opposition members who wish to conduct private conversations will do so outside the Chamber.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: We now have a Commonwealth Government that is willing to participate in that process to ensure that we are prepared for our ageing population and that the services are in place. One of the most important things this budget delivers is support for carers. One in ten people in New South Wales is a carer, and while caring for somebody you love can be immensely rewarding, it can also be a quite challenging and frustrating role. This budget recognises the priority that the Iemma Government has given to carers. It delivers $1,000 tax-free for carers and the recipients of the carers allowance will receive $600 tax-free for each eligible person in their care. Carers payments will also be extended so that more people looking after children will receive access to benefits.

As a result of changes announced in last night's budget, it is expected that in 2009-10 an additional 19,000 carers of children with disabilities or illnesses will be able to access carers payments and related benefits to assist with caring responsibilities. Just recently I announced that New South Wales would introduce a companion card to support carers of people with severe and profound disabilities in providing them with access to free public transport and other benefits. Our Carers Action Plan supports carers, and Carers New South Wales has endorsed the Iemma Government's plan for carers and what we are doing to support carers. Yesterday Carers New South Wales said:

The NSW Government has already taken measures to show its strong support of the state's 750,000 carers, announcing a five-year NSW Carers Action Plan in 2007 to ensure carers are recognised, respected and valued and that services for carers and the people they care for are improved.

The Government will continue to work with Carers New South Wales, the non-government sector and the new Federal Government. We can do more and we are doing more through Stronger Together, which will see $1.3 billion spent on disability services. We now have a government in Canberra that is willing to work in partnership with us to strengthen and support our disability services system and to look after the most vulnerable in our community—people with a disability, their families and their carers. 7596 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

PREMIER'S CHINA TRADE MISSION

Mr ANDREW STONER: I direct my question to the Premier. Will the Premier or any of his travelling party be meeting with potential buyers of New South Wales electricity assets during his imminent visit to China?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: No.

EMERGENCY SERVICES VOLUNTEERS

Mr FRANK TERENZINI: I direct my question to the Minister for Emergency Services. Can the Minister advise the House how the Iemma Government is supporting emergency service volunteers, particularly those in rural and regional areas?

Mr NATHAN REES: I thank the member for his question and continuing interest in our emergency services, particularly in the aftermath of the Hunter and Central Coast floods on the June long weekend last year. This week is National Volunteer Week. It is an opportunity for us all to recognise the thousands of volunteers in New South Wales who do such a terrific job of keeping our community safe and helping us to recover after disasters. This State has more than 80,000 emergency services volunteers in the Rural Fire Service, the State Emergency Service, the New South Wales Volunteer Rescue Association, the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard Association, the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol and the New South Wales Fire Brigades' community fire units.

Before I go on with the rest of the answer, I will update the House on an incident that occurred this morning. Unfortunately, the Strathfield State Emergency Service facility was burnt to the ground. Despite the fact that fire brigade units were on the scene within six minutes, the building suffered extensive damage. I am advised that at this stage it appears that the fire was caused by an electrical fault and there is no sign of anything suspicious. I must make mention of the representations of the member for Strathfield. She was immediately on the phone to me. The Government has made $50,000 available for the long-term relocation of the unit. In the interim the service will be housed at Canada Bay and business will continue as usual. I am also happy to advise the House that no injuries were sustained and that the unit's vehicles are undamaged.

It was my pleasure this morning to hand over the first of 23 new flood boats worth a total of $584,000 to the State Emergency Service at the Opera House. Those boats will be distributed to State Emergency Service units in Nabiac, Nundle, Gunnedah, Deepwater, Myall Lakes, Port Stephens, Clarence, Barwon, Murrumbidgee, Murray-Darling, Wagga Wagga and Burrinjuck. The work of the State Emergency Service flood boats and their important role in recovery efforts was obvious during the Hunter floods last year. A number of new boats have been delivered to the region and I have taken steps today to ensure that the community of Hinton will also get a flood boat in addition to the 23 already announced. That brings the State Emergency Service fleet to 360 boats for emergency rescues, resupplying isolated communities, rescuing stranded stock, flood reconnaissance missions and ferrying volunteers and equipment.

In an example of good corporate citizenship, Reliance Petroleum has agreed to enter into a new community partnership with the State Emergency Service to install global positioning system units in 120 flood boats. I put on record the Government's thanks to that company. All emergency services constantly need to update skills and training. In that vein, I announce new Rural Fire Service and significantly boosted State Emergency Service scholarship programs. The State Emergency Service will offer its members a series of scholarships valued at a total of $15,000 a year to be used to study emergency prevention, preparedness, response and recovery and risk management. The Rural Fire Service will offer a new major research grant, the Rural Fire Fellowship, worth $25,000 for the study of bushfire-related disciplines. The two services, the State Government and their volunteer associations are providing funds for the program jointly.

It is appropriate that as part of National Volunteer Week the Government pledge its support and assistance to these fine schemes. They will help to encourage younger volunteers, increase their skills base and further enhance the very high professional standards of both State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service volunteers. I am sure members will join me in taking this opportunity during National Volunteer Week to thank all our volunteers for their hard work and dedication in protecting and assisting people in need. I also thank their families, who also assist when the volunteers are helping others. They all deserve our praise and congratulations for a job well done. They are a credit to their services and to their community, and we thank them. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7597

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REVIEW

Ms CLOVER MOORE: I direct my question to the Premier. Given that the New South Wales Freedom of Information Act is based on principles developed more than 30 years ago and that it has been the subject of more than 60 amendments, and given the poor rate of freedom of information releases in New South Wales, will the New South Wales Government commit to implementing the Ombudsman's recommendations following his review of the Act?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: As the member quite correctly states, the Ombudsman has commenced a review. The Government welcomes that review and will provide whatever assistance and cooperation he requires in that process. The member also made the point that the legislation has been around for a long time. I add that the Freedom of Information Act is one means by which information is released to the public. The member might recall that in previous years the bulk of freedom of information requests related to health records. They are now made available to the public outside the freedom of information process.

I understand the member had a role in the release of contract and tender information. It is also now released outside the freedom of information process. The information that is released now contains much more detail than would have been possible under the old freedom of information process. The Government welcomes the Ombudsman's review. It will support it and cooperate with the Ombudsman. It will also give very serious consideration to his recommendations when the report is completed.

BEECHWOOD HOMES

Ms NOREEN HAY: I direct my question to the Minister for Fair Trading. Will the Minister update the House on the latest information relating to Beechwood Homes?

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Murray-Darling will come to order.

Ms LINDA BURNEY: I am advised that yesterday Beechwood Homes entered into voluntary administration. This is a serious situation because Beechwood Homes is one of the larger construction companies in New South Wales. This must have come as a terrible shock to the families who have signed contracts with one of the biggest home builders in New South Wales. I understand that about 300 families have been affected by the collapse of this building company. Most of the building contracts were in the Hunter and Sydney and on the South Coast. Some building is also underway on the Mid North Coast.

I ask members who are approached by families who have been affected by this collapse to advise them that my office and the Office of Fair Trading will provide assistance in obtaining answers to their questions. Obviously this is a very distressing situation. As I said, about 300 New South Wales families have been affected by this collapse. My message to those consumers who have been affected is not to panic and not to terminate their contract with Beechwood Homes. It is very important that members, the Office of Fair Trading and I get that message to the people who have been affected: They should definitely not terminate their contracts and they should not panic.

The Office of Fair Trading is working very closely with the administrators. I was advised just before question time that BankWest, one of the secured creditors, is moving towards appointing a receiver. The situation is changing rapidly. I share the worries of clients of Beechwood Homes and also tradespeople who will be caught up in this unfortunate situation. I advise members and people whose homes are already under construction that the administrators intend to engage builders to complete the jobs. I can inform those who have signed contracts—and this is an important message, particularly for those members whose constituents are affected—that the jobs will be completed.

For those who have signed a contract and who are waiting for work to start, our advice is not to cancel the contract. Under the Home Building Act in New South Wales, home warranty insurance certificates must accompany contracts. So a company of this size will have warranty insurance certificates. This protects consumers in New South Wales for incomplete work to a maximum of $300,000. It also covers loss of deposit. That is important because a number of people will have put down their deposit but not had construction start. They will be protected as well. The home warranty insurance scheme is an integral part of our consumer protection framework for home building work in New South Wales. I understand that a certificate of insurance issued by Vero should cover all homes currently under construction by the Beechwood group. The Office of Fair Trading is working closely with the administrators. 7598 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

One important point we are in the process of establishing is how many tradespeople will be affected by this collapse. I strongly encourage the receiver to redeploy current employees to finish the homes so that they are not disadvantaged as well. I am also advised that the situation appears to be due to the current economic climate and is not the result of poor or defective building work. I have asked the Office of Fair Trading to work with the administrator, Armstrong Wiley, and Vero, the private home warranty insurer, to bring about a quick resolution of this situation for all consumers. Should the administrator be unable to have the homes completed, the home warranty insurance protection framework established by the Government will provide consumers with protection of up to $300,000 to enable their homes to be completed or their deposits recovered. I am advised that that $300,000 will protect the people involved. In conclusion, I urge consumers to contact the Office of Fair Trading on 13 22 20 for assistance to guide them through this difficult time. The Office of Fair Trading has requested me particularly to make it clear that it is there to support consumers.

Mr Chris Hartcher: That number again?

Ms LINDA BURNEY: The member for Terrigal may not think this is important. He has spoken all the way through my answer. I hope that those people affected by this collapse will note his performance.

Question time concluded.

PETITIONS

Edgecliff Interchange Upgrade

Petition requesting the upgrading of Edgecliff interchange, received from Ms Clover Moore.

Pyrmont to Town Hall Bus Service

Petition requesting a 10-minute bus service between Pyrmont foreshore via Broadway to Town Hall, received from Ms Clover Moore.

Hawkesbury River Railway Station Access

Petition requesting improved access to Hawkesbury River railway station, received from Mrs Judy Hopwood.

CountryLink Pensioner Booking Fee

Petition requesting the removal of booking fees charged to pensioners on CountryLink services, received from Mrs Shelley Hancock.

South Coast Pensioner Concessions

Petition requesting that pensioner concessions be provided for travel within the South Coast area, received from Mrs Shelley Hancock.

South Coast Rail Services

Petition opposing any reduction in rail services on the South Coast, received from Mrs Shelley Hancock.

South Coast Correctional Centre

Petition asking that the South Coast Correctional Centre not be constructed in the Shoalhaven, received from Mrs Shelley Hancock.

Public Library Funding

Petitions requesting increased funding for public libraries, received from Mr Daryl Maguire and Mr John Turner. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7599

Shoalhaven Mental Health Services

Petition requesting funding for the establishment of a dedicated mental health service in the Shoalhaven, received from Mrs Shelley Hancock.

Hornsby Area Haemodialysis

Petition asking that a public haemodialysis centre be established in the Hornsby area, received from Mrs Judy Hopwood.

Tumut Renal Dialysis Service

Petition praying that the House support the establishment of a satellite renal dialysis service in Tumut, received from Mr Daryl Maguire.

Culburra Policing

Petition requesting increased police numbers in the Culburra area, received from Mrs Shelley Hancock.

Shoalhaven Local Area Command

Petition requesting additional resources for the Shoalhaven Local Area Command, received from Mrs Shelley Hancock.

Falls Creek Traffic Arrangements

Petition requesting consultation with residents concerning the intersection of the Princes Highway and Parma Road, Falls Creek, received from Mrs Shelley Hancock.

Rathmines Traffic Arrangements

Petition requesting upgrading of the intersection of Dorrington Road and Wangi Road, Rathmines, received from Mr Greg Piper.

Pet Shops

Petition opposing the sale of animals in pet shops, received from Ms Clover Moore.

Drought Relief Worker Job Protection

Petition requesting that the jobs of drought relief workers be protected, received from Mr Greg Aplin.

Queensland Fruit Fly Eradication

Petition requesting funding for local councils to conduct fruit fly eradication programs in the Albury electorate, received from Mr Greg Aplin.

Shoalhaven River Water Extraction

Petition opposing the extraction of water from the Shoalhaven River to support Sydney's water supply, received from Mrs Shelley Hancock.

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

Reordering of General Business

Mr ANDREW STONER (Oxley—Leader of The Nationals) [3.14 p.m.]: I move:

That General Business Notice of Motion (General Notice) given by me this day [Sale of Electricity Assets] have precedence on Thursday 15 May 2008.

7600 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

This motion deserves precedence tomorrow because, after 13 years in office, Labor has become so arrogant it thinks it can undertake reform as significant as electricity privatisation without a mandate and without it passing through Parliament. Today the Premier talked about enabling legislation, which tinkers at the margins. It is about prices and workers, not the sale itself. That is a facade. Parliament will not be given the opportunity to debate this sale under the Premier's plan. The truth is that the deal was done months ago. Union bosses rolled over long ago—with one on the promise of a seat in Parliament—and the Australian Labor Party State conference was nothing more than a stage-managed facade designed to reinvent Morris Iemma as a tough leader. The public never got a look-in on the deal. That is why this matter should be debated tomorrow.

We have a Premier who is pretending to be a tough leader but who really does not have the courage to take his power sell-off to the people of New South Wales or to the people's House. We still do not know the details of the deal. The Premier still has not released the precise details. We have seen the way the Labor Party does business in New South Wales. It is fast becoming known as the "mates State" because it is governed by Labor mates behind closed doors. They bastardised the Cross City Tunnel concept by making it longer, costlier and less accessible to traffic. Then they sold out the public interest with backroom deals about tunnel funnels and generous automatic toll rises to keep the private sector interested.

Mr Steve Whan: Point of order: The Leader of The Nationals is obviously reading from a speech prepared by somebody who is living in some sort of fantasy world.

The SPEAKER: Order! What is the member's point of order?

Mr Steve Whan: I ask you to direct the Leader of The Nationals to table that prepared speech.

The SPEAKER: Order! As the House is aware, I have previously ruled that members will be given a little latitude during these sorts of debates.

Mr ANDREW STONER: This matter deserves to be debated urgently because we know how Government members do deals. They told the public before the election that they would build a desalination plant only if dam levels fell below 30 per cent. Then they conned the public by saying it would be only a small one that would not cost much. Once the election was out of the way they went ahead—while dam levels were rising to 70 per cent—with a $2 billion-plus mega desalination white elephant. They sold out the public interest in backroom deals on the Lane Cove Tunnel. They had the gall to bribe the operator with a $25-million payout to defer the tunnel funnel until after the election and then refused to release the documents under freedom of information legislation. That is the way Labor does business in this State and that is why we must debate the power sell-off plan. If Government members think they can keep getting away with treating Parliament and the public with that sort of contempt they are sadly mistaken. This matter should be debated tomorrow because the people of New South Wales simply do not trust the Government.

Mr Alan Ashton: Point of order: This point of order is rarely taken in this House but the Leader of The Nationals is clearly reading from a prepared speech.

The SPEAKER: Order! I am confident that the Leader of The Nationals is reading from copious notes.

Mr ANDREW STONER: The Opposition is not going to allow the Government to bungle another deal, done with Labor mates behind closed doors. We will not allow the Government to continue to treat the public with contempt. During question time today the Premier mentioned Mike Carlton's views. That is fine.

The SPEAKER: Order! Government members will cease interjecting.

Mr ANDREW STONER: Yesterday I was interviewed on Mike Carlton and Sandy Aloisi's 2UE radio program.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Monaro to order.

Mr ANDREW STONER: This is how Mike Carlton concluded regarding the Labor Government:

This Government is arrogant, aloof, mean-spirited, refusing to listen.

It is a Labor Government that has been in power so long it is smug and complacent, self-satisfied, totally out of touch with the people, head up its own arse. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7601

Mr JOHN AQUILINA (Riverstone—Leader of the House) [3.19 p.m.]: When I consider the Machiavellian plot that the Leader of The Nationals outlined I am almost inclined to agree with the motion to see what colour his face will turn and how he will vote. However, I will resist that temptation.

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order, including the member for Lismore, the member for Hawkesbury and the member for Bathurst.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA: I do not know what kind of fantasy world the Leader of The Nationals is living in.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hawkesbury will cease interjecting.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA: To suggest that what happened at the Australian Labor Party State conference was a Machiavellian plot is to stretch the truth to its ultimate limit.

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order. I place the member for Murray-Darling on three calls to order.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA: It is clear that the Leader of The Nationals lacks conviction in what he says. No other Opposition member believes it either; it is a total fabrication. He is living in a fairyland of his own making. Even his colleagues are scratching their heads, trying to work out what he is getting at. I shall be precise. The Government has already outlined the coming legislative package to secure the energy future of New South Wales. It is a matter of public record. It has always been the Government's intention to ensure transparency and certainty in order to facilitate our plans to secure the State's future energy supplies. It has been spelt out before—and I do so again now—precisely what that legislation will include. It will include price regulation until 2013, or at least until the Government is satisfied that increased competition is putting downward pressure on prices.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Clarence will cease interjecting.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA: It will include protections and guarantees for the workforce. These have already been spelt out.

Mr Andrew Fraser: Point of order: Mr Speaker—

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the House will resume his seat. The Leader of The Nationals— sorry, the Deputy Leader of the Nationals rises on a point of order.

Mr Andrew Fraser: I refer you to page 63 of Erskine May, "Accountability to Parliament", which states:

Members who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Premier.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Leader of The Nationals will resume his seat. There is no point of order.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA: I thought you were going to ask the Leader of The Nationals to resign, Mr Speaker!

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA: I have been outnumbered. The member for Monaro and others from Country Labor want to keep the Leader of The Nationals exactly where he is—for which we apologise! The legislation will include the establishment of the intergeneration fund to provide an ongoing funding source to replace forgone dividends and to maintain funding for key priorities, such as health, education and infrastructure—the Premier told us about that as recently as today. The legislation will guarantee the Government's commitments to consumers, workers and the environment.

The Government has also struck the right balance by securing energy supplies for the future while keeping all electricity infrastructure in public hands. The legislation will provide assurances to electricity customers that consumer protections and price regulation will remain. It will provide certainty to affected 7602 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

electricity workers that their jobs, conditions and superannuation arrangements will also remain in place. Clearly there is no need for this legislation to be debated tomorrow because everything the Opposition wants to achieve the Government has already guaranteed.

Question—That the motion be agreed to—put.

The House divided.

Ayes, 39

Mr Aplin Ms Hodgkinson Mrs Skinner Mr Baird Mrs Hopwood Mr Smith Mr Baumann Mr Humphries Mr Souris Ms Berejiklian Mr Merton Mr Stokes Mr Cansdell Ms Moore Mr Stoner Mr Constance Mr Oakeshott Mr J. H. Turner Mr Debnam Mr O'Dea Mr R. W. Turner Mr Draper Mr O'Farrell Mr J. D. Williams Mrs Fardell Mr Page Mr R. C. Williams Mr Fraser Mr Piccoli Ms Goward Mr Piper Mrs Hancock Mr Provest Tellers, Mr Hartcher Mr Richardson Mr George Mr Hazzard Mr Roberts Mr Maguire

Noes, 49

Mr Amery Mr Harris Mrs Paluzzano Ms Andrews Ms Hay Mr Pearce Mr Aquilina Mr Hickey Mrs Perry Ms Beamer Ms Hornery Mr Rees Mr Borger Ms Judge Mr Sartor Mr Brown Ms Keneally Mr Shearan Ms Burton Mr Khoshaba Mr Stewart Mr Campbell Mr Koperberg Ms Tebbutt Mr Collier Mr Lynch Mr Terenzini Mr Coombs Mr McBride Mr Tripodi Mr Corrigan Dr McDonald Mr Watkins Mr Costa Ms McKay Mr West Mr Daley Mr McLeay Mr Whan Ms D'Amore Ms McMahon Ms Firth Ms Meagher Tellers, Ms Gadiel Ms Megarrity Mr Ashton Mr Greene Mr Morris Mr Martin

Pair

Mr Kerr Mr Gibson

Question resolved in the negative.

Motion negatived.

CONSIDERATION OF MOTIONS TO BE ACCORDED PRIORITY

Media and Pop Culture

Ms TANY GADIEL (Parramatta—Parliamentary Secretary) [3.32 p.m.]: This matter should be given priority because we have a responsibility to protect our young children from the potentially damaging impact of 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7603

pop culture. The media and other producers of pop entertainment need to be reminded that they, too, have a responsibility to our children and young people. This matter deserves priority because of the increasing exposure of children and young people to media and pop culture. With the eighth series of Big Brother underway—and the appearance of the errant Corey Worthington, who it is rumoured is being paid $20,000 to take part—we need to ensure that children are aware that this type of behaviour is neither normal nor acceptable.

Mental Health Beds

Mr GREG APLIN (Albury) [3.33 p.m.]: The following motion should be accorded priority:

That this House condemns the Government for a shortage of mental health beds across New South Wales.

New South Wales is facing a mental health crisis of monumental proportions. In recent months we have seen emergency departments overflowing with mental health patients, staff pushed to the brink of industrial action and severe cases of mismanagement for acute care psychiatric patients publicised. However, the Government continues to claim that mental health is a priority. It continues to claim it is making progress. It continues to parade around, waving its much-loved media releases and claiming how serious it is about its $1 billion investment. How can this be so? How can the Premier, who closed a mental health facility at Rozelle Hospital with 240 beds and moved the patients to a facility at Concord hospital with only 174 beds, consider himself to be genuinely serious about tackling the problems facing mental health in this State? Members opposite should be ashamed of themselves. This certainly is a matter of priority.

The Iemma Labor Government has failed to confront the problem of mental health bed shortages in New South Wales since it came to office, with its so-called solutions being little more than window dressing. Today the Sydney Morning Herald reported that nurses at Prince of Wales Hospital are so appalled with the current bed shortage that they have voted to begin work bans, effective immediately. One of Sydney's largest hospitals, a teaching hospital for the University of New South Wales and a leader in research, is in the grips of a bed shortage so severe that staff today threatened to walk off the job in protest at this Government's inaction and lack of care. The crisis at Prince of Wales Hospital has reached the point where patients are being placed on couches and in seclusion rooms due to a lack of beds. How is that happening? How has our health system degraded to a point where we are now experiencing Third World conditions in a system that this Government seems to ignore, taking only token action in the hope of avoiding a general public backlash?

Last night I spoke about the need to pay more attention to the mental health system. I gave examples of hospitals across Sydney that have experienced appalling bed shortages that are the result not of patient spikes, as claimed by the Government, but of a real shortage in acute care mental health beds. The Prince of Wales Hospital seems to be at the centre of this current problem, facing crises on 26 and 27 April this year, again on 5 May and then yesterday. Several unused beds in its emergency department had to be closed due to the demands of mental health patients that had to be met using already stretched resources, all its resuscitation beds were occupied by psychiatric patients, and six ambulances were on hold outside the hospital because of the lack of beds. Yet the Government claims that it is making progress. It claims it is serious about mental health.

The Minister assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health) said yesterday during question time that the Premier had made mental health a "personal priority". But that is only government spin. With a plethora of examples at Prince of Wales Hospital and the story of Callan Park, it is impossible to argue otherwise. But more evidence of this crisis can be found in a four-year study conducted by researchers at St Vincent's Hospital, led by Professor Gavin Andrews. The Tolkien II report found that shortages of supervised accommodation were creating a vicious cycle for sufferers, clogging hospital beds and costing the Government millions of dollars in treatment. In praising the thoroughness of the research, the director of St Vincent's mental health services, Peter McGeorge, noted that on recent weekends only one or two beds had been available in the State, and that some mental health patients had been treated in acute care for up to three years. He was quoted as saying:

… this is unacceptable. Without the kind of accommodation we need we will continue to have 30 to50 per cent of acute beds blocked.

Professor Andrews said that the present crisis in mental health is caused largely by people with psychosis who genuinely need to go to hospital not being able to access urgent care because acute hospital beds are clogged by 7604 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

people with chronic mental health conditions who have nowhere else to be discharged to. The Government should have made this issue a priority. As the 2005 New South Wales Audit Office performance report on emergency mental health services stated:

The increase in demand for emergency mental health services has offset many (and perhaps all) of the gains from increases. This system is under considerable pressure, and patients can face lengthy delays before being admitted to a bed. There is also evidence that some patients spent inappropriately long periods in emergency departments while awaiting acute mental health beds or are discharged from the emergency department prior to a bed becoming available.

The Audit Office noted that bed numbers remained below the targets of the Department of Health, and the audit team found in one rural hospital it visited that some mental health patients completed their intensive treatment in the emergency department. They stated at the time that this was neither ideal for the patients nor ideal for the department. The fact that we hear the same complaints today from any number of hospitals is evidence that this issue must be addressed urgently. For far too long the Government has done the bare minimum in relation to mental health in New South Wales. The need is more urgent than ever to take serious action to reduce patient blockages in emergency departments, increase the availability of mental health beds and ease the stress on hardworking nurses.

Question—That the motion of the member for Parramatta be accorded priority—put.

The House divided.

Ayes, 48

Mr Amery Mr Greene Mrs Paluzzano Ms Andrews Mr Harris Mr Pearce Mr Aquilina Ms Hay Mrs Perry Ms Beamer Mr Hickey Mr Rees Mr Borger Ms Hornery Mr Sartor Mr Brown Ms Judge Mr Shearan Ms Burney Ms Keneally Ms Tebbutt Ms Burton Mr Khoshaba Mr Terenzini Mr Campbell Mr Lynch Mr Tripodi Mr Collier Mr McBride Mr Watkins Mr Coombs Dr McDonald Mr West Mr Corrigan Ms McKay Mr Whan Mr Costa Mr McLeay Mr Daley Ms McMahon Ms D'Amore Ms Meagher Tellers, Ms Firth Ms Megarrity Mr Ashton Ms Gadiel Mr Morris Mr Martin

Noes, 38

Mr Aplin Ms Hodgkinson Mr Roberts Mr Baird Mrs Hopwood Mrs Skinner Mr Baumann Mr Humphries Mr Smith Ms Berejiklian Mr Merton Mr Souris Mr Cansdell Ms Moore Mr Stokes Mr Constance Mr Oakeshott Mr Stoner Mr Debnam Mr O'Dea Mr J. H. Turner Mr Draper Mr O'Farrell Mr R. W. Turner Mrs Fardell Mr Page Mr J. D. Williams Mr Fraser Mr Piccoli Mr R. C. Williams Ms Goward Mr Piper Tellers, Mrs Hancock Mr Provest Mr George Mr Hartcher Mr Richardson Mr Maguire

Pair

Mr Gibson Mr Kerr

Question resolved in the affirmative. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7605

MEDIA AND POP CULTURE

Motion Accorded Priority

Ms TANYA GADIEL (Parramatta—Parliamentary Secretary) [3.47 p.m.]: I move:

That this House:

(1) congratulates the Government on its recent initiatives to ensure young people across New South Wales are protected from the influence of peer and media pressure;

(2) notes the negative impact that recent media hype surrounding reality television and other popular culture can have on vulnerable young people; and

(3) calls on the producers of this material to behave responsibly and consider the impact of their work.

As a mother of two young girls I am becoming increasingly concerned about the pressure young people are facing at an early age. Every day our young kids are subjected to the wrong messages from the media and their peers: messages that tell them that they are not pretty enough, skinny enough or cool enough. With the ever-increasing popularity of shows like Big Brother and Extreme Makeover I fear that children are being put at risk by irresponsible television production.

The Iemma Government is working hard to protect young people from the influence of peer and media pressure. This is not 1984, or Big Brother for that matter: The Government cannot be in every lounge room monitoring the reading and viewing habits of our children. Parents and the media must take responsibility for the messages that children are receiving. It is up to parents to decide the information their children consume. If parents simply turn off the television, media outlets soon will get the message that allowing alcohol-fuelled people to behave like buffoons for the sake of ratings is not acceptable. Since Big Brother began we have seen sexual behaviour televised live on television, bullying, and finally the entrance of that fool Corey Worthington as an intruder.

Mr Barry O'Farrell: Did you switch it off? How did you see it?

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Barry O'Farrell: Because of alcohol.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will remain silent.

Ms TANYA GADIEL: Since hosting that wildly out-of-control party at his parent's home in Victoria, Corey, I am disgusted to say, has become somewhat of a hero. His outrageous display of disgusting behaviour, underage drinking, violence and vandalism has been the subject of numerous radio and television interviews. Corey now has his own fan club with a website and, I would argue, has bastardised completely the Beastie Boys song Fight for your right to party. A website has instructions on how to hold a Corey-style party, which will encourage young people to emulate Corey's ridiculousness. As Parliamentary Secretary for Police, I remind the House that the Government has put in place measures to stop and prevent house parties from getting out of control. Those measures include an initiative that enables party hosts to register a party with the police. Having been made aware of it, police monitor the situation and help prevent hoodlum party crashers.

Mr Barry O'Farrell: Didn't Corey live in the house? Didn't his parents give him permission?

Ms TANYA GADIEL: The Leader of the Opposition is demonstrating his ignorance.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting.

Ms TANYA GADIEL: Corey's self-declared "best party ever" was nothing more than an ultimate display of disregard for the law, his parents, his neighbours and the community. I was most concerned about the media hype generated by this young idiot with his yellow sunglasses and silly baseball cap. All it has achieved is to make a cult hero out of an irresponsible twit. His appearance on Big Brother served only to condone his behaviour. In my view, the producers of Big Brother, and every other reality and pop culture television program, 7606 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

have a responsibility to the viewers. They must keep in mind that normalising this type of behaviour can have an adverse effect on the vulnerable young minds that consume their programs. We can turn off our televisions and parents do have a responsibility to their children. But it is not good enough for producers and magazine editors to simply ignore that they influence our young people. What young people see and hear, and how they use the information can be damaging to their self-esteem and skew their views about the way responsible adults behave.

I do not believe there would be a parent in this place who at some time or another has not been concerned about their children's consumption of violent video games, such as the recently released Grand Theft Auto 4, which involves the violent stealing of cars; reality television shows, such as Big Brother and Australia's Next Top Model; and magazines such as Cleo and Dolly, which are aimed at tweens and teenage girls. Parents and government cannot watch children all the time. While I understand that some people enjoy the voyeurism and escapism of reality television and other pop culture entertainment, our first responsibility must be to the young minds that are being shaped by the consumption of this material day in and day out.

I have two very young daughters. The last place I want them to discover their sense of self and self-worth is from watching Australia's Next Top Model or reading the pages of Cleo. The young women, often teenagers still in high school, who appear on Australia's Next Top Model are denigrated publicly for their size and appearance. Some have been labelled too big, others too thin. It reinforces a culture of regarding women as objects or clothes horses who have value only because of the way they look. The Government has been particularly concerned about young girls who are involved in modelling. So concerned was the Premier that he moved to strengthen regulation about child modelling, cutting the age at which models must register with the Commission for Children and Young People from 16 to 15. We must let our children be children.

Mrs SHELLEY HANCOCK (South Coast) [3.54 p.m.]: I congratulate the member for Parramatta on moving this motion about young people. We often do not talk in this place about the real issues facing young people. I respect her dedication to her electorate and I respect her as a person. At first, I became excited when I read paragraph (1) of the motion, which states:

Congratulates the Iemma Government on its recent initiatives to ensure young people across NSW are protected from the influence of peer and media pressure;

When reading that paragraph, I assumed that the Government would announce key initiatives. I listened carefully to the speech given by the member for Parramatta, yet I did not hear her announce one new initiative. I heard her make an understandable tirade against Big Brother. Opposition members do not watch Big Brother. We just look across at members on the other side of the House to see Big Brother in action right before our eyes. We do not need to watch Big Brother on television. I was disappointed that the member did not announce any new initiatives. In her speech the member made a brief reference to the Minister for Police, Corey Worthington and party plans. The Minister for Police announced the party plan initiative two or three years before Corey Worthington's party. That initiative had no effect whatsoever on the events at Cory Worthington's house that night.

Ms TANYA GADIEL: Cory Worthington's house is in Melbourne, Victoria.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! What is the member's point of order?

Ms TANYA GADIEL: I made my point.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! I remind the member for Parramatta that there is an appropriate way in which to take a point of order.

Mrs SHELLEY HANCOCK: There was no point of order. The member for Parramatta does not want to hear what I have to say. She is embarrassed about her poorly worded motion. I am sure she did not write it. If she had, she would have been as excited as I was about the prospect of new initiatives. She would have given information in her speech about government initiatives. There are no new initiatives. Paragraph (2) of the motion states:

Notes the negative impact that recent media hype surrounding reality television and other popular culture can have on vulnerable young people …

14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7607

I do not understand what the member means. Does she mean the negative impact of recent media hype or the negative impact of reality television and popular culture? The motion simply does not make sense. Paragraph (3) states:

Calls on the producers of this material to behave responsibly and consider the impact of their work.

Is the New South Wales Labor Government going to tell the owners and producers of Big Brother to consider its impact on young viewers and cancel the program? If the Government were as concerned as the member suggested, it would have done something. The member stated that she is the mother of two young daughters. My daughters have grown up and are somewhat older than hers. I was always concerned about the material they were exposed to. The member's comment hit the nail on the head: as parents we must protect our children from these television programs. Government does not and cannot play a role in this regard. Because of their age, children and teenagers always will be vulnerable to peer pressure. As parents we must impress upon them their individuality and ensure that the education system teaches children about the way in which the media exploit them and skew their views.

The member for Parramatta spoke about exploitation by the media. I refer members to election material for the 2007 election to see how the Australian Labor Party completely misled the community. It lied to the community about supposed cuts the Coalition would make to nurses and police numbers. That was an absolute lie and a disgraceful, shameful act. The Australian Labor Party exploited the media and, through them, young vulnerable people. If the Government wants a debate about young people and their problems, then bring it on. Let us have a proper debate about the issues faced by young people in New South Wales. Research shows that 9.5 per cent of girls aged 14 to 19 years drink alcohol at risky or high-risk levels at least weekly. That is an issue that should be debated in this place. Further, 26.5 per cent of girls aged 14 to 19 years have taken illicit drugs, compared with 21.1 per cent of boys. The number of girls who are smoking has increased. When I was a teacher the numbers were dropping. Let us debate that issue.

Another issue we should debate is the protection of children who go online. All these issues are emerging as we have moved into the Internet era. Twenty-six per cent of Australia's 3.8 million MySpace users are aged 18 years. Rather than talk about Corey Worthington and his parties let us talk about homelessness. Currently, approximately 100,000 people in Australia are homeless, with about one-third aged 25 years and under. Let us have a debate on that. Let us have a debate on mental health and let us consider that the motion moved by the member for Parramatta was accorded priority over a motion by the member for Albury and shadow Minister for Mental Health on mental health and the shortage of mental health beds. I could go on for half an hour about the shortage of mental health beds in the Shoalhaven Hospital—there are none. Even though we have been promised 12 to 15 mental health beds in the clinical services plan, we have not seen one: it is a broken promise.

Mental health, homelessness, and drug and alcohol abuse are serious issues facing young people and we should debate those issues. We should consider also what is happening in our schools. Wonderful teachers work in our schools, but they are going on strike in a week or so. Why? Because this Government is not listening to them about staffing issues and the importance of retaining the staffing system that will encourage and attract teachers to join the New South Wales teaching force. Teachers are turning away and retiring in droves from the New South Wales system because of the challenges they face and because this Government does not listen to them. This Government does not work with teachers and it does not cooperate with teachers. Hence, young people in our schools are feeling a little demoralised also. Public schools have a $115 million maintenance backlog. Young people are now being educated in schools with leaking roofs and leaking toilets. At Ulladulla High School, where I used to teach, sewage overflowed onto the playground. These are the things that young people are experiencing throughout the State. Let us have a real debate about those issues and not about Corey Worthington and Big Brother.

Ms DIANE BEAMER (Mulgoa) [4.01 p.m.]: The Premier has introduced a number of important initiatives aimed at preserving the innocence of our children. I do not want to go into a debate about how many daughters members have, but I have five, and one of the things that really concerns me is the increasing sexualisation of young children. I am sure that many people are concerned about the pressures on young girls who have been influenced by popular culture and television shows. But there are also other ways in which our young people are being sexualised. I was never more appalled than when I went to a department store a couple of years ago and saw a padded bra marketed at 10-year-olds. One cannot help but be concerned about the way in which our community is heading when these types of things are on sale.

Young women and girls are particularly vulnerable to the perceptions of how they should look and behave. Their role models, who are ultra-thin and show appalling behaviour and poor choices, are popularised in 7608 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

magazines and on television shows, and that carries into our culture. It is almost as if a young girl has to behave in an extraordinary way to grace the front cover of our more popular magazines. I will not to go on too much about Big Brother, but a couple of years ago one of the contestants and her mother appeared on Big Brother and talked about their breast enlargements. The young woman was just 17 years of age. She has since gone on to model for illustrious publications such as Zoo Weekly.

These kinds of things encourage young girls to have a very flawed image of themselves. If they do not fit media portrayals of attractive and desirable then we have the phenomenon of young women seeking cosmetic surgery. A prominent Sydney plastic surgeon told the media that about 5 per cent to 10 per cent of the people who approach him are young women aged 18 to 23 years seeking breast enlargements. The Government was extremely concerned about the health implications of cosmetic surgery on young girls and, as a result, tightened the regulations dealing with cosmetic surgery, particularly for young people under the age of 18 years.

The changes to the regulations include a cooling-off period for people under the age of 18 years, as well as tougher rules for advertising cosmetic surgery. Under the changes, scientific or technical information in advertisements will be required to be presented in a way that is easily understood by anyone considering the procedure. Photographs in advertisements will have to be more realistic and must include information explaining the relevance of the photographs. Women's magazines and publications, in which movie stars look unrealistically glamorous, are targeted at teenagers. These publications must take responsibility and start portraying a more real image of young girls and women. I commend the motion and the initiative of the State Government.

