Page 675 - Week 02 - Thursday, 21 February 1991
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MR COLLAERY (Attorney-General) (6.32): Mr Speaker, I move:
That the question be now put.
MR SPEAKER: Under the circumstances and as I have an amendment before me, I do not believe that that motion is appropriate, Mr Collaery.
MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (6.33): Mr Speaker, I move:
That clause (3) be amended by omitting "7" and substituting "5".
This, as members will realise, is an amendment to Mr Berry's amendment. I offer the amendment in a spirit of compromise, as we have had oft expressed from the members opposite a great deal of difficulty with the number of members that is stated in Mr Berry's amendment. However, I do think it is important to note that the task that is before this committee is probably one of the most difficult that will be faced by this Assembly and by members of this Assembly.
It is a task that, as Mr Moore has pointed out, has been going on for many years now. There are very few of us in this chamber who have not had meetings in the community, with bureaucrats, with the then National Capital Development Commission officers, with consultants and with, of course, our own support groups, our own parties, on the question of planning in the ACT.
Mr Kaine: You should be able to deal with it quickly if you have done all of that. You are well on top of the subject.
MS FOLLETT: Mr Speaker, Mr Kaine interjects that we should be able to deal with it quickly if we have had all that amount of consultation. Of course, the reverse is true. The amount of consultation, the amount of debate that has surrounded this whole issue, has really sought to make clear to everyone concerned that this is an extremely complex issue. It is an issue that, of course, goes to the very heart of what Canberra is all about.
So I do not believe that it is appropriate for us to rush into any form of debate, into any form of committee structure for looking at this piece of legislation, simply along party political lines. I know that members opposite are intending simply to use their weight of numbers to attempt to impose their wish, their motion, on this Assembly. I think that they will be sorry in the long run that they have chosen to adopt that kind of a strategy. There is no doubt in my mind that there are other people within this chamber who have a very valid and very valuable contribution to make to this debate.
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