Look At Me Now Headland And Emerald Beach Protester Arrests

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Speakers - Fraser Mr Andrew; Phillips Mr Ronald
Business - Grievance Debate

LOOK AT ME NOW HEADLAND AND EMERALD BEACH PROTESTER ARRESTS

Mr FRASER (Coffs Harbour) [12.6]: Once more I bring before the House the problems being experienced in the Emerald Beach and northern beaches area of my electorate concerning the authorised sewage outfall. At the moment there are people within the community belonging to environmental groups and members of the Legislative Council of New South Wales claiming that undue force has been used by police officers in trying to prevent breaches of the peace in this area. Their claim is nothing but a lie. The police are at Emerald Beach only because a certain group of people have decided that they will ignore law and order and the fact that a commission of inquiry in 1988 decided that an outfall should be placed at Look At Me Now Headland. They are ignoring the ruling of the Land and Environment Court on an appeal placed before it by the Coffs Harbour Environment Centre. When it was notified that the appeal was to be brought forward, it was stated that it would be brought forward on environmental grounds and on the basis of the environmental impact statement that had been done. They knew that the environmental impact statement was rock solid and that the commission of inquiry that was legally constituted had been through the environmental impact statement and that it would hold up in any court of law.

When they had to submit the grounds of appeal they came in at five minutes to five in the afternoon of the last day that the appeal had to be lodged and decided to lodge the appeal on the grounds that the council was not complying with its local environmental plan. They lost the case. One of the leaders of the environmentalists, Alderman Alf Williams, stated publicly that he would accept the decision of the Land and Environment Court. When the environmentalists lost the case they decided, as is typical of the environmental movement these days, that what they had said publicly before as an assurance to the people of Coffs Harbour did not really matter, and they decided to lodge an appeal against the decision. They have also indicated that they will appeal on other grounds, but they do not have any grounds - they will not tell anyone what the grounds are. So they are now advocating a system whereby law and order will not be maintained and where police officers are placed in an intolerable situation because they must keep the peace and these people are breaching the peace.

The green attitude is that the ends justify the means. The green movement has tried to indicate through an Independent member of this House, the honourable member for Davidson, that the effluent to be released at the Look At Me Now Headland would be similar to that released from North Head in Sydney. Dr Metherell made the statement, "We do not want another North Head on the North Coast". That is misrepresentation of the worst kind. The sewage treatment taking place at the Woolgoolga treatment works is tertiary treatment. Even Memtec will not give guarantees about the quality of the effluent. Memtec is the company that environmentalists hold up as the saviour of the North Coast, but even that company will not guarantee that its treatment of the effluent will produce effluent of a better quality or quality equal to that produced now at Woolgoolga, which will continue to be produced after augmentation. The environmentalists are placing the majority of Coffs Harbour residents in a totally untenable situation. They advocate and practise breaches of the peace and anarchy. The council was elected on this sewerage issue in September. The majority on council is about 75 per cent to 80 per cent, yet the environmentalists with their "not in my back
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yard" or NIMBY syndrome seek to disturb and to thwart this development in the northern beaches area. The activists do not take into consideration the health risks involved. Some people who cannot afford or do not wish to pay pump-out costs for their septic systems are pumping them nightly into drains. The activists refuse to accept the fact that such a practise is more environmentally damaging than the ocean outfall would be.

I have consulted marine biologists in Coffs Harbour about the outfall and the effects on the marine reserve. I refer to Steve Smith and to David Clayton. They say that the effluent to be released from the Look At Me Now Headland could be considered beneficial to the marine environment in that it may promote nutrient growth, producing more algae, and thus could promote fish breeding in the area. The activists argue that fresh water cannot be put into the ocean. They concede that the effluent is 99.8 per cent fresh water and cannot be put in the ocean. The truth is that all the rivers and creeks on earth run into the ocean at some stage. The lies and insinuations stir a minority of people into breaching the peace. The professional activists who have come from the AIDEX exhibition in Canberra are pushing the local residents to the edge. It is local residents who are being arrested while professional demonstrators sit back and let someone else take the blame. These activists are not credible and cannot be credible. The police in Coffs Harbour are doing a magnificent job under very trying circumstances. Chief Inspector Peter Mortensen and Inspector Ron McDonald are doing a tremendous job. Their troops are to be congratulated, as are council staff who have to put up with abuse from people, a fair percentage of whom are not residents of the North Coast. These activists are professional demonstrators who are on the dole, paid by the Department of Social Security, and act against development, against councils and, therefore, against society.

I am concerned that members of the Legislative Council and some Independent members of this House are talking to environmental groups and refusing to listen to the arguments of the local council, the Public Works Department and independent people in the area who present a balanced and logical view about the need for the outfall. The effluent that is produced cannot be used completely on land. I compliment the council for investigating re-use options. Re-use will be part of the scheme in Coffs Harbour in years to come. At the moment sludge is used at the airport and effluent is used on Sawtell golf course. My main concern is that the environmentalists cost the State and the ratepayers of Coffs Harbour a fortune because they refuse to accept instructions from police, they refuse to accept the lawful findings of a commission of inquiry and they refuse to accept that a council elected on this issue is empowered to do the job that the people of Coffs Harbour put them there to do. I condemn the activists and I condemn the members of this House and of the Legislative Council who back them without regard for the health and well-being of the people of Coffs Harbour.

Mr PHILLIPS (Miranda), Minister for Health Services Management [12.16]: The important issue raised by the honourable member for Coffs Harbour is how far demonstrators should go in trying to push a point of view. It is always a fine line. For many years in Australia demonstrators occasionally have stepped over the line but in the main they have a reputation of being able to exercise a democratic right to demonstrate, to express a strong point of view in opposition to a range of issues. I know that a number of members of this House share the concern of the honourable member for Coffs Harbour at the recent trend for demonstrators to become aggressive, to step over the line. Recently in Canberra behaviour by demonstrators caused injury to and put at risk the lives of police officers, and caused enormous damage to public property. Quite obviously they went too far in expressing a view. They made no bones about the fact that once the
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demonstrations had finished in Canberra they were heading north to Coffs Harbour to demonstrate there over the Look At Me Now Headland ocean outfall.

This is not an easy issue. The community must resolve the problem of effluent disposal. We cannot just oppose it; the problem will not go away. Legal and other processes must be conducted. It is the democratic right of a citizen not to be happy with a decision and to demonstrate in relation to that. But the line must be drawn at violence. When the welfare of citizens is put at risk, that line must be drawn. The police officers must try to maintain law and order. The police also have a responsibility not to transgress the line. It does not take much to step over the line. Some people in the community use these issues to undermine the community by the use of violence. I am sure the community and parliamentarians would treat that seriously and would not accept it. Though activists have a right to demonstrate and to do so strongly, they have no right to employ violence. They have no right to undermine society or to move toward anarchy.

I know that this is a difficult issue for the honourable member for Coffs Harbour and many honourable members in this House. I wish I had the luxury - as some Independents in this place have - of being able to strut around New South Wales. I wish that I were an instant expert and a populist on all issues. It is the height of arrogance for people to believe that they are experts on every issue. It is also very destructive to be a populist. Independent members in this Parliament have that luxury, but Government members and members of the Labor Party do not. I commend the honourable member for Coffs Harbour for indicating that people have a right to demonstrate. I am sure that honourable members will keep a careful note of what is happening in Coffs Harbour over the issue of the Look At Me Now Headland ocean outfall.

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