Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend the motion relating to gas appliance safety.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That this House:

(1)

mourns the tragic loss of young Chase and Tyler Robinson, who died at Mooroopna on 30 May 2010 in a recently rented home;

(2)

notes that Chase and Tyler Robinson were the victims of a faulty gas wall heater emitting carbon monoxide; and

(3)

calls upon the Australian Government to work with the State and Territory governments through the Council of Australian Governments to task the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE) to work with state and territory gas safety regulators to mitigate the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning from household gas appliances by urgently developing a strategy, which:

(a)

explores the following:

(i)

a requirement for all residential properties with gas appliances to be fitted with an approved carbon monoxide detector;

(ii)

a requirement for all residential landlords to have gas appliances installed in rental properties inspected by qualified contractors at intervals to be determined;

(iii)

the promotion of greater safety awareness, alerting all Australians to the dangers and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and the need to regularly maintain household gas appliances;

(iv)

the identification of training and workforce requirements to meet any recommendations, such as increasing the number of trained gas fitters to undertake safety checks; and

(v)

any other options that may mitigate the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning from household gas appliances; and

(b)

will be provided to the MCE for urgent decision and implementation, accompanied, if required, by a Regulatory Impact Statement.

A motion moved in my name and debated in parliament on Monday, 21 February, was in response to the tragic deaths of young Chase and Tyler Robinson. They died in Mooroopna, in their rented home, when carbon monoxide was generated by a faulty gas heater. Their mother was also seriously injured with carbon monoxide poisoning. In that original motion we called for the requirement for all residential properties with gas appliances to be fitted with approved carbon monoxide detectors and that residential landlords with gas appliances also had to have them regularly inspected and have those gas detectors. We wanted the promotion of greater safety awareness, alerting all Australians to the danger and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and the need to regularly maintain their household gas appliances. We said that there needs to be the identification of training and workforce requirements to meet new recommendations that will come through, to improve the situation for all. We were very concerned that there should be a recognition of the tragic loss of the lives of those two boys.

I want to thank the members for Mallee, Throsby and Chifley, who gave bipartisan support to this motion when it was debated. The amendments now before the House were introduced in response to this strong bipartisan support from the coalition, the crossbenches and the government and, in particular, the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, who will now shepherd this need for change and these new measures through the Ministerial Council on Energy, which is, of course, part of the COAG process. Therefore, the amendment now refers to the Ministerial Council on Energy and adds in, in particular, the identification of training and workforce requirements to meet any new recommendations coming through that council. Again, I want to thank members for the strong bipartisan support for this motion. I think it reflects on the fact that in Australia we do care profoundly for the health of all of our children and all of the men and women in our communities. This government can make sure that all states and territories, as well as the Commonwealth, have safety measures in homes which echo, for example, smoke detectors in relation to fire safety measures. I therefore commend these amendments to the House.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Question agreed to.

Original question, as amended, agreed to.