Mr DEBUS (Blue Mountains - Minister for Corrective Services, Minister for Emergency Services, and Minister Assisting the Minister for the Arts) [3.28]: I move:

(1) That this House condemns moves by the Federal Government to slash funding for feral animal and weed control programs when these pests are threatening agricultural livestock and native animals and plants.

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(2) That this House congratulates the New South Wales Government on its record support for feral animals and weed eradication programs.

It is of great concern that funding for 10 key conservation programs by the Federal Government will run dry next month and there is absolutely no sign of the Federal Government restoring funding for them. One of the key areas which is on the chopping block is the Federal Government's feral animal and weed control program to fight the invasion of introduced pests such as rabbits, cats, foxes and pigs. Funding for all of these areas will expire on 3 January unless there is new funding. Funding for this critical program has been put in doubt following statements by the Federal Minister for the Environment, Senator Robert Hill, to the Australian last Monday that the program must be regarded as a new initiative and will not be renewed automatically as part of the budget process. That means that $1.75 million will be lost to feral control projects, which will see a collapse of the programs at the Federal level. This comes on top of the Howard Government's plan to dismantle the Commonwealth environment protection agency, throwing national coordination of environmental issues out the window.

The cuts come at a time when feral animals are posing a very serious threat to agricultural animals and to native wildlife. Some would say that feral animals are one of the most serious environmental threats facing this country. Let us compare this dismal effort to the actions that the State Government is taking to combat the problem. Today I am in a position to announce an all-out assault on feral animals and weeds by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Since coming to office the Carr Government has increased funding for pest species management from $1.5 million in 1994-95 - the coalition's last year in power - to almost $5 million. This represents a massive 330 per cent increase to fund the attack on feral animals and weeds since the Government took office. The Opposition was happy enough to allow feral animals to run riot in our parks and reserves, but this Government is stepping up the attack to eradicate these blights from our parks. Over the last year the Government has embarked on more than 300 separate feral pest control programs. Many programs are collaborative efforts involving -

Mr Jeffery: You have tied it all up in wilderness and cut off the access trails.

Mr DEBUS: What is the difference between wilderness and national parks? The program will continue. Many of these programs are collaborative efforts involving community groups, New South Wales Agriculture, rural lands protection boards and local councils. Across the State more than 14,000 goats have been killed by biological, chemical and mechanical means, and almost 7,000 more have been mustered and removed from national parklands. Across 27 National Parks and Wildlife Service districts many other successful control programs have been effective in removing almost 5,000 feral pigs, about 4,000 foxes, wild dogs and cats. The Government will continue to support this drive to significantly reduce pest numbers across the State and limit the often devastating impact they can have on the environment. These moves to attack feral animals can also represent a great new opportunity of an economic nature for local communities.

Mr Peacocke: Don't deal with them; shoot them with shanghais.

Mr DEBUS: I know all about agricultural livestock. Though these feral animals are an obvious threat to native animals and agricultural livestock they could possibly form the basis for an export commodity. For instance, mustered goats could be used for their meat potential or for their hair, skins or hide for leather products. I have heard of a program, less relevant for New South Wales, for the export to China of cane toad skins for making wallets. I have asked the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife to liaise with New South Wales Agriculture to assess the positive opportunities that exist in relation to this untapped resource. This could represent both a win for the environment and the development of new job opportunities, particularly in rural communities throughout the State. Some excellent pest control programs have already been concluded by the service; for instance a collaborative program between the NPWS and the Topar Koonenberry Rangecare groups to control goats and foxes in the Mootwingee National Park, near Broken Hill, and on neighbouring properties. Goat and fox control is essential to protect the two remaining colonies of yellow-footed rock-wallaby in western New South Wales.

Mr Hazzard: Have you been to Mootwingee?

Mr DEBUS: Yes, I have.

Mr Hazzard: Was it good?

Mr DEBUS: Fantastic. The National Parks and Wildlife Service from Nowra district has a joint project with local land-holders to control foxes and wild dogs which threaten the important colonies of the brush-tailed rock wallaby in the Kangaroo Valley. Bait stations are used there to minimise the impact on non-target species. The National Parks and Wildlife Service staff from the Cobar and Griffith districts have worked closely with neighbouring land-holders and the Cobar and Hillston rural lands protection boards to control foxes in central-western New South Wales. The program is an integral part of the mallee fowl conservation plan in the Yathong Nature Reserve. The service is actively involved in cooperative pig and dog control programs in my electorate of Blue Mountains. These programs are coordinated by the Oberon wild dog and pig committee which includes land-holders and representatives from the New South Wales Department of Agriculture.

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The National Parks and Wildlife Service is involved in a cooperative program involving land-holders, local community groups, the Department of Agriculture, local government councils and the University of Wollongong to ensure an integrated approach to controlling bitou bush on NPWS lands. This involves releasing biological control agents, treating infestations with herbicides - NPWS staff, as well as contractors and volunteers have been involved in this effort - and removing plants by hand wherever possible. An ongoing NPWS program to control groundsel bush in the Yuraygir and Bundjalung national parks is achieving excellent results, with more than 1,100 hectares treated. Many areas in those parks are now free of this invasive weed. The service has continued to participate in the cooperative program for biological control of Scotch broom.

This is a multiagency effort involving the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Agriculture, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, State Forests of New South Wales, the Hunter Pastoral Company, the Barrington Tops Broom Council and the New South Wales Government Environmental Trusts. Following the bushfires in 1994 the National Parks and Wildlife Service worked closely with volunteers to help regenerate the bushland in Lane Cove River National Park and Garigal and Ku-ring-gai Chase national parks. Approximately 300 volunteers have worked with the service there on a regular basis helping to remove many exotic weeds, including lantana, privet, balloon vine, and wandering jew. The service is actively involved in the development of the New South Wales weeds strategy and the national weeds strategy.

Recent changes to gun ownership laws have caused misinformation to be spread regarding the service's capacity to use appropriate firearms for the important task of eradicating feral animals. Today I am pleased to announce that under the proposed reforms contracted professional shooters, including expert trained shooters working for the NPWS, will continue their effective role in eradicating feral animals. The community understands that firearms are an essential tool in any effective feral animal eradication program, particularly for aerial shooting programs. NPWS officers have received expert training in the safe use of firearms. The service has adopted a policy to ensure that in no circumstances will access to firearms be allowed for any person who has not completed the accredited firearms training program.

To sum up, the Government will not tolerate the threatened Federal cutbacks to feral animal control programs. It is a very scary portent of what is to come generally from the Howard Government's deficit reduction programs, particularly as they affect the environment, that something as crucial as this should be so quickly threatened in the budget process. As I said, the Government provided a record budget increase of 330 per cent over the budget provided in the coalition's last year in government, in pursuit of effective programs to control feral animals and exotic weeds. The Government will not weaken its resolve at State level. The Government is determined to step up the fight against feral animals and weeds where the coalition parties failed at the State level and, sadly, appear about to fail at the Federal level.

Mr HAZZARD (Wakehurst) [3.38]: The Minister regrettably has brought before the House a motion that is designed more for the purpose of playing political games than addressing the substantive issues involved in feral animal reduction and weed control programs. What the Minister has done is not really in the normal course of things one expects of this Minister. One can only think that the Government is in deep trouble after its budget and is looking for various ways to distract attention. The bottom line is that the Government has said - and during the next few weeks the Opposition will challenge the truth of the statement - that it has increased the environmental budget to $1,015 million. The reality is that the budget contains a lot of fudged figures, figures that should not be there and figures that have been repeated, and the Opposition will make clear to the people of New South Wales the rhetoric contained in the budget.

One thing that instantly comes to mind in the context of this motion is that the acting Minister does not seem to know what will be spent on feral species reduction. On Tuesday an article in the Daily Telegraph quoted the Minister as having said that feral animals had run riot over the State and had caused millions of dollars worth of damage. The article went on to say that in the past year more than 14,000 goats, 4,640 pigs and 4,050 foxes have been killed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The Minister is aware that there is a problem and he used fairly colourful language in saying that feral animals had run riot, but it was accurate language. The Opposition is disappointed that the Minister has failed to persuade his Cabinet colleagues to ensure that a fair proportion of the budget is allocated to address the most urgent need to reduce feral species. Even if one accepted the acting Minister's figure of $1,015 billion and all the money was spent, we are talking about $3.3 million for pest species management.

Two days after the article appeared in the Daily Telegraph the Minister increased the figure to $5 million. If you start with rubber, it does not matter how high the ball bounces; you can make up whatever figure you like as you go along. The amount of money to be spent on feral species reduction is so unfocused, so scattered among the regional offices that the acting Minister will have no idea, even at the end of the period, how much money has been spent. If the Government were totally committed to the huge problem that the
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reduction of feral species poses for New South Wales and Australia, it would have set aside a substantial sum of money separately in the budget in order to address the problem of goats, camels, pigs, dogs and cats in national parks, but it has failed to do that.

I do not accept the Minister's figures, but if one were to accept them, the Government is prepared to allocate 0.3 of 1 per cent of the entire environmental budget to address the problem. There is no dispute about the fact that the problem is huge. The acting Minister seems to have forgotten that it was the New South Wales coalition Government in 1991 that started the program of feral species reduction and addressed the issue of noxious weeds. If the Minister wants to keep his reputation for honesty, he should not move motions that are a clear distortion of the truth. Blaming the Federal Government for allegedly slashing funding for feral animals is so much rot.

The current program, which the Minister has said will finish in a few months, was established under the previous Labor Government with an allocation of just over $2 million a year - a drop in the ocean; $2 million lousy dollars. There is doubt now about the budget processes because the former so-called environmentalist Prime Minister, Paul Keating, specified that the program would finish on 30 June. Perhaps the Minister has not referred - and I suppose that is because he does not want to do so - to the Federal Government's policy. I refer the Minister to a document issued in February-March, "Saving our Natural Heritage", from which he would probably learn a lot. The document indicates that the coalition more than doubled its intended allocation. If the Labor Opposition in Canberra stops playing games over the sale of Telstra there will be $16 million over four years - not $2.1 million a year, but $4 million each year - just for feral animals.

In addition to the $4 million, $19 million has been allocated for the eradication of noxious weeds, but the Minister probably has not heard about that because he has not been briefed properly on the issue. That strategy is being developed by the Federal Government but it is subject to the Minister's Federal colleagues getting themselves into gear and supporting the coalition Government's environmental initiatives. This Government is so asleep that it did not apply for a number of programs that it could have applied for in the past 12 months. There is a gold guide, Minister. Departmental officers should wake up and start applying for some of the funds that are available. The Minister should not tell the House whether there will be cuts when the department has not even applied for moneys that were available.

Mr Debus: They are not there now.

Mr HAZZARD: That is the problem. Departments have failed to meet their obligations by applying for funds. They submitted applications for three lousy programs in May 1995, but because Paul Keating had said the program would conclude on 30 June the Federal equivalent of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, had to tell the New South Wales Government in the past 12 months that this Government's Federal Labor colleagues were not prepared to make available reasonable funds and they would not receive the money. Does the Minister want more details? Is he having problems?

Mr Amery: I think you are having problems selling Telstra.

Mr HAZZARD: Not yet. I will give the Minister more details because I think he needs educating. The Australian Nature Conservation Agency is currently developing the national threatened species abatement program. Government departments can rely on the gold guide that is laid out in black and white. In the past the Department of Agriculture has been astute - perhaps less so now under the present Minister for Agriculture - and applied for a number of grants. It is a pity that Paul Keating did not make money available for the program that was to look into the abundance of brush-tailed rock wallabies in relation to wild canine management and incidence of endangered mammal remains and weed seed in wild canine faeces. It sounds like something one might find on the Government benches. The application was refused because Paul Keating and his cohorts in the former Labor Government failed to agree that the program would continue beyond 30 June. I move:

That the motion be amended by leaving out all words after the word "condemns" where first occurring with a view to inserting instead:

the previous Federal Government for its failure to extend the Feral Funding Program for a period beyond three years and for its undermining of the Feral Species Reduction Program by creating uncertainty of continued funding such that the Australian Nature Conservation Agency has to refuse funding for essential feral reduction programs.

(2) That this House condemns the New South Wales Government for its failure to adequately fund programs for feral species reduction and noxious weed eradication.

If the Government is serious about doing the right thing by the environment the Minister should first of all go to see what the environment is all about instead of reeling off statistics. Once he has done that he should tell his Federal colleagues to get the funds from Telstra to pay for the $1 billion environment package. The Minister will then learn what can really be done for the environment. The money is there because the Federal coalition, together with the New South Wales Opposition, is committed to the environment, unlike the Carr Labor Government. [Time expired.]

Mr AMERY (Mount Druitt - Minister for Agriculture) [3.48]: I am pleased to support the motion of the acting Minister for the Environment. I am pleased also to follow the spirited performance of the honourable member for Wakehurst, who
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attacked the Minister on his lack of briefing and lack of knowledge of the portfolio. The honourable member for Wakehurst made some comment in his contribution about feral camels in national parks. I have not seen many camels in the national parks I have been through. The honourable member might provide some information to the Minister about the problem with camels. He shows me an article that seems to suggest he was talking about camels in South Australia. However, I might be able to get some information on that.

All rural lands protection boards that I have visited since I was appointed Minister for Agriculture - including Goulburn, Milparinka and Moss Vale - talk about controlling feral animals such as rabbits and foxes. They are the base of the Government's efforts across portfolios. I am pleased that the motion was moved by the acting Minister for the Environment. Under the former coalition Government there was too much division among the agriculture and environment portfolios on how feral animals and noxious weeds should be controlled. There always seemed to be considerable politicking and whipping up of farmers' concerns about lack of control of feral animals in national parks.

The motion moved by the acting Minister for the Environment, which I support, will result in far more coordination and cooperation in the efforts of New South Wales Agriculture, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Environment Protection Authority to work in conjunction with the farming community and those managing our national parks to resolve problems. We should not engage in the duckshoving that was so common in rural parts of the State under the former coalition Government - whipped up, I might add, by many National Party members who represent safe country seats. [Quorum formed.]

I acknowledge that the honourable member for Burrinjuck entered the Chamber to support me in response to the call for a quorum. The species to which I have referred are routinely controlled by private landholders and government agencies. Conventional control techniques such as poisoning, trapping and shooting historically have been used. The only exception was myxomatosis, a biological method used to control rabbits in the 1950s. The motion before the House calls on the Federal Government to make a statement about ensuring that funding will be maintained for this important issue. It should not hide behind a claim that the budget has not been brought down and thus refrain from making comments. There was some uncertainty about the budget of the Department of Agriculture and its associated policies. The Premier had outlined a month and a half before delivery of the budget where this Government was heading in respect of New South Wales Agriculture and its budget. That was done well before the budget was delivered this week.

The Federal Government and the Federal Minister should respond to this motion and make a clear statement on funding for the control of feral animals and noxious weeds. In the short time that I now have available to me I wish to compliment rural lands protection boards generally, but particularly the boards at Goulburn and Moss Vale. When I visited the Goulburn board I saw details of an advanced control program using students trained by the Department of Employment, Education and Training. They were learning how to construct traps to be used in national parks, for use and sale by other rural lands protection boards. They were being trained in feral animal control. The same situation applied at Moss Vale. There I accompanied officers to observe the work that the Moss Vale rural lands protection board was doing on a rabbit baiting program. The State Government, through the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the environment portfolio and the Department of Agriculture will maintain a strong effort to ensure that the feral animal and weeds program is continued. [Time expired.]

Mr SCHULTZ (Burrinjuck) [3.53]: It is interesting that this debate on feral pests is brought on now in this House, because I have been speaking about the issue for the past eight years, trying to convince the former Government that there was a problem with feral animals and noxious weeds. My efforts related more particularly to the Kosciusko National Park, which lies within the boundaries of the Burrinjuck electorate. Only two weeks ago the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife, Robyn Kruk, came to Tumut on a public relations exercise to try to placate locals on the disgraceful way in which the Government placed more wilderness areas under the Kosciusko National Park. As an individual representing the electorate of Burrinjuck, I have been fighting the wilderness issue. When an area is declared wilderness, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has a tendency to lock up the area and forget about it. That allows feral animals to breed out of control and run riot and it allows the unchecked spread of noxious weeds.

People who use national parks are concerned when governments take such actions. It was only when Mr Tim Moore, the former Minister for Environment, was approached by the honourable member for Monaro in about 1989 or 1990 about the wild dog problem in the Kosciusko National Park that the former Minister recognised the problem and allocated $400,000 for the eradication of the wild dog. I brought to the attention of the present Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife my concern that the National Parks and Wildlife Service had ignored this important issue and locked people out of public land. I was interested to hear the Minister speak about the failure of the Federal Government to do anything about the control of feral animals and weeds. People from the Australian Nature Conservation Agency criticised the former Keating Government for not allocating any funding to the control of weeds not only in agricultural areas but in
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conservation areas in general.

The Howard Government has committed $16 million over four years for the control of weeds in agriculture and in conservation areas. In addition, it has committed $19 million over five years to the national weeds strategy. I do not know what more it could do about the problem. I return to the issue in New South Wales and the acting Minister's handling of the portfolio that covers the National Parks and Wildlife Service. He has allocated in this year's budget - noted at page 49 under the item "pest species management" at various locations - a lousy $532,000 to manage pest species across New South Wales. They include wild pigs, wild dogs, foxes, rabbits and noxious weeds. That level of funding would not even cover the cost of control of feral animals and weeds in the Goobarragandra section of the Kosciusko National Park.

An allocation of approximately $5 million to $6 million is needed to make an immediate impact because foxes are out of control in the park. Unlike the Minister, I walk in the park, check it out and take photographs. If the Minister is fair dinkum in his concerns about feral animals and noxious weeds in this State, it is time he got off his butt and allocated decent funding to the National Parks and Wildlife Service to eradicate them. I made that point recently to the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife when I said that I understood the constraints put on it by this Government and previous governments through lack of resources and funds to employ the necessary people to control noxious weeds and feral animals in national parks. The Minister is a disgrace; he should tell the truth. [Time expired.]

Mr McMANUS (Bulli) [3.58]: I support the Minister for Corrective Services and congratulate him on his actions during his term as acting Minister. I am disturbed that the honourable member for Wakehurst sought to suggest that the motion has been moved for political gain. A National Party member, the honourable member for Coffs Harbour, played political games and should be castigated for claiming that his motion for urgent consideration was more important than the motion of the Minister because it involved a candidate in a distant electorate. This issue is so important to the people of New South Wales that it must be given priority.

The Royal National Park and the Illawarra escarpment are located in my electorate and I believe wholeheartedly that we must protect our native species from eradication by feral animals or noxious weeds. A couple of years ago when the coalition was in government I raised the serious health problems that privet growing in the national park and in towns bordering the national park was causing asthmatics in my electorate, yet the former coalition Government did nothing. At the time a young ranger, Patrick Holland, who now works for the Minister, showed me around the national park and gave me a clear indication of the damage that feral animals cause. However, for the seven years the Opposition was in office, it did nothing to solve that problem.

The Federal Government is into a deficit reduction program. It intends to reduce funding for the protection of natural resources in national parks and farming regions. I am a member of the Government's agricultural committee and I am aware of the problems that face the National Parks and Wildlife Service, New South Wales Agriculture and farmers in trying to eradicate feral animals and noxious weeds. Ridding the State of these pests can take place only when an adequate allocation of human and financial resources is provided to protect our natural resources.

Members of the rural community must have been concerned when they heard last Monday that the Federal Government intended to cut back significantly funds allocated for feral animal eradication and management programs. The Government is supposed to work hand in hand with the community, including the agricultural community, but it is prepared to cut back funds for the protection of its so-called voters. How many Opposition members are prepared to defend themselves against the moves in recent days of the Howard Government? Not too many. It is disgraceful that only one Liberal member and one National Party member have contributed to this debate.

Honourable members opposite should compare Federal Government cuts with this Government's allocation of $5 million, which demonstrates its commitment. However, that is not the end of it. The Government will continue to fight tooth and nail to ensure environmental protection of our national parks and rural communities. The Government, the Minister for Corrective Services and the Minister for Agriculture have stood up for the people in the bush and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. I take pride in being part of a government that continues to ensure that these programs remain in place. The Government has made a commitment to provide adequate funding and resources to ensure fair and equitable environmental rights for farmers and environmentalists in the event that the Federal Government continues to slash funds.

Mr DEBUS (Blue Mountains - Minister for Corrective Services, Minister for Emergency Services, and Minister Assisting the Minister for the Arts) [4.03], in reply: I thank all honourable members who have contributed to the debate and, in particular, the Minister for Agriculture and the honourable member for Bulli for their constructive contributions. However, contributions from honourable members opposite could not be so described. The Government has made history by establishing for the first time a budget of more than $100 million for the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The budget and the levels of staffing in the National Parks and Wildlife Service are the highest they have ever been. Until the Federal
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Government sells Telstra, it has no money for the environment.

Mr Hazzard: There is still not enough money. The question isn't more money; it is enough money.

Mr DEBUS: The Federal Government has no money for the environment. Last Thursday Senator Robert Hill gave clear signals that the Federal Government will not continue to fund feral animal and weed control programs. The honourable member for Wakehurst said that no money is provided for the extra national parks that the New South Wales Government has established.

Mr Hazzard: I did not say that. I said "not enough".

Mr DEBUS: The resource supplementation package for the 26 new national parks will amount to $36 million in recurrent funding and $34 million in capital funding. Also, a further 250 staff positions will be created over the next five years.

Mr Hazzard: It is not enough.

Mr DEBUS: It is a hell of lot more than the former coalition Government promised. It dropped the ball on the question of controlling feral animals during its term in office. It scarcely declared any plans of management for national parks. No-one knew what to do because no serious plans had been made. In the seven years that the coalition was in office it gazetted 12 plans of management for national parks, covering 17 service areas. This year the Government has adopted 10 and has put 16 more on exhibition. In other words, the Government is about to pass the total the coalition managed in its seven years in office. Those plans are crucial to the management of feral animals and exotic weeds. They are the legal instruments used to manage our parks.

The honourable member for Wakehurst has claimed that I was changing my explanations of the budget for feral animal control daily. The honourable member read in the newspaper a figure that I had given of $3.3 million, which is the budget for the financial year that is about to finish. The figure of $5 million that I have quoted is for the financial year that is about to begin. Those figures illustrate the fact that the Government has increased the former Government's funding for feral animal control by 330 per cent. I draw the attention of the House to the claim made by the honourable member for Burrinjuck that only $500,000 was spent by the Government on species control.

Mr Hazzard: He can read the budget papers.

Mr DEBUS: The honourable member for Burrinjuck cannot read very much at all. He read about a single program for species control in wilderness areas. He forgot about the other $4.5 million allocated in the budget for those purposes. I have sympathy for the honourable member for Wakehurst because he had to share the debate with the honourable member for Burrinjuck, whose attitude to wilderness has become legendary. At the time of the last round of wilderness announcements made by the present Government, the honourable member for Wakehurst said on Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio that it was a clayton's wilderness announcement; that there was not enough of it. He said that the wilderness areas are not outside national parks. The honourable member said that he would take the Government to the High Court - [Time expired.]

Question - That the words stand - put.

The House divided.

Mr Amery Mr Martin
Mr Anderson Ms Meagher
Ms Andrews Mr Mills
Mr Aquilina Ms Moore
Mrs Beamer Mr Moss
Mr Crittenden Mr Nagle
Mr Debus Mr Neilly
Mr Face Mr E. T. Page
Mr Gaudry Mr Price
Mr Gibson Dr Refshauge
Mrs Grusovin Mr Rogan
Ms Hall Mr Rumble
Mr Harrison Mr Scully
Ms Harrison Mr Shedden
Mr Hunter Mr Stewart
Mr Iemma Mr Sullivan
Mr Knowles Mr Tripodi
Mr Langton Mr Watkins
Mrs Lo Po' Mr Whelan
Mr Lynch Mr Yeadon
Mr McBride
Dr Macdonald Tellers,
Mr McManus Mr Beckroge
Mr Markham Mr Thompson

Mr Blackmore Mr D. L. Page
Mr Chappell Mr Peacocke
Mr Collins Mr Phillips
Mr Cruickshank Mr Photios
Mr Debnam Mr Richardson
Mr Ellis Mr Rozzoli
Ms Ficarra Mr Schipp
Mr Fraser Mr Schultz
Mr Glachan Mr Slack-Smith
Mr Hartcher Mr Smith
Mr Hazzard Mr Souris
Mr Humpherson Mr Tink
Dr Kernohan Mr Turner
Ms Machin
Mr Merton Tellers,
Mr O'Doherty Mr Jeffery
Mr O'Farrell Mr Kerr

Ms Allan Mr Armstrong
Ms Nori Mr Downy

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Page 1502

Amendment negatived.

Motion agreed to.