Page 4997 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 11 December 1990
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virtually at the stage of approving the National Capital Plan. The expectation is that the National Capital Plan will be approved in the next few days, or certainly before Christmas.
When that happens under the Federal Act, the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act, it will be open to the Commonwealth Government to declare that the transition period has ended. The consequence of the ending of the transition period under that Federal Act will be that the Territory Plan will be deemed, in effect, to be the current existing NCDC policy plans for the Canberra area.
As I said earlier, when the Federal Act was passed as part of the self-government package, it was anticipated that a 12-month transition period would be adequate. That has certainly proven not to be the case. The Federal Government has not managed to get the National Capital Plan in place within 12 months. It has taken them about 18 months. As I say, we expect it within a few days.
Where is the ACT in this process? Do we expect the ACT legislation to be ready in the next few days? Do we expect the ACT legislation to be in place within the next few weeks? Not at all. The most optimistic expectation that I have heard from the Government side of the Assembly is: perhaps, by the middle of next year. Mr Speaker, I would not be placing bets on that, if I were you, or if I were a supporter of this Government. I would not mind having some money on the possibility that by this time next year, in the last sitting week of December 1991, we will still be waiting to see this legislation. There has been a remarkable failure of administration to produce this legislation.
Having said that this is an admission of failure; having pointed out the Government's remarkable failure, given its rhetoric and given its assertion, when it took the reins of government, that Labor had somehow failed in not having the legislation in place within six months - and yet, 12 months down the track, being only a little further advanced - the Opposition, nonetheless, will be forced to support this legislation. We, clearly, cannot be in a position where the Territory has no control over its planning legislation. It is, clearly, necessary for some interim legislation to be passed, given that failure to produce the legislative package. That is cause for real concern.
The land and planning package, the five Bills that are presently awaiting the second exposure draft, is legislation unique, or almost unique, in this Assembly in that it has the broad support of both sides of the Assembly. We are very critical of the Government's failure to advance the issue, but there is support on the general principles of the legislation.
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