Page 4175 - Week 14 - Thursday, 25 October 1990
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any honest observer would conclude that, despite the Opposition's irrationality on this matter, this is an area in relation to which once again the Government has bitten the bullet and made some hard decisions which were left to us by the ditherers on the other side when they were in government.
It is therefore very opportune that this matter has been brought before the Assembly today. The debate gives me the opportunity to place planning issues in perspective, as opposed to the myopic, narrow focus on some few particular aspects of planning which we have seen in recent weeks from across the floor and which sadly has been repeated by Mr Wood.
Since the popular Alliance Government came into office, planning has been high on our agenda; indeed, it has been one of the areas of significant activity of this Government. I notice, Mr Deputy Speaker, that there is only one member of the Opposition present during this debate which it brought up, and that member is not even a member of the Labor Party - it is Mr Moore. It is absolutely shameful. Unlike the Opposition, we have a view of planning as a means to an end rather than simply as an end in itself. My Government sees the role of planning in the broad sense as establishing the structure of the city to meet social and economic needs whilst responding to the needs for conservation and, at the same time, change.
It is the vehicle for beneficial change. For example, a comprehensive package of planning legislation, on which my Government has sought public comment and which will soon be introduced into the Assembly, has the objective of protecting the sound principles which I thought Mr Wood would have addressed and which have made Canberra one of the best planned cities in the world. As members will be aware, the legislation will require the Territory Plan to ensure that the planning and development of the Territory provides the people of the Territory with an attractive, safe and efficient environment in which to live, work and enjoy their recreation.
The package of legislation ensures that the community will have much greater involvement in the way in which planning policies are developed and implemented than any ACT laws have ever previously required. Basic to the legislation is a requirement for public consultation and the provision of opportunities for appeals, inquiries, environmental impact statements and community input into decisions. The consultation that is already under way on issues for the new Territory Plan is an example of the open consultative approach which enables the community to inject issues which concern it at the formulative stages of the plan.
Issues papers on a wide range of relevant aspects of planning are being circulated for community information and comment at the moment. Mr Deputy Speaker, six papers have been circulated for public comment. I should acknowledge,
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