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Mr STEVE WHAN: My question without notice is addressed to the Premier. What is the Government's response to the recent Land and Environment Court decision on the Clyde waste transfer station and its impact on workers' entitlements in Goulburn?
Mr BOB CARR: In 1998 Denehurst Ltd, the operators of the Woodlawn mine, 40 kilometres south of Goulburn, went into voluntary administration. The mine closed down, leaving 158 workers without jobs. They not only lost their jobs; they lost $4.9 million in workers entitlements—money they worked long and hard for. That is a story we have heard all too often: companies going out of business and leaving workers short-changed. That is, of course, unless one's brother happens to be the Prime Minister, and then it is a different story. Some of these workers have had trouble finding new jobs. They were depending on their entitlements to pay their mortgages. This is one story that had a happy ending.
In August last year I had the honour of travelling to Goulburn and meeting with the Woodlawn miners and their families. I went in good faith and with good news, because we had found a new use for Woodlawn as an environmentally sustainable waste disposal site that would generate electricity from the methane gas produced by decomposing waste. The good news was that Woodlawn's new proponents, Collex Pty Ltd, agreed to pay the miners' outstanding entitlements. I do not think I have seen a group of workers more happy. The sums they were getting were considerable—$70,000, $100,000, from memory.
A central element of the Woodlawn project was the development of a waste transfer station at Clyde in Sydney's west. Waste from Sydney would be trucked to Clyde to be compacted and then shipped in containers by rail to the mine. The Clyde proposal was approved only after exhaustive independent assessment. It came with nearly 140 consent conditions on noise and air emissions, traffic, water quality and land contamination. It was approved independently of the agreement between Collex and the miners to pay any outstanding entitlements. But these plans were derailed on 7 November when the Land and Environment Court overturned the planning consent for Clyde. I acknowledge the concern over local amenity that led the plaintiffs to bring this action in the Land and Environment Court.
However, in doing what they thought best, they have imperilled about 40 jobs, placed Sydney's waste management future in question and put the $4.9 million of miners entitlements in jeopardy. I received an urgent letter yesterday from Goulburn city mayor, Max Hadlow, expressing the council's deep concern over this decision. I would not be doing my job as a responsible Premier if I did not do all I could to save the Woodlawn project. That is why I said last Friday that I want this sorted out, and if that means special legislation, so be it. We have done it before: the Bengalla coal mine in 1995, the Port Kembla copper smelter in 1997, the Port Waratah coal terminal, Newcastle, in 1997, the Walsh Bay redevelopment in 1999—
Mr Andrew Stoner: The Cadia gold and copper mine.
Mr BOB CARR: —and, as the Leader of The Nationals says, the Cadia gold and copper mine. I thank him for his constructive contribution. The Coalition now has a great opportunity to show support by ensuring that such legislation moves through the Parliament. I remind the honourable member for Burrinjuck that as the local member of Parliament of the Woodlawn miners she has a special duty to lobby her—
Ms Katrina Hodgkinson: Point of order: My point of order is that this is a ministerial statement—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. The honourable member will resume her seat. The honourable member should familiarise herself with the standing orders before taking a point of order such as that.
Mr BOB CARR: I was asked a question; the House would expect me to answer it honestly. The Coalition has a great opportunity to demonstrate, as it did to its great credit on other special legislation—Bengalla, Port Kembla, Cadia, the Port Waratah coal terminal, and the Walsh Bay redevelopment in 1999—bipartisan support for industry and for jobs. I remind the honourable member for Burrinjuck that as the local member of Parliament of the Woodlawn miners—indeed, if I recall correctly, she was there in August at the Goulburn Workers Club when we brought that good news to those miners and their families—that she has what I would describe as—
Mr John Brogden: Point of order: The Premier has our support.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat.
Mr BOB CARR: That makes no difference one way or the other, but it is nice to know. The Coalition is going through a certain phase. The party director has been looking at the dismal polling and has told members opposite they have to be positive. The electorate is saying they are carping and negative and they have to seize every opportunity to give Carr credit when they can. That is the phase of the moon we are now in. We will test them on a few other things, but it is a good strategy to try to be positive when one can, and we will encourage them as far as we can. The honourable member for Burrinjuck has to stand up for the Goulburn community. As I said, I know these miners. I know how much they are counting on this money, their entitlements, and I would like to think that the House would do nothing that wipes away those smiles, imperils the future of Sydney's waste management or threatens the new jobs being lined up at Woodlawn. Keeping faith with the Goulburn miners, the Government has today introduced special legislation into the upper House to approve the transfer station at Clyde.