Mr GEOFF PROVEST (Tweed) [4.04 p.m.]: I acknowledge particularly the comments made by the member for Parramatta. It strikes me that the Government is big on spin and it is big on warm, fuzzy things, but in my electorate there has been a real lack of initiatives to look after youth. In our area we receive media footprints from across the border. The Premiers met in 2006 and promised better meetings to discuss cross-border issues. Since that time there has been only one meeting. I would be the first to say that children in New South Wales are our future, but more should be done to protect them.

In the Tweed we do not have any mental health youth workers, yet there is a significant amount of mental health problems among our youth. The Australian National Youth Mental Health Forum says that 70 per cent of mental health disorders start before the age of 25, but that 70 per cent of young men who experience mental health and substance abuse problems do not seek help. It is pretty hard in the Tweed to seek help if none is available. Members of two organisations, Rosie Kids on the Street and the Cool Heads, go out into the local community to talk to young people and find solutions to their many and varied issues. Some of these young people live in abusive homes and they also have to deal with the enormous problem of peer pressure.

I would not like to grow up today because I believe television places a significant amount of pressure on the youth of today. But people cannot ring a television producer and ask him or her to stop the pressure; plans have to be formulated and, more importantly, sufficient funds have to be allocated to run programs to assist young people. Many programs have been established. I refer to a media release sometime ago by the former Minister for Youth, Linda Burney. I researched the document and about the only thing of any substance I could find was a proposal for midnight basketball in Campbelltown and Armidale. While that is probably a very worthwhile scheme and probably provides some activities for the youth in those areas, one would have to question if there is not more that could be done for young people. We must do more. We should get out and talk to the young people. It is no good old people making decisions for them; youth need to be involved and be given real ownership so they feel that they are part of the 100 per cent for the Tweed.

Ms JODI McKAY (Newcastle) [4.07 p.m.]: I support the motion because I believe it is important that as a government and as a community we should protect the innocence of children for as long as possible. I note the contribution by the member for South Coast in regard to the Government's initiatives. The Minister for Community Services mentioned one of those initiatives in the Chamber this week: the Government is backing up an announcement by the Premier to support parents on the issue of body piercing and other forms of body art. Parental consent relating to body piercing and other forms of body art is of particular concern to me. These forms of body art have the potential to be disfiguring, to leave permanent scarring, to become infected and to cause serious health problems.

Today the media obviously influences young people, and their peers also influence them. Both the members for Mulgoa and for Tweed told the House their views on that matter. But it is important that the Iemma 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7609

Government is introducing measures that will back the authority of parents to say how, when and where their kids can get a piercing or other forms of obscure body art. A parent came to see me and told me that her child came home with a form of obscure body art for which parental consent was not required. I listened to her argument and believe that most mums or dads would want to know if their children intended to be permanently scarred. That is what we are talking about: permanent scarring.

I am also pleased to note that the Government's changes will mean that children under 16 years of age will now require permission from a parent to have their body pierced. Piercing operators who flout the law will face fines of up to $22,000 if they perform an intimate piercing procedure on a child. While I am concerned about the obvious health risks associated with piercing, like most people I am appalled by the fact that a child can be pierced in that manner with no questions asked. It is clearly inappropriate for a child under 16 years of age to expose himself or herself to a stranger in the name of a fashion trend. I acknowledge that some tattooists and piercers operate within stringent health guidelines and do the right thing. However, there are certainly cowboys and that is what the Minister's announcement is all about. I congratulate the Premier and the Minister on these initiatives to ensure that young people across New South Wales are protected from the influence of their peers and, in some cases, the media.

Ms TANYA GADIEL (Parramatta—Parliamentary Secretary) [4.10 p.m.], in reply: I thank most members who made contributions to this debate today. The member for South Coast gave probably one of the most bizarre speeches I have heard in this place. She said that the State Government had no policies and that the motion was poorly worded. She also said that it was ridiculous that the Government had made announcements about house parties that had happened two years earlier and, therefore, it did not look after Corey. As I pointed out—through a point of order—the member was incorrect because Corey is from Melbourne and the incident occurred in Victoria.

The point was made that Corey's behaviour was truly unacceptable and he showed a lack of remorse. It is totally inappropriate to popularise and reward him with an appearance on a reality television program such as Big Brother and allegedly to pay him for it. I accept that young people make mistakes and most people will learn from them. However, if a young person is rewarded with fame and money for having done something stupid, I wonder what kind of example we are setting for our youth. The Leader of the Opposition interjected about Corey being in his home. He was in his home and his parents own it, but he had a party without his parents' permission. That was appalling behaviour. He even rejected telephone calls from his parents after they saw the news broadcast about the incident. He said that he thought they would kill him, but so be it.

The member for Tweed also made an interesting contribution. As members are aware, I am the Parliamentary Secretary and I know that many representations are made about this issue in the Tweed area, particularly during school holidays. Locals say that insufficient police officers are available in the holidays. They are concerned about young people and the parties they hold. Obviously the Government's initiatives are designed to assist parents and young people if they hold a party and it gets out of control. I thank the members for Newcastle and Mulgoa, who spoke passionately about this issue. The member for Mulgoa knows exactly where I am coming from on this issue and the media's effect on children.

Question—That the motion be agreed to—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! It being almost 4.30 p.m., the House will proceed to Government business.

SNOWY MOUNTAINS CLOUD SEEDING TRIAL AMENDMENT (EXTENSION) BILL 2008

Agreement in Principle

Debate resumed from an earlier hour.

Mr RAY WILLIAMS (Hawkesbury) [4.15 p.m.]: As I said, I support the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008. The Hawkesbury area is still prominent in agriculture production and we have been blessed in the past two years that the drought has broken. That is very much the case up the eastern seaboard of New South Wales where we have had massive rainfalls. However, as we heard only this week, 48 per cent—almost half—of New South Wales is still in the grip of drought. Our rural brothers and sisters are certainly suffering and the initiative in this legislation is the very least that we should do to assist 7610 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

them. In fact, we should extend it to other areas and do as much as we can on behalf of these rural communities. Unlike the Hawkesbury area, which has an abundance of water at the moment, some areas of New South Wales are dry and are suffering immeasurably from this relentless drought.

I spoke earlier about the increase in the number of people affected by depression. These farmers feel that when they lose crops season after season they are failures. They are anything but; they are pioneers and the heart and soul of this country. They should never feel that they have failed because of climatic conditions. If we can help in any way by stimulating rainfall and water flows using cloud seeding, we should do so. That is why I fully support this legislation. I have lived my entire life using tank water and I appreciate the importance of water. It would be fair to say that people in the city take for granted the fact that they can simply turn on a tap and access water, even when our dam levels are getting low.

If members want to talk about the effect of climate change and the drought, they should consult the people it affects most—that is, the people who are suffering as a result of the drought in rural New South Wales. Those people also suffer because of their limited access to Telstra facilities. It has been repeatedly proved that cloud seeding can stimulate rainfall and supporting these moves is the least we can do. I extend my heart-felt sympathy to the people of rural New South Wales. I appreciate the opportunity to put that on the record. I also appreciate the importance of water because I have never had the luxury of access to mains water. I know all about the struggles rural people face in times of drought. I have raised a family without access to mains water, but I have had the luxury of being able to buy water. It is also painful to pay for something that many city and suburban people take for granted. Supporting this measure is the least we can do for our country cousins. I therefore support this legislation.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI (Murrumbidgee) [4.19 p.m.]: I support the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Amendment (Extension) Bill 2008 in my capacity as the member for Murrumbidgee and as the shadow Minister for Water. As most members who have spoken on this legislation have said, everyone is aware of the drought that we are continuing to suffer, particularly in southern and south-western New South Wales and along the Murray, Murrumbidgee and Lachlan rivers. Despite the summer rains across northern New South Wales and a couple of inches in our part of the world, the Murrumbidgee area of the Murray-Darling Basin is still in the grip of severe drought. That is why I am a supporter and have always been a supporter of cloud seeding, particularly during these very dry periods.

In about 1994 a trial of airborne cloud seeding was undertaken in the Northern Tablelands. I understand from my colleagues who were in government at the time that it was successful, but after that trial finished cloud seeding was not undertaken again in New South Wales until the Snowy Mountains cloud seeding trial began a few years ago. While I appreciate there is some conflicting information about how successful or otherwise the cloud seeding has been and there are arguments about ground-based cloud seeding as opposed to airborne cloud seeding, it is appropriate that the Government took the initial action to have the trial and that it be extended. Things are desperate, and we need to try everything we can. The irrigators, the communities, the cities and towns along the Murrumbidgee, such as Wagga Wagga, Griffith and Leeton, and the towns along the Murray, such as Finley, Deniliquin, Albury and Mildura, and other towns along the Murray-Darling system into South Australia are absolutely desperate for a decent rainfall.

If this cloud seeding trial can assist, we need to do everything we can. We need substantial rainfall. We continue to hope and pray that we get that rainfall—particularly for those communities that rely on river water for their urban water usage and those communities who rely on irrigation—that will allow farmers the chance to get in some crops and give the local economies the boost they need so that southern and western New South Wales can get back to some normality. We need rain in the catchments in the Snowy Mountains. Beyond that, we hope and pray for more rain right across New South Wales, particularly now that it is 14 May. We hope for a couple of inches of rain across New South Wales so everybody can put in a good crop this season. With good world commodity prices, let us all hope and pray we get a great bumper season this year and turn around the economy of country New South Wales.

Mr STEVE WHAN (Monaro—Parliamentary Secretary) [4.22 p.m.], in reply: I thank the member for Murrumbidgee for his concise comments. I acknowledge the members who have contributed to this debate: the members representing the electorates of Wagga Wagga, Hawkesbury, Murrumbidgee, Coffs Harbour, Murray-Darling, Wollondilly, Blue Mountains, Pittwater, Orange, Barwon, Albury, Castle Hill and Ballina. As has been said, this bill authorises Snowy Hydro Limited to continue the current cloud seeding research for a further five years and over a larger geographical area. This will enable Snowy Hydro to determine with increased certainty the effectiveness of cloud seeding for supplementing natural snowfalls and increasing inflows into the storages of the Snowy Mountains. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7611

As I said in the agreement in principle speech, it is an important initiative for the region I represent and for other regions that adjoin it. It is interesting to note the differences in contributions. There was particularly strong support from members whose electorates are likely to benefit directly from this initiative. That includes the member for Wagga Wagga, the member for Murrumbidgee and the member for Albury, and as well as me. There are a lot of things I want to respond to, but I will try to be reasonably brief. The member for Coffs Harbour led for the Opposition and outlined its support for the bill. He and a number of other members, particularly from the north of the State, talked about broadening the area of cloud seeding and the use of cloud seeding. The member for Wagga Wagga had done some research and cited previous studies, which showed a number of experiments in the Snowy produced very good results. I have been provided with information that the Snowy Mountains is one of the few places in Australia considered to be suitable for cloud seeding due to its elevation and unique climatic factors. That is why this trial is being pursued in that area.

There was discussion from a number of members about whether this trial revealed enough results to continue with it. The trial is expected to show an average of about a 10 per cent increased precipitation. That is about 70 gigalitres of water a year. The statistically significant body of information from the trial will be collated in 2009, and we should start to see the properly analysed results in 2010. Anecdotally, it is fairly clear from what people are seeing in the area and from the tests that have been carried out so far that there has been an impact. Trials were carried out on the same basis, using the same methodology, in the 1950s. According to the information I have—and I know the member for Castle Hill disputed that—these trials reported a 19 per cent increase in precipitation. Those trials used the same method that will be used in the extended trial and is being used in the current trial.

Several members talked about ground-based cloud seeding versus aerial cloud seeding. I do not know about them, but flying around in a storm front in the Snowy Mountains is not my idea of fun. I prefer the ground-based methods for that area. They are also a lot cheaper. One sets up the equipment and it is switched on and off remotely by computer. That is quite an efficient way of doing it. Aerial seeding might be efficient but in this case it is not necessary. The member for Blue Mountains went through a number of environmental issues that had been dealt with in the agreement in principle speech and effectively dealt with by studies that are already available. They show that cloud seeding has not had an adverse impact on the environment. As I highlighted in the agreement in principle speech and as many other members highlighted, it probably will have a positive environmental impact on some aspects of climate change in the Snowy Mountains, particularly on the flora and fauna in the area.

The member for Barwon gave some history of cloud seeding and trials in his region, and the Charleville trough. It was very interesting but, as I mentioned before, the Snowy seems to be the area with the best potential results. That is why this cloud seeding is occurring there. The member for Albury, who represents a large area that stands to benefit from any increase in rainfall, gave support to this extension and an analysis of the way the trial works. I acknowledge the support of various Ministers for extending this trail: Minister Macdonald, the Minister for Primary Industries, who introduced the bill in the other place; Minister Firth, the Minister for Climate Change and Environment; Mr Koperberg, the former Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water; and Minister Brown, the Minister for Tourism, who has publicly supported the extension of this trial because of the potential benefits to the ski industry in the region I represent.

The member for Castle Hill did not say in his speech whether he supported the bill, but from what he said he clearly does not. He made critical comments about the extension of the trial, which were certainly out of kilter with most of the other members of his party who spoke. It makes me wonder yet again whether we are seeing the shadow shadow environment spokesman for the Coalition. Once again he is pretending to be an expert on the environment when he is not even the spokesman. He is obviously disappointed about his spot on the backbench. The member for Castle Hill talked about there being no results available at this stage. I addressed that a minute ago. He asked why this is happening now. It is happening now because Snowy Hydro applied to the Government for the trial to be extended. The Government considered whether this was appropriate and ensured there were plenty of testing and environmental safeguards in place. That is why it is happening now.

The member for Castle Hill was very cynical about the trial and also about global warming. He cast doubt on the predictions of snow retreating. I travel quite frequently to the Snowy Mountains because I represent the area and I enjoy walking there. Snow cover is reducing and the snowline is rising. Threatened species, including flora in the area, is visibly obvious. Without snow cover protection, frost has killed some of the plants to the point where a fire can now be lit on the top of a mountain, which previously was not possible. That is an obvious result of global warming and the current drought. 7612 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

The member for Castle Hill questioned the figures in the agreement in principle speech and the amount of snow that is declining. Not many other people have questioned those figures. He did not provide anything other than anecdotal evidence for his contention that the figures were not correct. He observed that one paragraph of the agreement in principle speech was the same as the second reading speech in the bill for the setting up of the cloud seeding trial. That is not surprising as departmental officers generally prepare those speeches and they need to be fairly close to what is intended in case there is a legal challenge. It is not surprising that the same department prepared the notes for both speeches and therefore some of the information is the same. I think it was a pretty—

Ms Carmel Tebbutt: Cheap shot.

Mr STEVE WHAN: Cheap shot, thank you. I departed from the script to give some local information because that is appropriate. I represent the area and I am more familiar with it than the former shadow Minister. The member for Castle Hill said that the Opposition is being asked to give consent to the bill without seeing the results. I referred to that earlier. He suggested also that dry ice was better for the environment than aerial cloud seeding with silver nitrate, which I have dealt with also. I welcome the positive comments of the member for Wagga Wagga, who represents part of the area that can benefit and who gave it strong support. The member for Murrumbidgee also was positive and I welcome his comments too. The history of the bill is interesting. Obviously some people oppose it and I know that today the Colong Foundation for Wilderness joins the member for Castle Hill in opposing the measure.

When the legislation was first introduced there was some opposition from the Greens, and I will be interested to see what members say in the upper House. One member of the Australian Capital Territory Greens talked about the negative impact on Canberra, but obviously did not understand the path of prevailing winds when the clouds were seeded. I sought assurances that testing would ensure there was not a negative downwind impact for farmers in what is often seen as a rain shadow area east of the mountains. That has been monitored during the trial. So far, on anecdotal evidence, cloud seeding has had a positive benefit for the region, which is why I am confident in saying it is a positive for the ski industry, for farmers, for people on the western side of the mountains who will benefit from the run-off and for Snowy Hydro, which is paying for the trial and stands to make a financial gain from more water.

Extension of the trial will have a positive result in that it will help us to achieve our goal of stronger rural and regional economies for my area and those bounding the area. The Mount Selwyn snowfield also stands to benefit. Last weekend when I was in Adaminaby attending a function people whose incomes depend on the Mount Selwyn snowfields received the news positively, in particular, those with activities around Lake Eucumbene, which is only about 17 per cent full. The member for Castle Hill criticised me for giving the lake figures for May. It is May, which is why I gave those figures. The figures are low and they will get lower as we come into winter. I hope that we will get a bit of spring run-off, when they should increase. They are historically extremely low and, as most members opposite have said, if this measure can help, it is worth doing. I commend the bill to the House.

Question—That this bill be now agreed to in principle—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Passing of the Bill

Bill declared passed and transmitted to the Legislative Council with a message seeking its concurrence in the bill.

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

Suspension of Standing and Sessional Orders: Admission of the Treasurer into the Legislative Assembly

Mr JOHN AQUILINA (Riverstone—Leader of the House) [4.35 p.m.], by leave: I move:

That:

(1) on Tuesday 3 June 2008 standing and sessional orders be suspended to allow for the following routine of business prior to 2.15 p.m.:

(a) at 12 noon, the introduction of the Appropriation Bill and cognate bills; 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7613

(b) the Honourable Michael Costa, MLC, Treasurer, Minister for Infrastructure, and Minister for the Hunter, being immediately admitted to the House for the purpose of giving a speech of unlimited duration in relation to the New South Wales Budget 2008-2009;

(c) after the Premier has moved "That these bills be now agreed to in principle", the debate shall be immediately adjourned after which notices of motions (general notices) are to be given followed by the taking of private members' statements up to 2.15 p.m.; and

(2) that a message be sent to the Legislative Council inviting the Treasurer to attend the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday 3 June 2008.

No doubt the Opposition will have quite a few things to say about this motion, as it has in the past. In fact, one might be tempted to look at Hansard for the past 13 years to see how much tedious repetition Opposition members engage in. They will resurrect the same arguments, perhaps with a little more flair; or perhaps they will be slightly different. For a significant number of years the Treasurer was the Hon. Michael Egan and now it is the Hon. Michael Costa. No doubt Opposition members will temper their comments accordingly. As the Treasurer is a member of the other place and, under the Westminster tradition and in accordance with our Constitution, this motion is necessary to allow him to introduce the budget in this Chamber. It is important that we make allowance for the Treasurer to attend the Chamber to present the appropriation bills. For that reason, as my predecessors have done for the past 13 years, I move this motion in accordance with the constitutional rights and the proper processes of the Westminster system to allow the Treasurer to come into the Legislative Assembly to introduce the budget.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI (Murrumbidgee) [4.38 p.m.]: I move:

That the motion be amended by:

(1) inserting "to be immediately followed by the Leader of the Opposition who will be given equal time to reply" after "in relation to the New South Wales Budget 2008-2009" in paragraph (1) (b); and

(2) inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (1) (c):

(d) upon the conclusion of question time on the first sitting day after his address, the Honourable Michael Costa, MLC, be again admitted to the House for two hours to answer questions on the Appropriation Bill and cognate bills put to him by members in accordance with the standing orders.

