Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure that I also join the debate in relation to the ACT Government Loan Bill 2014. I welcome and support the bill before the House. I would like to commend the many members who have spoken in relation to this bill and also commend the minister and the ACT Chief minister for working together to achieve an outcome of what has been a very long running saga. As the member for Canberra correctly indicated, it has been a long-running saga which has caused enormous distress and economic loss to people in the Canberra region and also beyond.

I think it is reasonable that we acknowledge today here in this place that without Commonwealth assistance it certainly would not be possible for the ACT to render the assistance it intends to provide for people affected by Mr Fluffy homes; the ACT's resources would be stretched beyond capacity. So I commend the Commonwealth government for working in partnership with the ACT on this issue. Also, in that same spirit of bipartisanship, I commend members opposite for the work they have done in supporting this bill which is before the House. In particular I would like to acknowledge the local members who are directly impacted by this issue: the members for both Canberra and Fraser, who have spoken quite passionately in relation to this issue. I was in the House just moments ago when the member for Canberra outlined some of the impacts of Mr Fluffy homes on people in her community. We sometimes forget in the hurly-burly of this place, in the robust exchanges that we engage in from time to time, that members of parliament, at the end of the day, are very human; they are very human faces in their community and are called on to do some very difficult jobs. I know you have been impacted by bushfires in recent years in your electorate, Deputy Speaker Mitchell, as have I been in my own electorate of Gippsland, and now there is this case for the member for Canberra. You cannot help be personally invested, emotionally involved, in the challenges that you face in your community. I could tell just by listening to the member for Canberra how this issue has had a considerable toll on her constituents and on the role she played in her community.

It is a funny job being a member of parliament, as I am sure members on both sides would acknowledge. In many ways you are a bit like a parish priest from time to time: you are out there to provide support and comfort to your flock, in this case your constituents. All thoughts of party and political backgrounds are thrown out of the window. It does not matter whether they voted for you or not—and you certainly do not care whether they voted for you or not—if they are in trouble and they need your help, it is the role of the local member of parliament to get in there and support your families, your constituents, to the best of your ability.

Those personal stories that the member for Canberra and others have relayed in this place are important as we consider what is basically an economic bill—a financial bill. The faces and the families behind the stories are important for us all to reflect on. It is enormously unsettling to consider the impacted families right across the ACT. As the member for Mallee quite quickly referred to—and the member for Tangney as well—people are very emotionally attached to their homes. It is horrible to think that your family home, the place where you feel your children will be safe, is the one place where their health has been possibly compromised unknowingly and unwittingly. If there is blame to be apportioned in the future then that should be the case. But to think that your family home is not a safe place, particularly for your children, is something that I think all members share their concerns with.

The scourge of asbestos in our community is something that all members would be aware of. We deal with what is a deadly threat right across the Australian nation. It was used for generations, and I think it will be here for generations in terms of the threat it presents to the Australian community. I would simply use this opportunity to appeal to anyone who is listening to today's proceedings to take the time to better appreciate and understand the potential dangers of asbestos in the home environment, particularly against the backdrop of the 'do-it-yourself' generation, who have a real interest in bettering our own homes and doing work in our own environment. Our professional tradesmen and the occupational health and safety officers in the workplace environment have been very good explaining the risks. People are well trained to manage asbestos in a work environment—far better than they perhaps were in the past. I think the home renovator, the do-it-yourself worker in the home environment, is the one who is perhaps most at risk into the future, unknowingly disturbing asbestos, releasing the fibres into the air in a manner which poses a potential health risk. Before they get to work on the next home renovation project, I urge people to take the time to understand what the potential is, in terms of exposure to asbestos in the family home environment.

In Australia, it is estimated that over 60 per cent of all production and 90 per cent of all consumption of asbestos fibre occurred in the asbestos cement manufacturing industry, with many of those building materials still in use today. The concern is that, after World War II and until 1954, in New South Wales alone, there were 70,000 houses built using asbestos cement. By any estimation, that, in one state, is an enormous number of properties that are potentially a risk to the home renovator. Deciding or figuring out whether you have asbestos and whether or not you need to take the appropriate precautions is very difficult. In many cases it is difficult to identify the presence of asbestos just by looking at it. As a general rule, I would encourage anyone to seek some professional advice before undertaking renovations on their own accord.

It is pleasing to note that new building materials containing asbestos since December 2003 have been banned from sale in Australia. It is pleasing that that has been resolved. But in terms of the residual issues, the issues associated with asbestos already in the home environment and in the workplace, there are still major concerns for our community. With those comments, I certainly appreciate the opportunity to support the ACT Government Loan Bill before the House, and I congratulate again the minister responsible, the Chief Minister of the ACT and all members in this place for the bipartisan way in which they have addressed this very concerning matter, and I thank the House.

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