Page 1573 - Week 05 - Thursday, 18 April 1991
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first century and beyond. This is vital legislation. It affects everyone who lives in the ACT. It is essential for the legislation to be as balanced as possible to ensure that the interests of all citizens of the ACT are catered for and to ensure that the controlled development of the ACT proceeds in an orderly fashion. Legislation that favours one group is not particularly effective legislation and will not help in the development of a self-governing ACT.
I remind members that it is, in fact, now nearly two years since this Assembly commenced operations. I think all members of this Assembly appreciate that the ACT has changed, and will continue to change, as a result of self-government. In fact, most members of the Assembly over the last two years have indicated that the private sector will become increasingly important in the growth, development and the providing of employment opportunities in the ACT. I will say a little bit more on that later because there is one area where Mrs Nolan and I differentiated from our two working colleagues on the report in relation to that.
Overall, I am very happy with the report. The consolidation of this legislation into one Bill was a mammoth task, and I commend the officials who worked very hard on that task. I think they should be commended and congratulated.
I come now to one of the specific parts of Mrs Nolan's and my additional comments, and that is the renewal of leases. Basically, the Liberal members of the committees could see no reason why renewal of residential and commercial leases should be different. Those provisions are contained within clauses 224 and 225 of the Bill. In relation to residential leases, subclause 224(2) states:
The Executive shall not require any payment for granting a lease under subsection (1) other than payment of a charge to cover the administrative costs reasonably incurred by the Executive in granting the lease.
I do not think anyone really has any problem with that. Subclause 225(f), however, which deals with commercial leases, states:
Where before the expiration of the term of a lease of Territory Land that has not been granted for residential or rural purposes –
... ... ...
(f) the lessee has made any payment required by the Executive for the grant of a further lease of the land;
the Executive shall grant the lessee a further lease of the land to commence on the day of the grant.
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