Mr Michael Daley: That's the same as last year.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: It is the same amendment as was moved last year. It should have been agreed to last year and in the previous 11 or 12 years because with proper accountability the Government might not have made the mistakes it has made. Let us consider some of those mistakes. For about 10 years every budget was overspent by about $1 billion and then saved by about $1 billion in under-budgeted revenue. Those budgets were saved only by the good economic conditions of the past 10 or 12 years—thanks to the John Howard and Peter Costello Government. The reputations of Mr Howard and Mr Costello were besmirched during question time today but, on any objective measure, it must be conceded that Australia has never seen such good economic times as it has in the past 10 or 12 years. That was due in large part to the Howard-Costello Coalition Government in Canberra.

As the former Prime Minister has reminded us for the past six months, the measures the former Federal Government put in place to deliver those good economic conditions were opposed at every single opportunity by the Labor Party. All the reforms inherited by Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan that led to the economic good times, when cash rolled into the New South Wales Treasury, were opposed by Labor at both State and Federal levels. If the State Treasurer and his predecessor had been held to account properly—if they had delivered their budgets and the Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of The Nationals and Government backbenchers had been allowed to question them—they might not have made the mistakes they did. The Cross City Tunnel and the Lane Cove Tunnel are classic mistakes. They are typical of the failures of the New South Wales Labor Government.

Mr Daryl Maguire: The Tcard.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: I am reminded of the Tcard. The Minister for Transport—whom I have heard called "Mr Tbag", which I think is appropriate—and Michael Costa, who is a former Minister for Transport, are responsible for some of the most costly debacles New South Wales has ever seen. That is why the Opposition wants some accountability. The proposed Parramatta to Chatswood rail link has been halved—half 7614 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

the distance, twice the price. That is why the Treasurer should come to the Legislative Assembly for a couple of hours. There is proper accountability and scrutiny of his actions in the Legislative Council, and he should get that in this place too. Plenty of people, particularly Government backbenchers, want to ask the Treasurer a few questions about another important economic reform in this State: electricity industry privatisation. They want to know about his role in it, how it will affect the budget and what will be done with the money. Today the Premier admitted that only 25 per cent of the proceeds be spent on infrastructure.

Mr Daryl Maguire: How much?

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: Twenty-five per cent will be spent on infrastructure, which makes a mockery of what the Premier has told the people of New South Wales. The Premier said that we need to realise the capital that is tied up in electricity and spend it on hospitals, schools and roads. That is a lie.

Mr Barry O'Farrell: It is a magic pudding.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: Absolutely. The Premier thinks it is a magic pudding. He says that only 25 per cent will be spent on infrastructure. He has been telling lies to the people of New South Wales. I did not hear him speak at the Labor Party conference—I had better things to do—but he probably told the same lie there and in caucus, when he succeeded in getting Labor members on side. Plenty of people on the Government benches want to ask the Treasurer important questions because they are being scrutinised in their electorates. Four or five Labor members from the Hunter claimed that they would cross the floor—they are lions in their electorates. The member for Bathurst is one as well. They had the opportunity to cross the floor today after question time when the Leader of The Nationals moved a motion to reorder business. But, no, when they are in Parliament they duck their heads. They bow obediently every time they walk past Mr Costa, Mr Iemma and Mr Tripodi. In their electorates Labor members tell the Newcastle Herald, "Yes, we're dead against it." However, every time they have the opportunity in this Chamber to say or do something about electricity privatisation, they go dead silent.

The Government and the Opposition want scrutiny of privatisation. The Opposition has laid down five conditions that must be satisfied before we offer any support. We want to ask the Treasurer questions about those conditions because we do not trust him or Labor. Michael Costa is one of the most delusional people I have ever met. I saw him in the news footage of the Labor Party conference, and most people were astounded at his antics. He regards himself as one of the great economic geniuses in New South Wales, but he has bungled every portfolio he has held and every deal he has done whilst Treasurer. When the Treasurer extended the licence for the casino a few months ago he may as well have written a cheque to some of the organisations involved, so poor was his handling of that deal.

Consequently, the Opposition has absolutely no confidence in the way the Treasurer is going about privatising the electricity industry in New South Wales. We know the plan: He will privatise it and then he will leave. He will resign from Parliament, leaving Labor members in this place with—I can think of only unparliamentary language to describe it—serious political problems in their electorates. But do not worry because Michael Costa will be right. He will be on $300,000 or $400,000 somewhere, with Babcock and Brown or some other—

Mr John Williams: Captain Mainwaring will get a job!

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: Yes, Captain Mainwaring will probably go as well. He will get another job—but he might be worth only $50,000 a year. Michael Costa is about to deliver to all Government members in this place a massive problem in their electorates. The Opposition wants him in the Chamber for a couple of hours to answer questions. We are happy to share the time: Opposition and Government members can alternate asking questions. The member for Cessnock and the member for The Entrance marched past Parliament House in their yellow T-shirts. I do not reckon even the member for Blacktown will—

Ms Noreen Hay: You're so rude to each other; behave yourselves.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: Of all the people to interject!

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! The member for Murrumbidgee will continue his contribution.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: The Noreen Hay issue goes to Labor's accountability. Yesterday's front page of the Illawarra Mercury— 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7615

Ms Lylea McMahon: Point of order: As the member for Murrumbidgee knows, casting aspersions on a member's character is out of order.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. I ask the member for Murrumbidgee to confine his remarks to the leave of the motion.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: The Labor Party has a very bad record on accountability.

Mr Barry O'Farrell: You can't believe their financial records.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: That is right; we cannot believe the financial records of anybody in the Labor Party, particularly Michael Costa. We might be talking about a couple of hundred grand when it comes to the member for Wollongong but it is $40 billion when it comes to the Treasurer. The member for Wollongong is a bookkeeper; Michael Costa is a two-bit former unionist.

Ms Noreen Hay: Point of order: The Leader of the Opposition keeps interjecting on the member for Murrumbidgee and that is totally inappropriate.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. It is difficult for Hansard to hear the member with the call. Members will conduct themselves in an orderly fashion. The member for Wollongong will cease interjecting.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: Labor cannot be trusted with figures or with keeping accounts and records. We have seen the mistakes that the member for Wollongong and many other Government members have made in their electoral funding returns. The House is to discuss a New South Wales State budget of more than $40 billion and we are meant to trust the Treasurer. He will come into the Chamber, deliver a 20-minute speech and then return to the upper House. That is totally inappropriate. There is no accountability. We want the Treasurer to remain in the Chamber for a couple of hours to answer questions. The Coalition is benevolent: We will give the Government one question for every question we ask. The Coalition will also give Government backbenchers the opportunity to ask the Treasurer the questions they would really love to ask—it just depends whether they have the guts.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA (Riverstone—Leader of the House) [4.50 p.m.], in reply: When I moved the motion I indicated that the Opposition would repeat the pleas it has made for the past 13 years in relation to allowing the Treasurer to present the budget to this Chamber. The Opposition has proven once again how irrelevant it has become to the process of parliamentary debate. It has lost this debate for the past 13 years and it will lose it again today because the Opposition has not advanced any arguments of substance. The shadow Leader of the House was at pains to look at the clock to see how he could fill in his allocated 20 minutes. But he managed to speak for only 11 minutes. I could have taken plenty of points of order on the shadow Leader of the House, as his comments were irrelevant and out of order a number of times. Some of my colleagues took points of order but I decided not to help the member get through his 20 minutes by doing the same because he was floundering when putting his arguments. The Opposition has reasserted its irrelevance on the issues of transparency and parliamentary debate.

Now is not the time to argue the merits or otherwise of the budget, but let us consider past budgets and why Labor keeps getting re-elected. I remind the Opposition that we have now won four elections in a row. The Government is transparent, it brings down responsible budgets and it puts forward positive plans. Much has been made by the Opposition today, and on other occasions, about the fact that Australia has enjoyed a period of boosted economic growth and great affluence—which it attributes to the Howard Government. Need I remind Opposition members just how difficult the Howard Government made it for the States by abolishing infrastructure programs? Need I remind the Opposition of the Better Cities Program, which was to have built the M7 using Federal money? The Howard Government abolished it. The $900 million that the Keating Government put into the Federal surplus—

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hawkesbury will cease interjecting.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA: Need I also remind the Opposition—

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Hawkesbury to order. 7616 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

Mr JOHN AQUILINA: —of what the Howard Government did to education in the States? Need I remind the Opposition of the moneys that were denied to universities, for example, or the funding that was denied to high schools and primary schools? Need I further remind the Opposition of what the Howard Government did to the health budget in this State? What was one of the first things to go under the Howard Government? It was Federal responsibility for dental health, which was shifted to the States. Let us not be under any illusion as to who is responsible and transparent, and who is not. The Government of New South Wales, like other State governments, has been able to cope for the past 12 or 14 years because it brought down responsible budgets—in spite of the Howard Government and the money it took from the States. Once again, the Opposition's tired rhetoric has fallen on deaf ears because it is totally irrelevant, outdated and totally inappropriate. When the Treasurer brings down the budget in this Chamber the Opposition will be seen as irrelevant yet again.

Question—That the amendment be agreed to—put.

The House divided.

Ayes, 39

Mr Aplin Ms Hodgkinson Mrs Skinner Mr Baird Mrs Hopwood Mr Smith Mr Baumann Mr Humphries Mr Souris Ms Berejiklian Mr Merton Mr Stokes Mr Cansdell Ms Moore Mr Stoner Mr Constance Mr Oakeshott Mr J. H. Turner Mr Debnam Mr O'Dea Mr R. W. Turner Mr Draper Mr O'Farrell Mr J. D. Williams Mrs Fardell Mr Page Mr R. C. Williams Mr Fraser Mr Piccoli Ms Goward Mr Piper Mrs Hancock Mr Provest Tellers, Mr Hartcher Mr Richardson Mr George Mr Hazzard Mr Roberts Mr Maguire

Noes, 47

Mr Amery Mr Greene Ms McMahon Ms Andrews Mr Harris Ms Meagher Mr Aquilina Ms Hay Mr Pearce Ms Beamer Mr Hickey Mrs Perry Mr Borger Ms Hornery Mr Rees Mr Brown Ms Judge Mr Sartor Ms Burney Ms Keneally Mr Shearan Mr Campbell Mr Khoshaba Mr Stewart Mr Collier Mr Lynch Ms Tebbutt Mr Coombs Mr McBride Mr Terenzini Mr Corrigan Dr McDonald Mr Tripodi Mr Costa Ms McKay Mr West Mr Daley Mr McLeay Mr Whan Ms D'Amore Ms Megarrity Tellers, Ms Firth Mr Morris Mr Ashton Ms Gadiel Mrs Paluzzano Mr Martin

Pair

Mr Kerr Mr Gibson

Question resolved in the negative.

Amendment negatived.

Motion agreed to. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7617

APPROPRIATION (BUDGET VARIATIONS) BILL 2008

Agreement in Principle

Debate resumed from 7 May 2008.

Mr MIKE BAIRD (Manly) [5.04 p.m.]: I lead for the Opposition on the Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill 2008. Needless to say, we have serious concerns. The bill seeks to increase the amount of special payments allowed by the Treasurer outside the budget process by more than $400 million. The Parliamentary Secretary, the member for Maroubra, in the agreement in principle speech said that the budget variation was required for "unforeseen and urgent expenditures". The Treasurer simply said, "It is nothing out of the ordinary. It is a top-up." On behalf of the people of New South Wales, I argue that $400 million is very much out of the ordinary and anything but a top-up. The taxpayers of New South Wales are concerned that the Treasurer speaks so dismissively about using $400 million of their hard-earned money for a top-up—bits and pieces here and there. We require greater accountability and disciplined management from the Iemma Government.

The object of the bill is to appropriate additional amounts from the Consolidated Fund for recurrent services and capital works and services for 2007-08. In the 2007-08 budget the Treasurer's Advance allocation was $215 million for recurrent services and $110 million for capital works and services. That is $325 million in special payments already outside the parameters of the budget. As outlined in part 2 of the bill, the additional funds now sought comprise a $190 million increase in the Treasurer's Advance and $218 million to be spent on additional recurrent services. So it is a further $400 million on top of the $325 million already allocated. Effectively, the Treasurer has a $700 million overdraft. A bank manager who lent the Treasurer $700 million to do whatever he liked with it whenever he liked would be petrified. He or she would look at the reports every morning to see what the Treasurer had done with the money. The Labor Government lacks discipline but it does not lack fortitude: it spends whatever it wants.

The bill amends sections 22 and 26 of the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983 to allow further expenditure to be incurred without authorisation by the Parliament, and the Government does not have to disclose it until the introduction of the 2008 appropriation bills in June. This allocation of $700 million to the Treasurer leads me to consider the recent Federal budget. What is the difference between the Coalition and Labor Federal governments? The answer is $31 billion. It does not take a mathematical calculation to work it out. When John Howard and Peter Costello took government in 1996, they did not inherit a surplus. In fact, they inherited a deficit of $10 billion. In 2007 Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan inherited not a deficit, but a surplus of $21 billion. Day in and day out we have heard about the hopeless Howard-Costello Government. Last night Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan should have commended John Howard and Peter Costello for their leadership of the country. The budget surplus and the country's prosperity are due entirely to John Howard and Peter Costello. It is disgraceful for Labor not to acknowledge that they turned a $10 billion deficit in 1996 into a $21 billion surplus.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Ms Diane Beamer): Order! The member for Manly will be heard in silence. The member for Wakehurst will stop interrupting the member for Manly.

Mr MIKE BAIRD: The other point I wish to make is that the rhetoric of the Australian Labor Party is not often matched by its actions. It is very important to know when considering appropriation bills and when the Government is seeking additional funds that its words match its actions, but in this case we cannot see that. For the past 12 months Wayne Swan has been screaming about inflation. At every press stop, and on every television and radio station he has been going on about how we have to do something about inflation. He went on about it everywhere he went, and in the end we started to think that maybe he does have to do something about inflation.

But then we had the Humphrey moment when Wayne Swan sat down to create his budget and he was told, "Mr Treasurer, we love the fact that you have highlighted inflation, but the reality is we cannot really do much about it". Last night Wayne Swan had his first opportunity to do something about inflation and help working families—we have heard it all before—but what did he produce? He produced the biggest spending budget in history. Yes, he made some cuts, but he spent a lot more. Are we seeing Wayne Swan undertake the Gough-style approach to fiscal management? He certainly has started spending.

When Peter Costello became Treasurer in 1996 he cut costs by $9 billion, yet Wayne Swan has cut costs by $1 billion. Imagine what the Federal Budget would be like if it was not trying to stop inflation. Let us 7618 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

consider the new taxes the Federal Government is introducing. The Federal Government said it would do something about binge drinking so it will introduce a new tax. Is the Federal Government interested in stopping binge drinking or is it more interested in the $3 billion it will raise and the inflationary impact that will have? All these things are very much connected to the bill because we will have to trust the New South Wales Treasurer with funds to do with whatever he likes.

Mrs Karyn Paluzzano: Point of order: The member for Manly is not dealing with the bill; he is talking about the Federal Budget. He should be brought back to the Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill 2008 and he should deal with that.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Ms Diane Beamer): Order! I am sure the member for Manly is making a passing reference to matters broadly related to the legislation. However, I ask him to confine his remarks to the bill before the House.

Mr MIKE BAIRD: We will have to trust the Iemma Government and the Treasurer with what is a $700 million overdraft. Last night we heard about the creation of infrastructure funds, which, again, were a Peter Costello and John Howard idea rebadged. The funds will be put towards infrastructure, education, transport, roads and health. If we add police to the list, we no longer need the Iemma Government: Kevin Rudd is going to manage the whole of New South Wales for us. When we consider the State Government's management services, it is debatable whether Kevin Rudd could do a better job—and last night Wayne Swan proved that he probably could not—but from what we are seeing day in and day out from the Iemma Government he certainly could not do a worse job.

If we are going to trust Michael Costa with a $700 million overdraft we must have much more transparency. We just had a debate about asking the Treasurer to answer questions from this House after he delivers his Budget Speech. Where is the democracy in that? Where is the scrutiny of a debate on electricity privatisation? How could we not bring to this House a debate on electricity privatisation when it was not an election mandate? It was not mentioned during the election campaign and we do not want to debate it in this House. We are moving into very dangerous territory.

Ms Noreen Hay: Point of order: The Opposition should stop demonising people.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Ms Diane Beamer): Order! What is the member's point of order?

Ms Noreen Hay: I think you have been very lenient with the member for Manly. We continue to hear about the Federal Budget and we are now hearing about privatisation.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Ms Diane Beamer): Order! What is the member's point of order?

Ms Noreen Hay: The member for Manly should come back to the leave of the bill.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Ms Diane Beamer): Order! The member for Manly will confine his remarks to the leave of the bill.

Mr MIKE BAIRD: Where were we? We are having a great time. Not only are we treating the electorate with disdain but we are treating the Parliament with disdain also. The important function of Parliament is the oversight of appropriations. In presenting the bill to the lower House the Parliamentary Secretary said:

The Government has sought as far as possible to ensure that the Parliament has the opportunity to scrutinise anticipated additional funding requirements prior to expenditures being incurred.

However, a number of these expenditures have already been incurred. This goes to the heart of the matter: If the Iemma Government wonders why it is not delivering services to the people of New South Wales, it should start holding its teams accountable for the budgets they are allocated. When people are given a budget to run their services for that year, they must operate within that budget. The way the Government operates is to say, "If you can't quite meet the budget then come to us and we can introduce an appropriations bill and just hit a few million across the table". In the Treasurer's terms, we can have a top-up.

That management style in the delivery of services indicates a complete lack of attention to detail. If the Government is not worried about trying to hold expenses in line it will not be focused on the service it is trying 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7619

to deliver for the people of New South Wales because it does not matter. There is no discipline at all. Notwithstanding some of the individual line items have some merit, why were they not included previously? Any management must understand its business: it must understand what its customers want and it must have the budget to meet those expectations.

This appropriation bill is clear evidence that the Government does not have management discipline; it does not have a strategy for every single department to tackle the multiple problems that exist. I will not list all the problems across the departments, but the bill is evidence of the problems. If a Minister has to go to the Treasurer six months into a budget process and say, "I need another $140 million", who is in charge of that business? Whoever is in charge should not be in charge. The responsible Minister should not be in charge because he or she is not being held to account on basic business principles.

Unforeseen expenses to deal with natural disasters and those types of things are not unexpected. But when the Treasurer was justifying these expenses he said that funds were required for the drought and equine influenza. He said that these were things the Government was not able to anticipate: the drought had got worse and equine influenza had affected the industry. Schedule 1 to the bill states that $20 million is for drought assistance and $7.9 million is for equine influenza, which is 6.8 per cent of the $408 million total. Other payments were to the Museum of Contemporary Art. How could that additional funding not be foreseen? How could the Minister not know that the Museum of Contemporary Art required an additional $10 million?

For goodness sake, how could the Minister for Health not know that hospitals required more beds? It does not take a budget process to work that out. New South Wales hospitals need more beds. It shows that management does not get it when the Minister for Health goes to the Treasurer six months into the year and says, "I need some more beds. Can you please help out?" The Government does not understand its responsibility as a manager, but it is continually bailed out because the Treasurer says, "No problem. Come to us, we will give you some funds and we will all be merry." I believe this attitude is an abuse of the Treasurer's advance.

The Australian Labor Party has a history of seeking many payments after deals have been done. There is nothing more galling in the figures I have reviewed than the $25 million paid in compensation to the Lane Cove Tunnel operators in the lead-up to the 2007 State election and accounted for only recently. That is not the sort of expense that should be met from the public purse. It is complete electioneering and it has nothing to do with improving roads; it is all about delaying the road closure, which, as we have seen, is starting to cause chaos for electorates all around that area. That $25 million from the public purse should be returned. If the Treasurer, the Minister for Roads or indeed, the entire Government had any moral compass, , they would return that $25 million; they would hand it back to the people and say, "We are sorry we used it". Why do they not dip into Australian Labor Party funds and get it that way?

Other expenditure includes advertising for the Premier's Department, the appointment of a private sector partner to manage the New South Wales Police Force property portfolio—which cost $1 million—and the list goes on. In addition, $27 million was spent last year on essential maintenance and upgrading works at the Opera House. How could the Government not know that the Opera House needed essential maintenance and upgrading before it was done? That is yet another example of the Government or Ministers not being accountable. Does the Minister at the table, Minister Rees, review a profit and loss statement on a monthly basis? Does every Minister get a monthly profit and loss statement? Do they look at the variations and are they held to account for them? If not, it would be a good idea to introduce a process to ensure that Ministers are accountable for the management of their portfolios. How can they be held to account if they do not know what they are spending? It is a simple proposition.

The Iemma Government frequently experiences cost blowouts and its record on delivering commitments on time and on budget is not good. We were told that the Iron Cove bridgeworks would cost $100 million. That project is not good news for the election prospects of the member for Drummoyne and the member for Balmain. That project has blown out to $150 million. Who knows what it will eventually cost? We were told in October 2007 that the Tcard project would cost $65 million, but only three months later—just before the contract was terminated—it had blown out to $95 million. I am sure the member for Willoughby will raise that project in her contribution.

When the widening of The Spit Bridge was announced on 1 August 2002 the projected cost was $35 million. By the time the Government pulled out of the contract, the projected cost was $115 million to $130 million. Of course, we know the politics of that project. Government expenditure has continued to increase. Members opposite might find this boring, but it is very important to the people of New South Wales. The Government cannot continue to spend more than it collects, which is what it has done for 13 years. 7620 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

Mr Matthew Morris: Is that why we are in surplus?

Mr MIKE BAIRD: That is the question. If we subtract the $400 million from Sydney Airport that the Government has not received and will not receive, was there a surplus last year? No, there was not. The Stokes and Vertigan audit report revealed that the Government's expenses are 6 per cent and its revenue is 5 per cent. That means that almost $1 billion has been lost every year for the past 13 years. That is a very serious situation for the people of New South Wales and it should be addressed. Until the Government demands discipline from Ministers, this House will continue to deal with budget variations bills. That is why the Iemma Government is not delivering to the people of New South Wales. Ministers are not being held accountable for their portfolios and they are not monitoring their expenses or their service delivery. That is the reason for the economic problems that this State is experiencing.

The Government is also failing to meet fiscal responsibility targets. The State debt was set to more than double from $19.3 billion in 2006 to $39 billion. That is a breach of the Government's Fiscal Responsibility Act. The Treasurer has a different view; he does not want to pay attention to legislation. He says, "Forget about legislation; it does not make sense anymore. We will just do what we want." That abrogation of responsibility to Parliament and the electorate, and Ministers lack of basic management skills have resulted in every service area in this State failing. This Government should not introduce any more retrospective bills. It is unclear how the Government will use the funds allocated in this legislation. The Treasurer and the Government should be held to account and the Government should display some management competence.

Ms NOREEN HAY (Wollongong—Parliamentary Secretary) [5.26 p.m.]: The Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill 2008 is part of the New South Wales Government's commitment to ensuring transparent budget processes. It seeks an appropriation of $190 million in adjustment of the Treasurer's Advance and an additional appropriation of $218 million for recurrent services. The bill has a number of key features: it provides an account to Parliament on how the Treasurer's Advance has been used to cover urgent, unforeseen, recurrent and capital expenditure requirements; it seeks a replenishment of the 2007-08 advance prior to the end of the current financial year; and it seeks appropriation for payments that are intended to be made in the current financial year where no provision was made in the annual appropriation bill.

Urgent and unpredictable expenses include those related to the ongoing drought. Those expenses are important, given the New South Wales Government's commitment to providing adequate drought assistance to those in the bush. The latest figures show that the drought continues to cause significant financial hardship and social problems in many areas, with 48.4 per cent of the State drought declared in May 2008 and a further 23.6 per cent classified as marginal. Thus far, an extra $20.2 million has been utilised from the Treasurer's Advance for drought assistance. This has funded initiatives such as transport subsidies and drought assistance workers, who continue to provide a vital service to the New South Wales rural community.

The Moss Vale Rural Lands Protection Board area—which encompasses my electorate—has this year received $2.4 million in exceptional circumstances drought assistance, and areas further inland continue to receive significant support. In addition, New South Wales is matching funding from the Federal Government to help irrigators adjust to lower water allocations, as well as seeking approval for $10 million for additional acute hospital beds, which is part of the New South Wales Government's ongoing commitment to building a stronger hospital system.

I am pleased to inform the House that $3.18 million of the additional funding for acute hospital beds will be used to support additional beds in Wollongong Hospital. It was interesting to hear the member for Manly refer to the Federal Budget when for years in this place we tried to get Opposition support for additional funding out of the Howard Government for the health system following years of health funding cuts and increasing interest rates. Let us not forget the silence of members opposite when this Government tried to get a greater proportion of GST revenue. The additional beds at Wollongong Hospital are much needed and appreciated. Of course, we look forward to a new era of cooperation between the Federal and State governments.

The funding referred to in this bill is in addition to initiatives announced and budgeted for in the 2007-08 budget, including the Wollongong Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre, which provides psychiatric emergency care and is attached to the Wollongong Hospital accident and emergency department. The bill seeks a further $26.5 million for teachers as a result of a number of factors, including increases in teacher numbers, fewer resignations and retirements, increased maternity leave and an increase in paid leave. I am sure members agree that employing adequate numbers of New South Wales teachers is vital to ensuring that our school-aged children receive the education they deserve. I am constantly impressed by the quality of the 2,700 fantastic teachers in the Illawarra region. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7621

I am sure members are aware that it is not always possible to seek Parliament's authority in advance for unforeseen and urgent expenditure. This bill ensures we have a transparent process for examining unforeseen expenditure. Top-up funding has been provided in four of the past five years, and the amount requested today is less than half that required in previous years. The Federal Government introduced 12 such bills for additional spending over and above its normal budget requirements in the past five years. In presenting further appropriation bills, the Government has sought as far as possible to ensure that the House has the opportunity to scrutinise anticipated additional funding requirements prior to expenditures being incurred. The New South Wales Government remains committed to transparent and accountable government, and I commend the bill to the House.

Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN (Willoughby) [5.29 p.m.]: I make a contribution to the Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill as a member of this place who takes seriously financial transparency and budget discipline, and as a shadow Minister for Transport who is absolutely passionate about improving public transport services for the people of New South Wales. The bill confirms that New South Wales Labor consistently overruns its budget expenditure and relies on windfall revenue to rescue the budget. It is an example of bad planning, a lack of fiscal discipline and a lack of fiscal accountability and transparency. Regrettably, it reflects an erosion of public transparency of financial management that has been demonstrated for more than a decade in this place. Far from being strong economic managers, the Labor Party has an abysmal record of forecasts and financial discipline. I will outline some of those examples.

The bill seeks a budget variation of a total of $325 million, but, regrettably, the Treasurer has not outlined, nor have other members in this place, how much of the $325 million—which includes amounts for both the current expenditure, and capital works and services—has been spent or has been committed. I am concerned that the bill requires enormous budget scrutiny, but further detailed information has not been provided. For example, the principle underlying the Treasurer's advance and additional appropriations under the Public Finance and Audit Act is that certain government expenditures cannot be reasonably foreseen at budget time. This is what budget variation bills are all about. They are about costs that cannot be foreseen at the time the budget is being drawn up. They account for items that are defined as exigencies of government and, traditionally, were narrowly defined to include natural disasters—I know the Minister for Emergency Services is at the table—or drought, or matching unforeseen Commonwealth initiatives and minor ancillary items.

They were the purpose for which budget variation bills were originally introduced. There are other payments. I note that schedule 1 provides for additional teachers, based on higher than expected enrolments, and they are also reasonable variations. However, it is concerning that a number of items in the schedule do not seem to fall under the category of traditional exigencies of government. It is concerning that many items in the schedule are the result of bad planning and bad fiscal management by the State Government. That is what we should be debating tonight—why budget variation bills are important and why this bill is outside what should be the norm. There is no doubt that governments should be able to use such legislation when there are unforeseen circumstances, but it is not acceptable to use this legislation to cover up bad planning and bad fiscal management.

I bring to the attention of the House a number of examples in public transport. I note an item in schedule 1 referring to $140 million for additional rail grants for debt repayment. I assume that is a result of the blow-out in costs of the Chatswood to Epping railway link, but again it is incumbent on the Minister for Transport and on the Treasurer to explain in detail what these additional items are for. Why have they been produced in this budget variation bill? Why are they unforeseen items and how do they apply to the definition of exigencies of government that has traditionally been used by governments of both persuasions from time to time? It is concerning that under Labor the definition of what should be acceptable in this bill has been broadened to include anything that has not been foreseen because of bad planning or bad management. That is not the way to treat taxpayers' money. It is not the way to manage the finances of this State.

We know in relation to the Epping to Chatswood rail line that the total cost of the project has increased from $1.39 billion to $2.28 billion, with the completion date blown out by at least two years. I put a number of questions on notice to the Minister about the completion date, but I have not had any firm answers. The project has doubled in costs and halved in distance. The initial project to go from Chatswood to Epping to Parramatta cost $1.39 billion. We know the Epping to Parramatta part has been cancelled, yet the costs have doubled to $2.28 billion. I assume the blow-out in that cost accounts for the $140 million under the Treasurer's additional rail grants for the debt repayment item, but again I require further explanation on that point.

Looking at the budget variations bill this year causes me to go back to last year's State budget for public transport. It concerns me immensely that not one major transport infrastructure project is being delivered on 7622 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

time or on budget. Since the last budget a number of projects have been cancelled. An interesting trend is that while the State Government talked a lot about major public transport infrastructure projects in last year's budget, it failed to itemise a costing for these items in the budget. Last year the Treasurer, the Minister for Transport and the Premier talked about the north-west rail link which, at that stage, was a heavy rail link project. They talked about the south-west rail link. They provided some money for seed funding, which has been spent, but they had not indicated full costings for these projects. We now know why: They were not serious about going ahead with them.

It concerns me today that again the Premier talked about seed funding in relation to Federal Government announcements in yesterday's budget when his track record demonstrates that seed funding means nothing. The north-west heavy rail link project was on the table for many years. It appeared in the budget as a line item. Seed money was allocated to that project, but it never went ahead. When one looks at the budget papers and what is delivered, the variation is huge. Again, it is concerning that the Government is failing to deliver any of its projects on time and on budget. This bill is a reflection of the Government's lack of accountability and lack of fiscal discipline.

I turn to a major issue that was raised by the member for Manly—the Tcard project. Last year's budget papers, the most recent public documents we have in relation to such infrastructure projects, show that in the 2006-07 year the State Government allocated $75.8 million for the Tcard project, which did not go ahead. It blew out the time frame for the delivery of the project. Again, during the estimates committee process, we pushed the Minister for Transport on how much the Tcard project was costing the taxpayers of this State. As late as October last year he provided responses in writing to those questions that the cost to the taxpayer was $65 million. That is black and white; it is on the public record. Yet, when the Minister put out his press release in January about terminating the Tcard contract, suddenly the cost was $95 million. Where did that $30 million go in the dying months of the Tcard project?

That is yet another example of this Government's inability to manage public transport infrastructure projects, its inability to demonstrate fiscal discipline and also the contempt with which it treats taxpayers' money. This is not the Government's money, it is not the Opposition's money; it is the money of the taxpayers of New South Wales. This Government is treating them with contempt. Not only is it failing to deliver public transport services; it is also totally contemptuous in the way it wastes money.

I turn my attention to the clearways program. While the Minister for Transport and the Premier enjoy the big glossy brochures, and the television and radio advertisements about the new-style metro link, it is concerning that they are reducing money allocated to assist the close to one million rail commuters who, on a daily basis, struggle to get to and from work on time. In last year's budget the cost of the clearways program was revised to $1.8 billion from an initial cost of just over $1 billion. It blew out by nearly $800 million. What concerns me is that since the last budget the State Government has downgraded a number of aspects of the clearways program.

From memory 14 projects were in the Clearways Program. At least two of them have been downgraded and another two have had huge question marks placed over them in the last fortnight. The Clearways Program was designed to help commuters who, on a daily basis, struggle with a system where on average rail breakdowns occur twice a day. Under the current system, because the Clearways Program has not been advanced, the breakdown on a line on one part of the system affects commuters on a line on another part of the system. Commuters cannot continue to be put in that position. As a global city we cannot continue to have a public transport system that is so dysfunctional.

The State Government has blown out costs on the project yet reduced the provision of service to commuters. It demonstrates a lack of fiscal discipline, cost blow-out and total contempt for commuters, who struggle with the system on a daily basis. Today in this House I was again concerned to hear Premier Morris Iemma talk about metro systems that break off from the current railway network. The message he gave New South Wales commuters today was, "We do not really care about problems with existing rail lines. We will draw a line in the sand. Forget all about existing problems; forget about the millions of commuters who struggle with the system on a daily basis. We will just talk about futuristic seed money for our future projects."

A number of projects that the State Government announced in 1998 have fallen by the wayside and now, when we look back, it is not surprising to see why the budget papers last year, nearly 12 months ago, did not include final costings for the central business district rail link, for the north-west heavy rail link and for the south-west rail link. Two of these projects have been confirmed to be off the agenda now and the third one is in 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7623

doubt. This highlights the fact that the State Government lacks budget certainty and transparency. We cannot have confidence in the budget papers when items that do not have firm costing suddenly fall by the wayside.

The North West Metro rail link project announced earlier this year by the Premier and the Minister for Transport has a $12 billion cost associated with it but little detail as to what stages will be built and what feasibility studies have been done. The same applies to the north-west heavy rail link. It appeared in the budget papers for years. Money was allocated to the project but, at the end of the day, the project never materialised. The Opposition calls on the Government to be specific about the cost of the project in the budget papers and asks for its homework on it. Its track record demonstrates that merely because a project appears in the budget papers does not mean it will be built. This is a serious issue. It demonstrates the Government's lack of commitment and fickleness with respect to services in the State.

I put on record that the Treasurer and the Government have flagrantly disregarded the intent of the bill. It should only be used with things that are unforeseen such as emergencies, natural disasters and unforeseen costs due to exigencies of government. I am concerned that this schedule includes basic government expenditure that should have been accounted for when the budget process took place. I am concerned about the leave the Government has taken with the contents of the bill and the Government's inability to deliver public transport infrastructure services. Whether it is to assist existing commuters who use the current network of trains, buses or ferries or future projections about projects that may or may not be delivered, this Government has little care about what it actually delivers. It cares a lot about spin, image and glossy brochures but, at the end of the day, it is failing to deliver. Regrettably, the Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill 2008 highlights those inadequacies and the lack of financial accountability, transparency and discipline.

Mr JONATHAN O'DEA (Davidson) [5.44 p.m.]: The problem with this Government is not a lack of money; the problem is the lack of management skills and proper accountability. There is not a lack of money to rebuild the State's service infrastructure. There is not a lack of money for any range of activities. What there is, though, is a lack of service delivery and a lack of application to make sure that the public of New South Wales receives the outcomes that they deserve. Only last week the Daily Telegraph in a very telling comment stated:

Labor has had 13 years to demonstrate its much-proclaimed managerial skills but has nothing to show but a system which has rewarded the unsuccessful, transferring them from portfolio to portfolio, leaving a legacy of smoking wreckage in their train.

Notwithstanding a $7.5 billion unbudgeted tax revenue windfall, infrastructure is crumbling and services are inadequate.

Pursuant to sessional orders business interrupted and set down as an order of the day for a future day.

MARINE PARKS AMENDMENT BILL 2008

Message received from the Legislative Council returning the bill with amendments.

Consideration of Legislative Council's amendments set down as an order of the day for a future day.

PRIVATE MEMBERS' STATEMENTS

Question—That private members' statements be noted—proposed.

UNITED HOSPITAL AUXILIARIES

Mrs SHELLEY HANCOCK (South Coast) [5.45 p.m.]: I note that the Minister for Emergency Services who is at the table said earlier today that it is National Volunteering Week. With that in mind, I wish to talk about a function that I attended on Monday this week, the Illawarra Zone Day of the United Hospital Auxiliaries [UHA], hosted by the Milton Ulladulla Branch. I have in the past also attended various meetings of the United Hospital Auxiliaries and am always amazed and impressed by the efforts of these wonderful volunteers, who, through significant fundraising efforts, continue to provide a range of services and equipment to our local hospitals. The motto of the United Hospital Auxiliaries indicates clearly its objectives and vision, "Let us hold high the lamp of service for the Welfare of our Hospitals."

This week zone day was attended by members from throughout the Illawarra zone and also by Professor Debra Picone, who expressed her gratitude for the work of these tireless volunteers. Also in 7624 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

attendance was the Federal member for Gilmore, Joanna Gash; the Shoalhaven mayor; the State President, Mrs Jackie Gattenhof; regional representative Marilyn Kellett; Patron Doctor Fitzhenry; and Director of Nursing at Milton Hospital, Judy Nelmes. Many of them spoke about the continuing fine efforts of volunteers in this area. Mr Ray Thorburn from Kiama family history group also spoke. I pay special tribute today to the Milton Ulladulla Hospital Auxiliary executive and members including President Mrs Mary Lamb, vice presidents Flo Foster and Carmin Sullivan, secretary Mrs Narelle Ober, treasurer Pauline Oakes, assistant secretary Christine Richards and social secretary Jean Price. Congratulations to all members of the Milton Ulladulla Branch on an excellent and successful zone day.

I turn now to the Milton-Ulladulla branch. I bear in mind that it is National Volunteering Week as noted by the Minister who is at the table, talking but not paying attention In the program the branch outlined its particular efforts to provide facilities for the local Milton Hospital, including donations of more than $400,000 for equipment including the piping of oxygen to the wards, furniture, curtains, a heart monitor, a transportable humidicrib with light, gas and beds. I have cited just a few examples since the inception of this branch in 1933.

