Environment report simplistic: Stanhope.

(From Canberra Times)

The State of the Environment report ignored all of the work done by the ACT Government in creating a more sustainable society, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said yesterday.

Mr Stanhope said while the report was a good record of the environmental issues faced by the ACT, it contained few surprises and had been written almost as if in a vacuum, as it did not take into account the Government's strategic planning over the past two years.

He dismissed as simplistic several of the findings by retiring Commissioner for the Environment Dr Joe Baker.

''Commissioner Baker's analysis of [sustainability in the ACT] is incredibly simplistic and one of the concerns I have about it is it does ignore the basic underlying tenant of sustainability, namely the need to balance the economy, our social needs with our environmental responsibility,'' he said.

''We have worked almost to the point of exhaustion over the last two years on strategic plans such as the social plan, the spatial plan and the economic white paper to address issues like homelessness and poverty and it's disappointing that he did not go the extra step to acknowledge some of that work.'' Opposition environment spokeswoman Vicki Dunne said the report contained criticisms which were present three years ago and showed the Government had been too slow to implement its recommendations on greenhouse-gas targets and protecting the ACT's water catchments. ''This is a list of missed opportunities and failings,'' she said.

Mr Stanhope said the greenhouse targets ...