13 May 2004 Legislative Assembly 961 THURSDAY, 13 MAY 2004 Legislative Assembly Mr SPEAKER (Hon. R.K. Hollis, Redcliffe) read prayers and took the chair at 9.30 a.m. PRIVILEGE Aurukun Associates Agreement Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.31 a.m.): I rise on a matter of privilege. I table for the information of the House an article in this morning's Courier-Mail headed 'Alcan urges Beattie to reconsider Aurukun' and an article in today's Australian headed 'Canada heavies Canberra over mine'. On 22 October, nearly seven months ago, the Natural Resources Minister, Stephen Robertson, and I demanded that French mining company Aluminium Pechiney Holdings Pty Ltd surrender mining leases it had held over the vast Aurukun mineral deposits on Cape York since 1975. We sought surrender of the lease because Pechiney failed to commence construction of an alumina refinery by 31 December 1988—15 years ago. This was a key requirement of the Aurukun Associates Agreement 1975— Mr SEENEY: Mr Speaker, I rise to a point of order. We had this debate in the House yesterday. Mr SPEAKER: Order! This is not a debate. This is a point of privilege. Mr SEENEY: How does the continuation of this debate constitute a point of privilege? Mr SPEAKER: Order! Have you heard the whole of the point of privilege yet? Nor have I. Mr SEENEY: I have heard what the Premier said because it was in the debate in this House yesterday. Mr SPEAKER: I listen to every point of privilege, whether it is raised by your side of the parliament or the other side. I am entitled to listen to it, and the Premier is entitled to put his point of privilege to the House. Mr BEATTIE: We sought surrender of the lease because Pechiney failed to commence construction of an alumina refinery by 31 December 1988—15 years ago. This was a key requirement of the Aurukun Associates Agreement 1975 it signed with the Bjelke-Petersen government. That was 29 years ago. We are not running a charity. Pechiney has been in breach of an agreement for at least 15 years. Parking this valuable 500 million tonne mineral resource to suit itself while it invested in new refining facilities elsewhere in the world is not acceptable. We make no apologies for my Queensland government's decisions. I say to the Courier-Mail, the Australian and anyone else who wants to write about it, including the Canadian High Commission, that we expect a return for Queenslanders. We will not be intimidated by any campaign run by Alcan, Pechiney or anyone in the media organisations. An opposition member interjected. Mr BEATTIE: I just highlight to the House that I am entitled under standing orders to reply to matters that relate— An opposition member interjected. Mr BEATTIE: These are matters of privilege pertaining to this House and matters arising here, and I am entitled to raise them. If the other side wish to grovel to Pechiney to destroy the assets of Queensland it can, but my government will fight for Queensland to get a fair go for our resources. PETITIONS The following honourable members have lodged paper petitions for presentation— Noise Pollution Barriers, Gateway Arterial Mr Reeves from 181 petitioners requesting the House to alleviate the constant, excessive noise emanating from the Gateway Arterial Road by the installation of noise pollution barriers. Medical Practitioners, Runaway Bay Mrs Croft from 47 petitioners requesting the House to advise the Federal Government that the shortage of General Practitioners in the Runaway Bay area is significantly impacting on local residents and the remaining doctors, and request that the Federal Government declare this a District of Workforce Shortage in an attempt to attract more doctors. 962 Ministerial Statement 13 May 2004 PAPERS MINISTERIAL PAPER TABLED BY THE CLERK The following ministerial papers were tabled by The Clerk— Premier and Minister for Trade (Mr Beattie)— • Government response from the Premier and Minister for Trade (Mr Beattie) to the Members' Ethics and Parliamentary Privileges Committee's Report No. 60—Report on Inquiry into Communications to Members, Members' Representations to Government and Information Provided to Members • Government response from the Premier and Minister for Trade (Mr Beattie) to the Public Accounts Committee's Report No. 65—Review of Audit Reports—Event Management. Minister for Transport and Main Roads (Mr Lucas)— • Notification of Speed Limit under the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994, dated 20 November 2003, regarding ships in the waters at the Nerang River • Notification of Speed Limit under the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994, dated 4 December 2003, regarding ships in the waters at Abel Point Marina MINISTERIAL PAPER The following ministerial paper was tabled— Minister