I note also the efforts of the Nowra branch, which also made significant contributions to the Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital, including $12,000 to the maternity ward for necessary equipment and beds, $13,000 to the surgical ward, $8,605 to the operating suite and $10,000 to the intensive care unit. That is a wonderful effort from the volunteers of hospital auxiliary branches in my electorate. I am pleased that the Milton-Ulladulla branch will also host the New South Wales State Conference in 2009. Members are already busily organising the much-anticipated event. That branch, like so many others, comprises volunteers who are dedicated to the wellbeing of their communities.

I turn now to the recently released State Government document entitled, "Towards 2030—Planning for our Changing Population." The document identifies as one of its strategic priorities the need to improve community participation and, in particular, that volunteering will remain an important vehicle for community involvement by older people. The document further states what every member in this place knows: that Australia has a strong tradition of volunteering, with volunteers contributing 704.1 million hours of voluntary work in 2000 alone. Volunteering, the document states, plays an important role in community life, providing positive social outcomes such as stronger, more cohesive and harmonious communities. It also has a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of those who volunteer.

I place those comments on the record to highlight the integral part that volunteers play in all communities. The United Hospital auxiliaries are made up of remarkable men and women who work for no reward and very often without due recognition. However, they are, like other volunteer groups, ageing and the challenge will be for the current and future governments to attract new volunteers and ensure that the services they now provide will continue into the future. Without them our local hospitals will not be possible, and that will be a tragedy. I pay tribute to all volunteers in the South Coast electorate and elsewhere.

I encourage other people with time on their hands to join a volunteer group—perhaps the Milton Ulladulla Hospital Auxiliary would be a good place to start. I am pleased that the Minister for Emergency Services is in the Chamber, but he is not paying attention. Earlier he paid tribute to volunteers to emergency services for their remarkable service, including in my electorate. The Rural Fire Service, State Emergency Service and surf lifesaving provide a wonderful service to communities throughout the State. I pay tribute not only to the Milton Ulladulla Hospital Auxiliary but other hospital auxiliaries and all volunteers throughout the State.

NEPEAN AREA DISABILITIES ORGANISATION

Ms DIANE BEAMER (Mulgoa) [5.50 p.m.]: I inform the House of an organisation that operates in my electorate and in neighbouring electorates. The Nepean Area Disabilities Organisation, known locally as NADO, has operated since 1980 with a mission statement that states, "NADO aims to provide and promote a variety of services for people with a disability, their family and carers, enabling them to participate, grow and work toward their full potential and enhancing their quality of life." NADO sees its role as educators, carers and providers of quality disability services, role modelling to society the ethos of empowerment for each person with a disability. NADO is the auspice body for several projects that currently caters for more than 300 people with disabilities and their families.

Last week I visited with Bernadette Carroll, the day program manager, centres across the Nepean to have a look at their programs. I must say that most of their clients were not at the centres as they were quite 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7625

rightly enjoying a vast variety of events in the community that NADO carry out across its centres. I put on record both my community's and my appreciation for the work that the Nepean Area Disability Organisation does with its clients and their families. It has caring, dedicated, professional people who carry out their work to the best of their abilities with a view to respecting and valuing all those with whom they come in contact. NADO manages the Penrith Centre on High Street, which helps 25 clients with challenging behaviour. Those clients are mainly diagnosed with autism and need specialist care from an extremely patient and skilled group of workers. There is a waiting list for this centre in the Penrith region.

T. S. Nepean has 25 clients with various levels of assistance required. On the day I went there the clients were on an excursion to Homebush. The St Mary's office has 25 clients learning life skills and learning programs. The Gidley Street centre in St Mary's also offers respite for families. The Nepean social club, which organises various activities particularly of an evening, has approximately 200 members. NADO has an information library, which is a valuable asset. This year NADO is assisting with the Nepean Disability Expo, along with other local groups and Penrith City Council, to be held in Penrith at Panthers Pavilion on 24 and 25 October this year. I am informed that the Minister for Disability Services will open the expo. It will be a great opportunity to highlight the programs and works of the various bodies in the Nepean/ Blue Mountains area.

Of course, all the needs of NADO are not met easily. Whilst the funding from the State Government is both well managed and appreciated, NADO always has a wish to improve the quality and quantum of service it provides. To this end, last year NADO decided that it would form a fundraising committee to augment the work and funding that the management committee receives. I was asked to join and happily agreed to do so. The management committee indicated that its most pressing priority was to replace an old bus with a vehicle that had far better wheelchair access and reliability. Of course, buses are not cheap. I am extremely proud to inform the House that a constituent who wishes to remain anonymous made a huge philanthropic contribution to NADO. The gentleman donated not only the cost of a new bus to NADO but also wanted to help the fundraising committee and gave seed funding to a part-time fundraising officer for the organisation.

On behalf of both the management committee and the fundraising group, I say how both overwhelmed and joyous we are at his act of selflessness. The clients and their families are extremely grateful, as having a reliable and comfortable bus was so needed. With other fundraising activities NADO is well on its way to purchasing a people mover to allow even greater access to services. That act of charity was so unexpected and welcome that words cannot express our gratitude. Whilst my constituent wishes to remain anonymous to the wider community, some clients met him with the new bus and expressed their feelings. I mention the exceptional hard work of Denise Heath, the General Manager of NADO; Bernie Carroll, the day programs manager; Bernadette Curryerr, a volunteer member of the fundraising committee; and the newly appointed fundraising officer, Janine Merriman. We hope that together we can help the management committee continue its great work with even better equipment into the future. I pay tribute to the gentleman for his extraordinary gift, which was very much appreciated.

GOULBURN PIPELINE

Ms PRU GOWARD (Goulburn) [5.55 p.m.]: I last brought the issue of the Goulburn pipeline to the attention of the Legislative Assembly on 9 April when I called for confirmation from the Federal Government of its $20 million commitment to that pipeline. I was gratified on that occasion that the Chamber duty Minister was able to respond to my concerns with an immediate reconfirmation of the State Government's commitment to provide funding of up to $20 million for that pipeline. I subsequently wrote to the New South Wales Minister for Water Utilities urging him to take up the matter of funding with his Federal counterpart, Senator Penny Wong, the Minister for Climate Change and Water, and Minister responsible for the Federal funding program, Water Smart Australia.

Sadly, my fears at that time have been all but realised. A media statement from Senator Ursula Stephens, a Goulburn resident, yesterday began well, confirming that the Federal Government's $20 million remains available, but from thereon it was all bad news. Senator Stephens advised that the Federal Government "will not be rushed into supporting a decision by the previous Government and that since Goulburn has had some rain in the catchment and the people of Goulburn have continued to be water-wise … fortunately we have a chance to revisit the situation particularly around the use of new technologies, support for demonstration projects and the need for Australians to make a commitment to capture, recycle and reuse storm water." Sounds to me a long way from funding an emergency pipeline! 7626 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

Senator Stephens had six months as an Opposition shadow spokesperson and has had six months in Government to devise an alternative proposal. Yes, Goulburn has had rain but is now back in the 48 per cent of the State that has been drought declared. According to New South Wales Government figures, Goulburn, Yass and Braidwood are all back in drought. It only takes a few months of no rain and big, drying winds and Goulburn is again in dangerous and familiar territory. What is more, the senator's warning comes after the State Government made a commitment to provide $20 million towards the pipeline in March 2007.

Not only did Senator Stephens' State Labor counterparts feel this to be the best project to guarantee water for Goulburn, but the Goulburn Mulwaree Council, which has made a 30-year commitment to the pipeline, has also supported it. Indeed, council's project development work with Federal officials was proceeding so well I was publicly admonished for raising any concerns about Federal funding. Of course, they may well have also sought urgent confirmation from the Minister as the local newspaper, the Goulburn Post, and I sought to do.

Not rushing a government is fine when it comes to things that are never likely to be an emergency, but the nature of the Australian climate proves that we are never sure when Goulburn will once again be caught with level 5 water restrictions and famous once more as the town that ran out of water. I can tell the House that Goulburn will never forgive the government that lets that happen to it again. While I welcome the $20 million commitment from the Federal Government, it is not exactly a blank cheque to come up with any solution and to start from scratch now will cost time and money. The longer we go without confirmation of the chosen project, the more inflation will bump up the cost of any potential solution and the greater the risk of Goulburn again ending up on level 5 water restrictions.

So whatever the project is, let us make it sooner rather than later. The fact that Goulburn is once again drought declared is evidence that Goulburn's water supply does not allow us to sit back and grow the roses, let alone smell them! While I am disappointed at how long the announcement from the Federal Government has taken, and its curious and circuitous route through the hands of a senator who fortunately happens to live in Goulburn and takes an interest in the city, it is surely now time for a joint meeting between the three tiers of Government to urgently decide on a course of action. I believe the meeting should be convened as a matter of urgency. I urge the New South Wales Minister to do so.

Mr NATHAN REES (Toongabbie—Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Water) [6.00 p.m.]: I do not share the concern of the member for Goulburn about the Federal Government's $20 million commitment. I read the same press release as the member and my reading of it was that the $20 million commitment from the Federal Government remains in play, as does the $20 million commitment from the State Government. I make that very clear. To my mind Senator Stephens' press release indicated a readiness to explore options other than a pipeline were it suitable and agreeable to all key stakeholders. I have an open mind on the matter. I always look at the best available evidence and rely upon the best available science.

If a group of people were to say to me, "There is clearly a superior option to the pipeline" I would be prepared to give it consideration. However, I stress that the Government is not about to move away from a pre-existing commitment to a pipeline unless all the players, including the member for Goulburn, come to the Government with a preferred option to a pipeline. To that end, I have sought a meeting with Minister Wong— which should take place in the next 10 days or so—where the issue will be canvassed. I am grateful to have a little bit of time up our sleeves as a result of the rainfall that has occurred, but I accept the concerns of the member for Goulburn given that Goulburn has been drought declared again.

We all have the opportunity and responsibility to look at the issue with fresh eyes. All the players involved in the previous commitment to the pipeline—$20 million from the Federal Government, $20 million from the State Government and $10 million from Goulburn Mulwaree Council—were under pressure during an electoral cycle and a decision had to be made. We are no longer in that situation. If it is agreeable to the member for Goulburn, I am happy to canvass other options with the Federal Government with a view to arriving at an agreed position that may vary the commitment to a pipeline. I stress again that the State Government remains committed to the $20 million and the pipeline at this stage.

KURRAJONG COUNTRY WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION EIGHTIETH ANNIVERSARY

Mr ALLAN SHEARAN (Londonderry) [6.02 p.m.]: I would like to take this opportunity to inform the House of the recent eightieth anniversary celebrations of the Kurrajong branch of the Country Women's Association of New South Wales [CWA]. During the celebrations Mrs Dianne Fenech, branch treasurer, 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7627

presented a speech on the 80-year history of the Kurrajong branch of the Country Women's Association of New South Wales. She mentioned that the first branch meeting took place on 17 April 1928 in the parish hall at Kurrajong, it was then at the Kurrajong theatre and finally it moved to the Kurrajong RSL Memorial Hall. In the 1930s the branch established the first library in the Kurrajong village, instigated the formation of a younger set, and later purchased the RSL Memorial Hall.

In the past, typical of the Country Women's Association movement, the Kurrajong branch members raised numerous issues on behalf of the community, including the conditions of trains and lighting and the inability to get tickets for intermediate stations from Kurrajong to Sydney. They requested a resident policeman for the town and they lobbied for ice deliveries, street lighting and improved public health measures. The association also provided child minding on a voluntary basis, visited the sick and elderly, and looked after new and needy families in the area. Over the past 80 years the branch has faced many challenges such as the Great Depression, when they assisted many families by donating linen, eggs by the dozen, and boxes of fruit and vegetables to local hospitals within the area. The branch answered the call during the war years when members made clothes and rugs for British children, sent comforts to servicemen and made camouflage nets.

In the past, emphasis has been placed upon those living in rural and remote Australia. Although changing technology may have diminished the challenges for country families, other needs remain. For instance, today one will find the Kurrajong branch members donating patchwork quilts to the Quilts for Kids program, breast pillows, calico dolls, trauma teddies and bonnets and booties for premature babies. During the last bushfire period the Kurrajong branch also packed 7,000 survival kits for the Rural Fire Service. The branch remains very active and, apart from promoting the arts and crafts, we cannot forget the famous cake stall on the last Saturday of each month, which includes their Hawkesbury Show winning jams and pickles.

When I was first invited to attend a Kurrajong branch function I was asked to say a few words. I spoke about my upbringing in country towns of New South Wales. I mentioned that one of my earliest memories was always the presence of the Country Women's Association. It did not matter whether it was to provide assistance for those suffering from drought or flood or helping in times of bushfires, but the Country Women's Association was there. I was also conscious of the involvement of the Country Women's Association in promoting issues relating to women in particular and the community generally. At the end of the function I was taken aside and politely told that the Country Women's Association also has branches in city areas—such are the dynamics of the organisation in our ever-changing society.

Like the Kurrajong branch, I have fond memories of the fund-raising efforts of local associations. My main memory is of the Saturday morning tables where the products of their efforts were on display for sale. While my Mum examined the knitting, sewing and other arts and crafts on show, I must confess I was a bit of a nuisance because I would always nag her for the cakes on offer—simply because they were the best tasting cakes in town. Hopefully, the recipes and the skills required for the fund raising efforts will not be lost and will continue to be passed on to future members. In celebrating the eightieth anniversary of the Kurrajong branch, we must also acknowledge that the survival of an organisation for over 80 years does not just happen by itself: it happens through the people involved. People are the lifeline of any organisation and the earlier brief outline of the history of the branch demonstrates the commitment of those who were involved in the past and those who are carrying on the tradition today. During the celebrations reference was made to a quote in the closing notes of the Kurrajong branch's fiftieth birthday celebration that read:

A tribute is to be paid to those wonderful ladies, passed on now, who began and carried on the work of the branch during the difficult years of the depression and the war, and to our present members whose dedication is continuing in the spirit of the association in bringing friendship and interest to members and friends and service to the community and to our wonderful country Australia.

Those words are as relevant today as they were then. Accordingly, on the occasion of the eightieth anniversary of the Kurrajong branch of the Country Women's Association, with respect for those who have served the branch in days gone by, those who continue to serve today and those who will continue in the future, I record my congratulations for their efforts and I wish the branch every success in the years ahead.

DEATH OF MR SAM MURPHY

Mr GEOFF PROVEST (Tweed) [6.07 p.m.]: Again, I am 100 per cent committed to the Tweed. I speak about the horrific ordeal that Mrs Carol Murphy went through in 2003 at the Tweed Heads District Hospital with her now deceased son. Sam Murphy died at the age of 23, after being diagnosed with acute astrocytoma of the brain stem, a form of brain cancer. Sam was admitted to hospital for a final time when he 7628 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

experienced cerebral bleeding of the brain. Sam's last wish was that he be allowed to pass away in his family home with his parents by his bedside. That was not possible due to a lack of resources and Sam spent his final days in the intensive care ward. After taking a short break, Mrs Murphy returned to Sam's bedside and witnessed hospital staff, wearing full hazard-protection clothing and barrier shields, administering chemotherapy to him.

As members would know, chemotherapy can be administered to either kill cancer cells or decrease the size of cancerous tumours, or in a palliative manner to increase life expectancy. This raises the question: Why was Sam administered a highly toxic dose of chemotherapy when it was obvious that it would be only a matter of days, if not hours, before he passed away? At the time the chemotherapy was administered, Sam's condition had deteriorated beyond the point at which the treatment would increase his life expectancy. Witnessing this procedure was extremely upsetting for Mrs Murphy who, by this stage, simply wanted her son to be free from this terrible disease and no longer suffering. Instead, she was left questioning the logic of the hospital staff in administering the treatment when Sam was only a short time away from death.

When Mrs Murphy queried the hospital staff as to why Sam was being given chemotherapy so late in his journey, staff told her it was not normal practice at this stage and was something new for them to try. With this information, it seems that Mrs Murphy experienced the further trauma of seeing her son being experimented on by hospital staff. Sam passed away a few hours after the chemotherapy was administered. When Sam's body was presented to the funeral home, double-bagged in plastic bubble wrap and slapped all over with "hazardous material" signs, the staff were not permitted to prepare his body for viewing as they had been advised he had received radiotherapy. However, that was not the case. Sam never received radiotherapy. Despite Mrs Murphy's pleas to the staff to contact the hospital for clarification of the records, his body was left covered in bubble wrap.

When Mrs Murphy spoke about this incident at the Tweed Hospital hearing of the Special Commission of Inquiry into Acute Care Services in New South Wales Public Hospitals, I was deeply shocked and disturbed by her experience. One can only imagine her despair as she watched her son undergoing painful chemotherapy treatment in his final hours, in full knowledge that there was simply no point. Similarly, words cannot express how Mrs Murphy and her husband would have felt when they saw their son's body treated as a piece of radioactive waste. To rub salt into the wounds, the hospital put the wrong date on Sam's death certificate. I commend Mrs Murphy for her bravery in fronting the inquiry to tell her story about the horrors of the New South Wales public health system. It took a lot of courage for her to appear before the commissioner to inform the inquiry of her nightmare experience with the New South Wales public health system and to deal with the pain that she has carried with her for the past five years.

I note that Mrs Murphy had asked that her son be allowed to go home but was informed he needed a ventilator. She asked the hospital whether she could buy or hire one. The answer was that she could buy one. Six days after her son's death she received a quote in the mail for the ventilator. I ask the Minister for Health: How much pain does she expect people to suffer before she does something about the woeful state of public health care in New South Wales? We now have further evidence that patient mistreatment has been occurring in the system for a lot longer than the Minister cares to admit. It is time for the Minister to get serious about her job and do something to ensure that no person ever suffers the same experiences as Mrs Murphy in the New South Wales public health system. The bond between mother and child is extremely strong. For a mother to have to witness her son's unnecessary pain and suffering is inexcusable. Once again, I am 100 per cent committed to the people of the Tweed and I continue to fight on their behalf.

WALLSEND DERELICT BUILDING

Ms SONIA HORNERY (Wallsend—Parliamentary Secretary) [6.12 p.m.]: What can local councils do about abandoned, derelict buildings? I refer to buildings that have become eyesores and change a streetscape from old and tired to squalid and slum-like. These buildings are the refuge of the dispossessed in society, people with substance abuse issues and people with mental health issues. These buildings are also a haven for vandals, wreckers and the lawless, who enter them without good intentions. Unfortunately, my electorate of Wallsend is faced with this problem. Let me paint a picture. An abandoned, derelict building stands awaiting disaster in Wallsend—ineffectively boarded up, an unsightly dilapidated facade and broken windows—with rubbish strewn across the footpath obstructing the path of pedestrians.

