Greens in Parliament

 Rail: station information

 Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) -- My local railway station is Brunswick station, where there are a whole bunch of those perspex noticeboards; there are probably five or six of about A1 size. When I went down there the other day all of the material that was on those noticeboards had been taken away, and signs had been put up saying, 'myki is coming', 'myki is here', 'This is how to use your myki card', blah, blah, blah. One of things that was taken off the boards was the train timetable. A map of the network, which I am familiar with, had also been removed.

Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) -- My question is for the Minister for Environment and Climate Change. It relates to a number of programs that the minister's various departments would be pushing for, including rebates around water tanks, solar hot water, solar PV (photovoltaic cells), even insulation, and in this case even window shadings.

My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Roads and Ports. I refer the minister to media coverage over the last week regarding the height-activated cameras that were supposed to catch truck drivers breaking the night-time and weekend truck curfew on Francis Street in Yarraville.

Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) -- The Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill is an omnibus bill, as has been mentioned, but fortunately it is not the size of a telephone book like omnibus bills often are.

My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Roads and Ports.

I have been contacted by a Yarraville resident asking about public access to the Maribyrnong River in Yarraville. He asked me to find out why residents of Yarraville have lost access to their waterfront at the same time as people in other parts of Melbourne have had waterfront access improved. Like many other residents of Melbourne, he likes to walk his dog along that area every night.

Accident Compensation Amendment Bill

 Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) -- I do not get to watch much TV these days, but when I see those WorkCover ads they are all about Jacko or Mary who has been injured and who we are giving the opportunity to go back to work. Jacko is coming back with his arm in a sling: 'It's all right; it's great to have you back. We're going to put you in the tool shop for a while'.

Anzac Day is obviously a time to reflect and pay respect to the men and women who have sacrificed so much in times of war, and their efforts must be treated with absolute respect.

 Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) -- This ain't the curiosity show, this ain't where we pull out our chemistry set and run a few little experiments on the table, and this is not where we get excited about just-over-the-horizon, gee whiz technologies! This is where we deal with political and economic reality, and what this bill represents is techno-optimism breaking out into complete techno-arrogance.

We previously had a bill for the land-based regulation of carbon capture and storage. Now we have got another one that deals with the ocean-based storage, at least for the 3 miles between the coast and where Australia's waters become the commonwealth's responsibility.

Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) -- Before Christmas the 2009 Victoria Summit was hosted by the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The partnership opportunities document can still be seen on the VECCI website, where it is suggested to their partners that:

Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) -- In discussing this matter which, looked at narrowly, appears to just be a statement of one person in relation to one planning permit, it is essential to understand the whole context around the matter. The first bit of context is that the house, with the support of the Greens, previously moved a motion of no confidence in Minister Madden.

WATER: BULK ENTITLEMENTS
Mr BARBER -- The Greens will be supporting this motion at this time.

However, we remain hopeful that the government is interested in having a further discussion about the particular ways that water will be treated through and after the completion of this project and its assessment to ensure that there is a genuine net gain for the environment.

I do not have a media adviser, I know what my staff do, I know what they put out in my name and I check their work. Admittedly, I am not a minister and I do not have the workload of a minister, but I find it astounding that a minister would not know what his staff have been doing.

Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) -- An article at www.dredgingtoday.com has come to my attention. I found it very interesting. The website states:

Environment has always been a 'hot' topic for the dredging industry, but when the debate around climate change started to heat up several years ago the dredging industry was in the forefront and ready to act.

The Greens are generally supportive of this legislation as we believe separate court lists have merit; in the case of the Koori courts and drug courts, they have proved to be extremely successful.

 Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) -- My question is for the Minister for Environment and Climate Change. It relates to the temporary qualification of water rights for the Yarra River. When we debated a recent bill on temporary qualifications the minister gave advised us of a number of different qualifications that were in place, including those for the Yarra and Thomson rivers.

 My matter tonight is for the Minister for Community Services. Last week I received a phone call from a Footscray resident, Lidia Cammarano. Lidia has a severely intellectually and physically disabled son, Steven. Steven is 31 and he needs total care, routine and a highly predictable environment.