for Education and the Arts (Ms Bligh)— • Queensland Theatre Company—Annual Report 2003 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Smoking Bans Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.35 a.m.): I would like to advise the House that, along with the Minister for Health, I am absolutely delighted with the unanimous support from parliament last night for the government's plans to take further steps to help nonsmokers live and work in smoke-free surroundings and to help smokers who want to kick their addiction and regain a healthy lifestyle. Bob, we are with you. More than 3,000 Queenslanders die from tobacco related causes every year. As I said last night, the government started a review of the Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act 1998 last year. Preliminary consultations with various organisations have already taken place, and the next step will involve the release of a discussion paper. This will invite submissions which will be analysed by Queensland Health, which will prepare a report with recommendations for the minister later this year. The discussion paper addresses not just further bans on smoking but also the full range of issues including advertising and promotion, sales to minors, monitoring, enforcement and licensing. As I made clear when I was in Ireland earlier this year, the government intends to take clear action in this regard. I have had a number of discussions with the Minister for Health. I am happy to advise the parliament today that the Minister for Health will be taking his discussion paper to cabinet on Monday and it will be released very shortly thereafter. We will be making— Mr Quinn: Only wanted a bit of prodding. Mr BEATTIE: It is all right. He can peek into the cabinet bag. I am happy to share it with him. It makes no difference to me. I will have a bit more to say about this later in the day. The more the Liberal Party votes with us, the bigger its vote is. If it keeps supporting the government it will do very well. Mr Schwarten interjected. Mr BEATTIE: Interestingly, ever since the Liberals started voting with us its vote has gone up, and every time the opposition opposes our policies its vote goes down. Ms Bligh interjected. Mr BEATTIE: That is right. Bob, you stick with us and we will be a friendlier coalition partner any day. Mr Schwarten interjected. Mr BEATTIE: Exactly. The point is that the decision will be made this year. As I said, I have discussed this with the Minister for Health. I do say to the industry lead organisations—the Queensland Hotels Associations, the clubs and the casinos, all of whom we have had discussions with—that we do want them to start an initiative on their own behalf. They should start voluntarily bringing in bans and limitations, and we will work with them to see if we can get some agreement and then there will be legislation. 13 May 2004 Ministerial Statement 963 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Queensland Herbarium Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.38 a.m.): Queensland is setting an example for the rest of the country in monitoring and protecting the environment. Last week, Environment Minister John Mickel and I released the Queensland greenhouse strategy, our blueprint for responding to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. We will not sit back and wait for the federal government to show leadership on this issue because if we do it may be too late. Part of smart planning is having an accurate picture of what is happening on the ground across Queensland. That is why we use data such as the Queensland Herbarium remnant vegetation report, which I table for the information of the House. This analyses the status and extent of 1,260 regional ecosystems covering 60 per cent of Queensland's land mass. The ecosystems include remnant and preclearing vegetation, grasslands, heathlands and enclosed forests. This data is broader than the Statewide Landcover and Trees Study, which covers only wooded vegetation. The Herbarium report is from 1997 to 2001 and highlights the vulnerability of some of our ecosystems. For example, between 1999 and 2001 the Brigalow Belt was subject to more clearing than any other area in the survey. The Brigalow Belt is home to vulnerable plants and animals. The Brigalow Belt accounted for 43.5 per cent of the cleared land. Clearing in the mulga lands bioregion accounted for 28 per cent and 16 per cent of the cleared area in the desert uplands. The Herbarium report reinforces the imperative of protecting these areas. The next major update in regional ecosystem information will be in 2005. This report plus the update will help us monitor our vegetation management laws and give us information to feed into policy areas such as the greenhouse strategy.