Yet this is not the greatest danger. The building is a fire hazard, which threatens the safety of the community and our firefighters. The building is not only a depressing sight for the citizens who live and work in the area but also a health and safety hazard. Paramedics who are called to attend to the homeless in the abandoned building are put in a perilous situation. The coup de grace is that the front door is welcomingly left 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7629

open; inviting all to do what they wish. It is heaven for the vandals. Local government authorities seem to take little action. Is it because they do not have the tools to enforce civic responsibility on building owners, or is it because local council leaders are ill advised and without the wherewithal to deal with the problem? What can councils do to rectify this serious problem? Do councils have the power to tackle this issue? I believe they do.

Councils have the power to deal with these matters under two Acts: the Local Government Act 1993 and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. Councils are empowered under planning and local government legislation to require owners and occupiers of buildings to take such action as is necessary to bring buildings into repair and to make buildings safe. This includes demolition. Under the Local Government Act, councils have the power to order residents to keep their premises or land in a safe and healthy condition. They have the authority to issue on-the-spot fines of $330, and courts have the capacity to impose penalties of up to a maximum of $2,200. This legislation is an instrument that local government can use. The alternative is to implement the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.

I take this opportunity to urge local government areas in New South Wales to use these powers, when appropriate, and issue orders to require owners of such buildings to make repairs or structural alterations. The enforcement of this Act is required when a building is, or is likely to become, a danger to the public, or a building is so dilapidated it disadvantages its occupants or persons or property in the neighbourhood. After giving notice, the council has the power to act. Its actions can include the demolition of a building or the right to recover costs. The State Government has provided two pieces of legislation that allow councils either to take a softly-softly approach or to carry a big stick, depending on the circumstances and nature of the derelict building. These Acts cover the whole spectrum of property ownership. I am optimistic that my pronouncements tonight will motivate councils to take action on problematic buildings. I am optimistic too that action will be taken on the derelict building located in the Wallsend central business district. The people of Wallsend deserve better.

GOSFORD HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION POLICY

Mr CHRIS HARTCHER (Terrigal) [6.17 p.m.]: Today I speak about a traumatic experience suffered at Gosford Hospital by some of the elderly people in my electorate. I note that none of the elderly people who contacted me have any complaints about hospital staff, doctors or nurses. If anything, they praised the hospital staff, doctors and nurses for their dedication to a difficult and somewhat thankless job. We all know the harsh conditions under which medical staff in this State work. They are often understaffed, underfunded, overworked and stretched to the limits. I, together with many other members, congratulate them and thank them for their efforts. However, a policy at Gosford Hospital that was brought to my attention recently has caused me grave concern.

Ms O'Reily is an 86-year-old lady who has resided in my electorate for the past 30 years. She was recently admitted to Gosford Hospital after feeling unwell and calling for an ambulance. When she arrived at the hospital, she was immediately admitted and attended to by nurses. She was later moved from the emergency department to another ward, where she was left for several hours. The issue of concern for Ms O'Reily is that she was placed in a ward with two men, which left her in an understandably uncomfortable position. Ms O'Reily also expressed concern about an administrative error that was discovered when her son, who lives in Sydney, tried to contact her and was told by hospital staff that Ms O'Reily's daughter had just left. Ms O'Reily does not have a daughter; she has three sons. When Steven, her son, asked what the nurse was talking about, he was told that two people with no relationship to Ms O'Reily had been noted as her next of kin.

Ms O'Reily had not requested either of these people to be listed as her next of kin and was particularly distressed about who would have been notified if something had happened to her. Ms O'Reily was also concerned about how this could have been potentially distressing for the poor girl, who could have received a telephone call from the hospital to let her know that a loved one had been injured or had passed away only to discover later that it was not, in fact, anyone she knew. I am relieved to learn that this error has since been corrected. Since contacting my office, Ms O'Reily's story has been supported by two other elderly women who were placed in the same position as she: upon admission to Gosford Hospital they also were placed in rooms with men.

Mrs Hughes contacted me about her mother, aged 89, who was admitted to Gosford Hospital last week and initially placed in a surgical ward with three other women. Later she was transferred to another ward—a room occupied by two men. She was embarrassed and uncomfortable, to say the least, because one of the men was naked. Another elderly woman aged 76 has also contacted me. She had the same experience at Gosford Hospital some time ago. She was admitted to the emergency department and then transferred to another ward 7630 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

with male occupants. Like those before, she felt very uncomfortable and embarrassed about her situation. Unfortunately, it appears that this practice has been going on for some time. It should be noted that it is not only women who have been subjected to this embarrassment. Men have been placed in wards with women, and men—especially elderly men—are also uncomfortable and embarrassed to be in that situation.

Men and women at this stage in life deserve far better from our health system. Indeed, these people deserve the best we can offer. While times have changed—in recent years our society has developed a much more relaxed approach to gender differences and there is now considerable co-mingling of the sexes—it should be noted that patients in hospitals are sick people and, as such, have a much greater desire for privacy. Elderly people who are part of a generation that had much stricter gender separation are especially sensitive to being denied privacy. They should be accorded maximum respect and not placed in embarrassing situations. When we are sick we are all far more sensitive about personal privacy and are entitled to have that respected. Elderly men and women should not be placed in wards with members of the opposite gender—and nor should younger men and women. This practice cannot assist in any way the recovery of the sick, particularly elderly patients, who are already distressed about being in hospital. I have tabled questions about this matter for the Minister for Health and I await both her reply and her rectification of this problem.

APPIN MASSACRE MEMORIAL CEREMONY

Mr PHILLIP COSTA (Wollondilly) [6.22 p.m.]: I recently had the privilege of attending an important annual event in my electorate: the commemorative ceremony for the Dharawal people who died on 17 April 1816. Today I present to this House the events of 17 April 1816, sadly known as the Appin Massacre. According to my research, this will be the first time the details of this event are outlined in the House. In April this year I attended a memorial service in my electorate commemorating this day. Future generations will remember 2008 as the year we matured as a nation because we now accept, understand and empathise with our indigenous community in relation to the tragic impacts upon the longest-surviving culture on earth.

This very tragic event has been lost from our teachings for far too long. It is a day in our history that changed the lives of entire communities, especially the Dharawal community in my electorate. The Dharawal Aboriginal people were the original inhabitants of the Appin area. By July 1813, Europeans began to settle across the Dharawal land. The event coincided with a time when it is believed many other Aboriginal communities moved onto the land due to drought, custom or displacement—that apparently occurred every 20 years or so. The land around what we now call Macarthur was fertile, with abundant resources. To the Europeans, this area was known as the Cowpastures. The availability of land and food for the Dharawal people was under considerable pressure.

Governing the settlement of the area was Governor Macquarie, who had endeavoured to honour his instructions from the British Government to ensure that British settlers attempted to live "in amity and kindness" with the indigenous population. Between 1814 and 1816 relations between the Dharawal people and the settlers became tense. In May 1814 three members of the British military fired upon Aborigines at two farms, which resulted in the death of one Aboriginal boy. This caused reprisals by the Aboriginal people, which in turn resulted in further violence. The hostilities escalated over the next two years until March 1816, when a group of Aborigines attacked the settlers, killing some and destroying property.

As a consequence, Governor Macquarie ordered that "terrible and exemplary punishments" be served on the Aboriginal people in the area. He ordered three military detachments of the 46th Regiment, under the command of Captain Shaw, Captain Wallis and Lieutenant Dawe, to be dispatched to Windsor, Liverpool and the Cowpastures to deal with the Aboriginal community by "punishing and clearing the country of them entirely and driving them across the mountains." Captain Wallis was assigned to the Airds and Appin areas known as the Cowpastures. Early one morning Captain Wallis and his men came upon the Dharawal men's camp at Appin. They attacked the men, killing all. While Captain Wallis returned to Sydney, civilians remained and continued to hunt down the Dharawal people. They found the camp where families were staying and shot or trampled them to death with their horses and then drove the remainder of the Dharawal people over the cliffs at Broughton Pass in my electorate on 17 April 1816.

The commemorative ceremony, organised by the local Aboriginal leader, was first held six years ago. Attendance at the event has grown since then, and this year about 200 people were present. I congratulate the Winga Myamly Reconciliation Group on organising the Appin Massacre Memorial Ceremony annually to commemorate the lives, the cultural link and the resilience of the Dharawal people. Following the massacre at Broughton Pass it is believed that fewer than five Dharawal people remained. I thank the reconciliation group 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7631

for its passion and for ensuring that we all remember the importance of this most tragic and significant event in our short history. The ceremony, held annually at the Cataract Dam, includes a remembrance walk, a smoking ceremony, a traditional welcome and a performance by two talented local Aboriginal men, Matthew and Glen Doyle. Special guests who attended the ceremony this year were some direct descendants of the Dharawal people.

On behalf of the wider community I thank the ongoing commitment to reconciliation shown by the Winga Myamly Reconciliation Group, Uncle Ivan Wellington and the Reconciliation Regional Ambassador, Col Markham. Special thanks go to Wollondilly local Aborigines Glenda Chalker, Len English, Gavin Andrews and the Wollondilly Aboriginal Advisory Group who have made such a wonderful contribution to the Aboriginal community in my area. There are two memorial plaques in my electorate, one on the top of Mount Razorback and one at Cataract Dam. The one at Cataract Dam commemorates the Appin massacre and the one on Mount Razorback reads:

The Wollondilly Community in the Spirit of peace and reconciliation honours both black and white, whose lives were taken throughout the land following Aboriginal resistance to colonisation by Britain from 1788.

I encourage all members of my electorate to support our local Aboriginal leaders in driving forward reconciliation.

Mr PAUL LYNCH (Liverpool—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health)) [6.27 p.m.]: I congratulate the member for Wollondilly on his very impressive words. I was with him at the commemoration of the Appin massacre a short time ago. It was a most impressive and moving ceremony. When I spoke at that event I made the point that some people deride such acknowledgements as being a black-armband view of history. Those people do not understand our history. We cannot go forward as a society unless we accept and understand what has happened in our past. As I said on the day, one of Australia's finest contemporary historians, in my view, is a man named Henry Reynolds. His work done is the beacon for how we should approach these matters in an historical sense. We need to acknowledge the past, because if we do not we will be condemned to go forward based on a false premise. I once again congratulate the member for Wollondilly on his private member's statement.

F3 EXTENSION

Mr GEORGE SOURIS (Upper Hunter) [6.28 p.m.]: Tonight I bring to the attention of the House the situation regarding the proposed extension of the F3. I express my dismay and disgust that the Federal Government appears to have broken an election promise and dropped this project completely. It provided in yesterday's budget a paltry $800,000, which is earmarked for the conduct of yet another Lower Hunter transport study. We certainly do not need another one of those. The issue of the road distresses many people throughout the Hunter Valley. Currently, visitors to the north, north-west and New England areas of New South Wales travel along the F3 to one or other of the connection points, the most usual one being the one marked Cessnock and Kurri Kurri.

Travellers can then take the route through Cessnock and Branxton north, or through Kurri Kurri and Greta and continue north. The proposed route for the extension of the F3 would bypass Kurri Kurri, Cessnock, Greta, Branxton and Maitland. The route through Maitland is yet another way to get to the north and north-west. The extension would be roughly in the area of Freeman's Waterhole to just north of Branxton, joining the New England Highway at that point. That road is already freeway standard—that is, four lanes of divided highway. The extension has been long anticipated and long awaited.

The previous Federal Government allocated almost $100 million to the project, and most of that money has been spent on property acquisition and planning and designing the route. Everything is ready to go: the preferred route is selected and the property is almost all acquired. We simply need a funding commitment from the Federal Government—it is a federally funded road—to proceed. The previous Federal Government wanted the State Government to contribute some of the required funding—not even 50 per cent—and no doubt the new Federal Government will require the same commitment. However, the project has now been abandoned completely, and that is very disappointing.

This issue has been a political football in both Federal and State elections for a long time. Because the former Federal Government was of the Liberal-Nationals persuasion, the New South Wales Labor Government and the Federal Labor Opposition used the project to campaign against their foes during a number of election campaigns. Just prior to the last Federal election, the Federal Coalition Government committed $887 million for the completion of the extension of the F3. The then Labor Opposition promised to match that and—in the words of some of the local Labor members—to get the bulldozers rolling and the work underway. 7632 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

Unfortunately, the new Federal Labor Government is saying that it found no money in Canberra when it took office. What a load of rubbish given last night's budget surplus of $21 billion! There is enough money for the Federal Government to undertake any project it wants, and it certainly should be undertaking the projects it promised to commence immediately prior to the election. I am referring to a core promise of significant magnitude and importance to the entire Hunter community. This project will also benefit communities that will be serviced by the route from as far away as the Queensland border and Quirindi, which is in my electorate. It will also service my former constituents—for whom I still have great affection—in Coonabarabran, Willow Tree, Murrurundi, Scone, Aberdeen, Muswellbrook, Singleton, Merriwa, Coolah and Cassilis. All of those communities would benefit from the extension of the freeway, which would cut at least 20 minutes off their journey to the metropolis.

EMERGENCY SERVICES VOLUNTEERS

Ms MARIE ANDREWS (Gosford) [6.33 p.m.]: This week across the nation we are celebrating National Volunteer Week. It is therefore appropriate that I take this opportunity to place on the public record appreciation of the large number of volunteers who gave their very best during the devastating storms and torrential rain that lashed the Central Coast and the Hunter region over the June long weekend last year. Regarded as the worst weather event in 30 years, the storm sadly claimed the lives of a family of five in a road collapse at Somersby and caused damage estimated at $1.5 billion. The lives of residents in the region were severely disrupted, while significant damage was rendered to homes and infrastructure.

Since then, I have had the honour of being part of the formal recognition of volunteers and staff from many different areas and organisations who assisted with the enormous clean-up and recovery effort. A number of ceremonies have been held across the Central Coast, with hundreds of storm heroes receiving individually engraved State medallions. The first ceremony that I attended was held on 3 October last year in the council chambers at Wyong. On that occasion, the Hon. Linda Burney, Minister for Fair Trading, Minister for Youth, and Minister for Volunteering, presented medallions to Australian Red Cross personal support volunteers at the 2007 Central Coast and Hunter storms awards ceremony, hosted by the Australian Red Cross.

On 1 December 2007, the Premier visited the Central Coast to personally present representatives from volunteer organisations, emergency services, charities, community groups, government agencies and councils with the State medallion he had specially commissioned to commemorate their actions. Representatives of those organisations who received the State medallion, included past president of the Rotary Club of Gosford, David Bacon. Mr Bacon coordinated teams of workers from the Rotary club who volunteered hours of labour to help people across the Central Coast remove storm debris, cut fallen trees and clean flooded houses. Tina Davies and Craig Healy from Gosford City Council also received the State medallion. As communications coordinator, Ms Davies played an integral role at the Central Coast Disaster Recovery Centre located at Wyong. Mr Healy, the after-hours overseer who was on duty when the storms hit, provided leadership to assist staff who were overrun with inquiries.

The Department of Community Services was heavily involved in the disaster recovery as a first-response disaster relief agency of the New South Wales Government. Maree Sykes, manager of client services and out-of-home care in the Gosford office of the Department of Community Services, received a State medallion for her dedication and tireless work in helping storm and flood victims get back on their feet. NSW Fire Brigades, represented by Keith King, Zone Commander; the Ambulance Service of New South Wales, represented by Les Shaper; and the New South Wales Police Force, represented by Kim Sharp, were among various other organisations that were honoured by the Premier.

EnergyAustralia's employees worked non-stop to restore electricity supplies to thousands of homes. Charitable organisations, including Anglicare, St Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army and many others came to the fore—as always—to lend a helping hand to those in need. Countless people throughout my electorate of Gosford assisted during the storms and in the clean-up afterwards. Many acted far beyond what is expected of ordinary citizens and were deserving of a State medallion. Those outstanding citizens included Ross Bowen and Peter Dorhauer, who both reside in Umina Beach. Ross and Peter went to the assistance of Mr Dorhauer's neighbour. A tree from a property in Nowack Avenue, Umina, had fallen over a powerline, leaving the live wire drooping onto the roadway. The incident occurred at approximately 2.30 p.m. on Friday 9 June and for at least the next two hours both Mr Bowen and Mr Dorhauer stood out in the horrendous storm diverting traffic around the fallen powerline until NSW Fire Brigades arrived on the scene. The Premier presented these two gentlemen with their State medallions in acknowledgement of their brave acts and for placing their lives at risk to assist others. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7633

Members of the State Emergency Service do a remarkable job in any crisis, and over the June 2007 long weekend they once again excelled themselves. I was delighted to join State Emergency Service Regional Coordinator Marnie Hillman at the State Emergency Service depot at Erina on 10 December 2007 and acknowledge the role that Captain Rolf Garda, his wife, Sue, who is a Deputy Controller, Deputy Controllers Maurice Fitzgerald and David Bishop and a number of other State Emergency Service volunteers played in that disaster. On that occasion, 40 State Emergency Service personnel received State medallions.

The most recent awards ceremony that I attended for the storm heroes was on 26 March this year at the Central Coast Leagues Club. On that occasion I represented the Hon. Nathan Rees, Minister for Emergency Services. Assisted by Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Robin Rogers, I had the distinct pleasure of presenting State medallions to volunteers and staff from the following Rural Fire Service brigades within the Gosford district: Avoca Beach, Brisbane Waters, Copacabana, Empire Bay, Kariong, Killcare, MacMasters Beach, Mangrove Mountain, Matcham, Mooney Mooney, Narara, Patonga, Pearl Beach, Somersby, Spencer, The Bays, Wamberal and Wendoree fire brigades, along with bulk water, catering, communications, Rural Fire Service headquarters on Woy Woy Road, Kariong and group officers. I take this opportunity to applaud everyone involved in the work following the Central Coast and Hunter storms.

NORTHERN INLAND ACADEMY OF SPORT

Mr RICHARD TORBAY (Northern Tablelands—Speaker) [6.38 p.m.]: Quite rightly the State Plan focuses on delivering equity of access and opportunity to all people in New South Wales. Its aims include promoting community involvement and citizenship, delivering better services, ensuring fairness and opportunity by growing prosperity right across the State and creating a positive environment for living through participation in sport and other community activities. For people living in regional areas these goals have particular significance because they are the exact opposite of the political opportunism and economic rationalism, which, for many years, stalled the delivery of services and opportunities to more remote and isolated parts of this State.

Today I refer to a program that successfully meets the aims of the State Plan and creates excellent opportunities for athletes and coaches in my electorate in northern New South Wales. The Northern Inland Academy of Sport [NIAS] was established in November 1992 as an autonomous, community-based, incorporated association. It, and the 11 regional sports academies within New South Wales, provides opportunities, pathways and access by assisting talented sportspeople to reach their maximum potential both on and off the sporting field. These programs involve both athletes and coaches. Regional academy of sport programs, particularly in the northern inland area of New South Wales, help young athletes to overcome major disadvantages not always suffered by their city counterparts. These include the challenges of distance, lack of access to regular quality coaching, inadequate regular high-quality competition and limited exposure to State sporting bodies.

Since the inception of the academy, NIAS programs have assisted 2,500 athletes, encouraged volunteers and coaches and have contributed to programs that support indigenous athletes. NIAS receives State Government funding through the Department of Sport and Recreation and also secures corporate support for its programs. The Government's support is acknowledged in all promotions and publications, and there is wide acceptance and acknowledgement within the northern inland sporting community of the important role Government funding plays in delivering academy athlete and coach education programs in the region. NIAS conducts its programs in the north-west of the State incorporating Tamworth, Armidale, Narrabri, Moree, Gunnedah, Glen Innes, and Inverell and their surrounding regions. The NIAS region extends from Tenterfield in the north, to Ebor in the east, to Coonabarabran in the west and to Quirindi in the south.

NIAS currently coordinates 10 sports programs: netball, hockey for boys and girls, football for boys and girls, swimming, touch football, rugby, tennis and triathlon. A Lone Star program provides scholarships for individual athletes as well as regional athlete and coach education programs supporting 180 athletes and 30 coaches within the region. NIAS, in partnership with the New South Wales Department of Sport and Recreation and the Australian Sports Commission, conducts indigenous athlete talent identification camps at Lake Keepit and Moree. It is also gearing up to launch programs for athletes with a disability in the second half of this year, as well as launching programs in lawn bowls and cycling.

Over the past 15 years NIAS sports programs have assisted athletes like Nathan Blacklock, Dean Widders, Jamie Lyon, Stacey Porter, Troy Hearfield, Julie Boland and Melanie Maucauley in their development as athletes. Five NIAS athletes recently represented New South Wales at the Australian under-18 hockey championships where they won a gold medal, and Australia's No. 1 ranked junior triathlete, Jack Hickey, is a 7634 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

current member of NIAS. I urge the Government to maintain and extend its financial support for regional academies of sport and the important role they play in ensuring an extensive range of talent identification and development programs throughout regional New South Wales.

Regional academies of sport currently support in excess of 2,000 athletes, facilitated by more than 300 coaching and program staff. By maintaining its support of these academies, the Government will foster the not inconsiderable talent of athletes living outside metropolitan centres. It will lead to the continuing success of New South Wales and national sporting teams as well as maintaining our State's pre-eminence in junior athlete development within Australia. From 7 to 9 October 2008 Armidale will host the New South Wales Academy Games, where it is expected that more than 800 athletes from the State's 11 regional sports academies will compete in 10 sports. I invite the Minister of Sport and Recreation to join me in my electorate for this major State sporting event to watch Australia's future sports stars developing their leadership skills and teamwork during the games.

PORT MACQUARIE BASE HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Mr ROBERT OAKESHOTT (Port Macquarie) [6.43 p.m.]: I may start to sound like a broken record, but again I speak about the Port Macquarie Base Hospital and, in particular, the emergency department and the intensive care unit at that hospital, which are in desperate need of an upgrade. Although an upgrade has been promised for several years now, we are struggling to get the funding. Approximately $50 million needs to be spent to deal with the growth in the number of presentations at the hospital. I talk about this tonight because several recent figures reconfirm for me, for my community and now, I hope, for this House that we are on an unsustainable path if the Government continues with its do-nothing approach.

Recent figures of assaults at emergency departments in all hospitals in New South Wales showed three North Coast hospitals—Port Macquarie Base Hospital included—were in the top five for assaults in emergency departments. This indicates that these are incredibly busy emergency departments by comparison to others. For the safety of staff and patients, once again I ask the House, the Minister and the Government to address the lack of funding for the emergency department of Port Macquarie Base Hospital.

At the same time, the Government's funding formula is being pushed behind closed doors. The resource distribution formula, once available to area health services and therefore available to communities, is now no longer available. In the light of members' questions in this place today about freedom of information and transparency of government, I find it appalling that the Government's funding formula for area health services is no longer available. For a high-growth area, the North Coast Area Health Service has traditionally been behind equity in the Government's funding formula. The North coast is missing out on somewhere between $20 million and $60 million a year. When that is put in the context of the money needed at the hospitals on the North Coast, it is outrageous that this formula is no longer viable. What is more outrageous is that we are below equity and continue to be below equity on an annual basis.

The latest figures also indicate that this is unsustainable. They show that emergency department attendances increased by 17 per cent, or an extra 3,300 presentations, between March 2007 and March 2008. This is on the back of a 14 per cent increase the year before and on the back of almost a 10 per cent increase the year before that. It is fair to say that in three years alone presentations at Port Macquarie Base Hospital emergency department have absolutely exploded. This hospital was built in 1992 in controversial circumstances as a privately run public hospital. Regardless of the ideologies of all members in this Chamber, the hospital was built for a maximum capacity of 14,000 presentations. On the growth figures for the past three years the emergency department is seeing 30,000 presentations annually, which is well over double the maximum capacity intended for the emergency department.

As I keep repeating, this is unsustainable. The buyback took place in February 2005 at a cost of $80 million to the Government. It was in August 2006 that the master plan was completed, so it was recognised then there was a need for the expanded facility. It is almost two years since that master plan was completed and since then we have seen a 17 per cent growth on the back of a 14 per cent growth. We are arguably 30 per cent worse off than when that master plan recognised the need for an expanded emergency department. As we enter the busy winter months I keep emphasising that this is unsustainable, and I sincerely hope the Government and the Minister address this as a matter of urgency.

Question—That private members' statements be noted—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Private members' statements noted. 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7635

CRIMES AMENDMENT (ROCK THROWING) BILL 2008

Bill received from the Legislative Council and introduced.

Agreement in Principle

Mr PAUL LYNCH (Liverpool—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health)) [6.48 p.m.], on behalf of Mr David Campbell: I move:

That this bill be now agreed to in principle.

This bill was introduced in the other place on 7 May 2008 and the second reading speech appears on page 39 of the Hansard galley for that day. The bill is in the same form as introduced in the other place, and I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned on motion by Mr Daryl Maguire and set down as an order of the day for a future day.

ASSISTANT-SPEAKER (Mr Grant McBride): Order! It being before 7.00 p.m., the House will now proceed to the matter of public importance.

STROKE TREATMENT

Matter of Public Importance

Mr GERARD MARTIN (Bathurst) [6.50 p.m.]: I speak on a very important topic that has a particular impact on rural communities. Stroke is the second-largest killer in Australia and one of the leading causes of disability among adults. More than 53,000 strokes occur in Australia each year—one every 10 minutes. Stroke is the cause of death for over 10 per cent of the New South Wales population and, unfortunately, around one-third of all those who survive a stroke will live with a permanent disability. However, the evidence is that if stroke sufferers receive access to dedicated stroke treatment and rehabilitation services, survival rates improve and the impact of any disability is minimised. The first 24 hours are crucial.

That is why the Iemma Government is establishing specialised stroke services across rural New South Wales as part of its Rural Health Plan. Providing services closer to home was a key direction in the Government's Rural Health Plan released in 2002. We have already established specialised cancer, cardiology, renal, critical care and orthopaedic services in rural areas. Providing these specialist services in rural and regional areas is reducing the need for many patients to travel outside their local area to access treatment. It also reduces the burden on carers, family and friends.

The Iemma Government is investing a record $12.5 billion in health services this financial year, including $3.69 billion in rural and regional areas. That is in addition to the $237 million for major capital works projects throughout rural and regional New South Wales. The New South Wales Government is delivering on its commitment to provide more beds, more clinicians, more elective surgery and redeveloped health facilities in rural and regional areas. I am pleased that some of this investment is already making a difference in my electorate with the opening in January 2008 of dedicated stroke services at Orange and Bathurst hospitals. The Greater Western Area Health Service received $231,837 in recurrent funding for the dedicated service. This investment has provided for the recruitment of a stroke coordinator, two therapy assistants and a medical director to the service.

The stroke service brings together specialised staff with dedicated resources in both Bathurst and Orange hospitals to deliver best practice stroke care. Along with funding, $1.5 million has been allocated to set up new dedicated stroke services at Wagga Wagga, Port Macquarie, Armidale and Tamworth, Dubbo and Shoalhaven. Each of these services will have a stroke care coordinator, who will coordinate the care of patients from the time they present at the emergency department through the acute phase of care to rehabilitation and discharge back to the community. The stroke care coordinator will work with local clinicians to develop clear care pathways for stroke patients and provide expert advice and training to doctors caring for stroke patients.

Along with delivering more staff and infrastructure across the State, the Government is also providing continued training and support to staff in rural stroke services. The New South Wales Institute of Rural Clinical 7636 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

Services and Teaching was established to support rural clinicians across the course of their careers and to identify and promote good practice in rural health service delivery. The institute's rural stroke project is supporting the establishment of rural stroke services. The project is working with rural sites to develop service models and is providing training and support to staff in rural stroke services. A network of rural stroke care coordinators has been established, with strong links to metropolitan centres for mentoring training and support.

An evaluation of rural stroke services will be undertaken at the end of the year. The establishment of these services means that people who suffer a stroke will receive prompt specialist treatment. The new stroke services give rural patients the best possible chance of surviving a stroke and of achieving better outcomes. I am pleased to advise that the New South Wales Government will invest an additional $1 million per year in the establishment of more rural stroke and rehabilitation services. A panel of clinicians will make recommendations about the allocation of these funds in the near future. These stroke services are already making a real difference to people across rural and regional New South Wales. While my parliamentary colleagues join me in recognising the very real patient benefits from the Iemma Government's investment in health services, at times the Opposition remains silent, and this is one of them.

Mr Daryl Maguire: That is not true.

Mr GERARD MARTIN: We spend more per capita on our public hospitals than any other State. It is a simple fact that anyone can look up on page E10 of volume 2 of the Report on Government Services produced by the Productivity Commission, and I am sure the member for Wagga Wagga has done so. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition insists that this statement is "spin" and in his response on the Liberal Party website argues:

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National public health expenditure report shows NSW spends less on public health expenditure per capita than any other state or territory.

This claim shows how little the Leader of the Opposition understands the working of the health system. Public hospitals are the single largest component of total health expenditures with all Australian governments spending around $21 billion in 2005-6. This is more than 13 times the national expenditure of approximately $1.5 billion on public health activities, such as communicable disease control and health promotions, which is what the Leader of the Opposition was referring to in his statement. These activities are important and the New South Wales Government is strongly committed to them.

I note that New South Wales expenditure of $65 per head is in line with both Victoria and Queensland, and these activities have clear scale benefits. This is borne out in our outcomes from public health expenditure, such as a reduction in smoking and preventing hospitalisation for immunisation-preventable diseases. We all recognise the link between smoking and the potential for a stroke. The Government's development of the system and its extension to regional and rural areas is first class. The networking of the clinicians and technicians is very important. Staff at the new dedicated clinic at Bathurst Hospital are proud of their facilities. When the clinic was opened, one professor from John Hunter Hospital said that, for stroke and rehabilitation, the clinic had world's best practice.

Mr DARYL MAGUIRE (Wagga Wagga) [6.57 p.m.]: I am disappointed that the member for Bathurst, in speaking on this matter of public importance, used this as an opportunity to dump rather than to push the need for more funds to be invested in regional and rural health, particularly for stroke victims. People who suspect they are having a stroke must act swiftly because, as the adage goes, time is brain. A stroke is a brain attack and every 10 minutes somewhere in the country someone is having a stroke. If the person is lucky enough to receive prompt treatment, death can often be averted and brain damage can be significantly reduced or even avoided. If treatment is delayed and the patient survives, the person faces a life of disability.

Hospitals with dedicated stroke units usually have a different culture in the emergency departments and stroke patients are fast-tracked. The intensive monitoring of the patients in these units has been shown to reduce the likelihood of death or disability by 30 per cent. However, something else is worth noting. Many people who have suffered a stroke are eligible for a specific and highly effective blood clot buster that can increase their chances of getting up and walking out of the hospital by a further 30 per cent. In some people this clot buster can be so potent they can walk away with no apparent disability. It has to be given within three hours of the stroke occurring and to be eligible the person has to have the most common form of stroke—a blockage in a vessel in the brain. If a person has a stroke caused by a bleed in the brain that person is ineligible.

A bystander cannot tell what kind of stroke a person is having, as that requires specialist expertise and a CAT scan. According to the Stroke Foundation, the clot buster, known as tissue plasminogen activator, is now 14 May 2008 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 7637

given to only about 2 per cent of eligible patients. If Australia lifted its game and just 10 per cent of the eligible people received it, and 80 per cent of the hospitals had stroke units, the Stroke Foundation says more than 1,300 lives could be saved from death or disability.

It is important to inform the community of the statistics in relation to strokes. It is the third leading cause of death and one of the biggest causes of adult disability in Australia. More than 53,000 strokes occur in Australia every year. Approximately 220,000 Australians who have suffered a stroke are living in the community and by 2017 an estimated 74,000 people will have a stroke if we do not act now. Strokesafe is a public health program developed by the National Stroke Foundation. During the next 10 years strokesafe aims to save 110,000 Australians from death and disability. The website for that information is www.strokefoundation.com.au. As the member for Bathurst said, the Wagga Wagga community applied for and sought as a pilot program the creation of a specialised stroke unit. I am pleased to report that together with the Minister for Health I attended the opening of that unit.

The unit was established due to the efforts of the medical fraternity, led by Dr Martin Jude. I place on record my sincere appreciation for the way in which they developed and presented the plan to the then chief executive officer of the area health service, Stuart Schneider, who helped us bring about this outcome. We took the proposal to the Minister for Health and, sadly, it took time to bring it to fruition. I am concerned that rural and regional areas seem to be the last to get such a unit. We negotiated the creation of a specialist unit in Wagga Wagga and Port Macquarie under a pilot plan but, sadly, other communities missed out. The Bathurst community is one that missed out because a plan was not proposed and put forward. The member for Bathurst is now following the lead of Wagga Wagga and Port Macquarie.

The stroke unit provides benefits to our region. Through the efforts of Dr Martin Jude and others we developed a program that should be emulated. I urge the member for Bathurst to visit Wagga Wagga and talk to Dr Martin Jude to find out how to develop a plan and implement the stroke program, and to expand its development rather than to take cheap political points on the Leader of the Opposition. It is critically important that the development of stroke units in regional and rural areas occurs sooner rather than later. In my capacity as deputy chairman of the Coalition's rural health taskforce I visited Bathurst and Tamworth and other communities that are screaming out for such a facility. I acknowledge that some planning work has been done and funding is available through the State and Federal governments. However, members on both sides of the House should actively support the work of specialists such as Dr Martin Jude and others to bring pilot plans to fruition. They should then be assessed and rolled out across the State.

Sadly, the tragedy is that such communities that have developed a plan receive a knock-back. We know that the 23 units existing in Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong have proven to be beneficial, are delivering results and are worth emulating in rural and regional New South Wales. Wagga Wagga has had a long wait for such a facility, together with other rural and regional communities, including Bathurst, which is a great tragedy. The urban basin—Newcastle-Sydney-Wollongong—has had the benefit of such units for a number of years. The member for Bathurst should indicate what he has done to bring about the creation of such a unit in his electorate.

Ms LYLEA McMAHON (Shellharbour) [7.04 p.m.]: I welcome the Iemma Government's commitment to provide more specialised stroke staff and services in rural and regional parts of the State. More than 350,000 people in Australia have had a stroke, as my colleague has just outlined. It is the second largest killer and one of the leading causes of disability amongst adults in Australia. Treatment and rehabilitation can make a real difference to survival rates and in minimising lasting disability. Therefore it is crucial that stroke sufferers have access to appropriate services. The people on the South Coast are very fortunate to have one of the new stroke services established in nearby Shoalhaven.

Stroke services in the Shoalhaven will be significantly enhanced with the establishment of a four-bed acute stroke unit at Nowra. That unit will provide acute in-patient care with a clinical nurse consultant to support stroke patients throughout the area. That is an investment of more than $500,000. I look forward to seeing the new stroke service up and running in the next few months. The establishment of this service is not just about the dedication of hospital beds for stroke patients, it is about the coordination of care by a team of health professionals and continued support when patients are ready to go home. This important service is good news for the people of Shoalhaven and the surrounding area, and good news for five other regions across the State.

In the New England area, specialised stroke services have already commenced in Armidale and Tamworth with the appointment of two stroke care coordinators. In Dubbo, stroke patients are now receiving care in two designated stroke beds at Dubbo Base Hospital. A medical director for stroke services, stroke care 7638 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 May 2008

coordinator, speech pathologist and nurse educator are providing specialised support for the stroke service. On the mid North Coast a four-bed acute stroke unit was opened in Port Macquarie in January. This new unit is already improving the immediate care and ultimate rehabilitation prospects of residents in the Hastings-Macleay area. In the five weeks since that unit opened 18 patients have been treated for a diagnosis of stroke or transient ischaemic attack.

The specialised stroke team in the acute stroke unit has treated those patients. In those instances common post-stroke complications were avoided and all but one of those patients was discharged to their preadmission accommodation. In the mid west, a specialised stroke service has been established at Bathurst and Orange with funding of $231,837 per year. The Minister for Health officially opened the new four-bed acute stroke unit at Wagga Wagga Hospital recently. Funding of more than $372,421 a year has been provided for equipment and staffing for the unit, including a stroke care coordinator and allied health services including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology and social work.

Mr GERARD MARTIN (Bathurst) [7.07 p.m.], in reply: I thank the member for Wagga Wagga and the member for Shellharbour for their contributions to this important matter. I am sorry that my good friend and colleague the Liberal Party Whip, the member for Wagga Wagga, thought that this was a political dump. If it had been a political dump it would have been much more severe. The Government received unwarranted criticism that was ill directed and ignorant because the wrong facts were referred to. I accept what the member for Wagga Wagga said about the input of the local clinicians, which is exactly what happened in Bathurst with the development of its plan. Bathurst has a stroke unit which has been operating since February. It is fully staffed with excellent facilities in the wonderful new Bathurst Hospital, despite its problems. The rehabilitation centre, which was five or six kilometres away, has been incorporated in the new hospital with all the modern cons including a hydrotherapy pool. The stroke unit is next to it. As was pointed out by the professor from the Hunter, the unit is delivering world's best practice treatment.

The staff of the stroke unit are highly trained in working with high-tech equipment. They are also networked with their colleagues in Orange—we are looking at this on a regional basis. I agree with the member for Wagga Wagga that the more we can roll out the better it will be but budgets are finite. Given the new arrangements between the Rudd Government and the State governments announced last night, I am confident— and I am sure the Minister for Local Government, who is at the table, would agree with me—there will be an emphasis on more serious money for health. I am confident all State governments will be able to provide facilities in stroke and other allied health facilities more quickly. The concentration of population and long distance is a challenge to the health system and New South Wales, like all Australian States, faces that problem. The challenge of maximising systems and services to satisfy the majority of people is always present. I am sure as the scheme is rolled out it will have a big impact in saving thousands of lives and will mean the quality of life for stroke victims in rehabilitation will be greatly enhanced. I thank all members for their contributions to the debate.

Discussion concluded.

The House adjourned at 7.10 p.m. until Thursday 15 May 2008 at 10.00 a.m.

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