Page 948 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 26 July 1989
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
During discussion we sought to have the motion amended to require the Government to prepare the drafting instructions before the last day of October to give effect to part IV of this particular section of the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act and refer such drafting instructions to the Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Infrastructure. But for some reason it would seem that the Liberals did not see it as appropriate to support such a far-seeing motion. It is unfortunate. However, I will therefore continue to speak on the motion as it now stands.
The motion provides recommendations to the standing committee on where it should seek information without placing any restrictions on the committee. The aim of the second part of the motion is to ensure that as wide a cross-section as possible of views from organisations is covered. While a reporting date is fixed by the motion, this only provides an upper limit on the time for consideration by the committee. However, there is no restriction on the committee producing its report well before the deadline. In fact, it could be argued that the sooner the committee reports the better so that laws can be passed by this Assembly to replace those given to us by the Federal Parliament without any real consultation.
The Rally considers this proposal to be of major importance to the residents of Canberra and the people of Australia, on whose behalf we hold the keys to the national capital. The need for this motion is clearly stated in section 25 of the ACT (Planning and Land Management) Act 1988, which requires the Assembly to:
... as soon as practicable, make laws providing for
(a) establishing a Territory planning authority;
(b) conferring functions on the authority, including the functions of:
(i) preparing and administering a plan in respect of land, not inconsistent with the National Capital Plan; and
(ii) keeping the plan under constant review and proposing amendments to it when necessary.
Mr Speaker, I think it is important to refer again to the need for this matter to be addressed as soon as practicable. I remind members that the election was held on 4 March 1989 and it is now almost five months since that date - that is how long this motion has been waiting to be debated. The delay will be even longer if we take into account that the predecessor to the Interim Territory Planning Authority was disbanded in December last year.
Our town planning is now the responsibility of an interim planning authority headed by an interim chief planner in accordance with the Interim Territorial Planning Ordinance of 1988. Sometimes history tells us that an interim institution can become permanent by default. The Rally does not consider this as appropriate in the best interests of planning in the ACT.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .