Page 2524 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 15 November 1989
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
and we must not regard this motion as pre-empting that process. I think, from Mr Moore's approach on this matter, we can be satisfied that that is indeed the case, and the motion which he has put forward is an interim measure and one which gives us an opportunity to trial the operations of a council. It is a matter on which the Government is very keen to take action and a matter which certainly has the support of the Government.
The other concern that I have is the prescription by the motion of the membership of the council, but I take that in the spirit in which it is offered. It is very important that we have representative views on such a council and that varying views are given equal weight and an opportunity to be heard. Such a council does indeed need to have a balanced approach. So I take that part of the motion in the spirit in which it is offered and indicate that the Government supports Mr Moore's motion.
MR SPEAKER: Once again I draw members' attention to keeping the level of comment to a minimum during a debate. It is totally disrespectful to the person speaking, particularly when people stand at their seats. In future I will call the Assembly to order and ask members to make their point as they are standing.
MR HUMPHRIES (10.58): I should indicate, Mr Speaker, that the Opposition has given this motion some consideration but believes it needs further consideration before a decision or a vote could be taken on it. As such, the Opposition will be supporting any motion that comes forward at the end of today's debate to adjourn this matter to some later date. What that later date should be, of course, is a matter for negotiation. I would suggest, as I think the Chief Minister might have suggested, that the debate on the Government's own package on planning measures ought to be the appropriate vehicle for also discussing this; but we will come back to that in due course.
I think this is a timely measure. I think it is appropriate to consider something of this kind at this important juncture in the history of the Territory. We have heard debate in the last few days about planning considerations from the Federal point of view, and our own need to address these issues promptly at the local level cannot be ignored. I will have something to say later about the extent to which this motion fits in with the trends that we are already developing in the Territory and I might make some comment about the extent to which we ought to prepare ourselves better for a debate of this kind and not rely on a fairly ad hoc approach.
If I might begin by being negative, there are some things I want to say about this motion which are not flattering. The first point that came to my attention on reading this motion was the name of the body and the fact that it acknowledges in its title and in the structure of its purpose, as set out in the motion, that it is an advisory
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .