Page 4925 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 26 November 1991
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We have always maintained that there seems to have been some delay in the commencement of this legislation because, if one looks very carefully at it, one sees that not that many changes were made in the process of its being finalised. In fact, it was basically about to be introduced at the time of the change of government, and it has taken some time for the new Government to bring it forward. I would have thought that it did not need that long to sort through it and very quickly make the amendments that it felt necessary to enable the planning legislation to commence operation, certainly, I would have thought, by 1 January 1992, as we had originally proposed.
However, because of the cost associated with the appeals process, it seems that discussions within the Government have resulted in a decision that it will not spend that sort of money during this financial year, and that one of the areas where it would seek to make some cuts was in relation to the provision of a proper appeals process for the people of the ACT.
An appeals process for the people of the ACT has long been sought because it has always been considered that the use of the Supreme Court for planning appeals is totally and utterly inappropriate. Of course, as we know, at the moment there is no such thing as proper planning appeals. That is why we sought to make some changes yesterday in relation to the interim Territory planning legislation. With the exception of one area, we were pleased to see them receive the support of the members of this Assembly. Of course, we will be seeking to make sure that those provisions are included in the legislation in the future.
So, unfortunately, it appears that the Government decided to hold back, if you like, for at least another six months, the provision of a proper appeals process for the people of the ACT. That is most unfortunate. What it is doing, in fact, is putting the people's requirements in relation to this matter at the bottom of the pile, so to speak. That is most unfortunate. But, now that the decision has been made to have the planning legislation commence operation by 2 April, the people will be given a proper appeals process within a three-month period.
Of course, as I see it, there are going to be some problems in relation to the requirement for the preparation of the plan because, in fact, the legislation depends quite a lot on the plan. I will be moving some amendments tomorrow to seek to assist the Government to redress some of those problems, particularly in relation to environmental impact assessments. If we do not make those changes in respect of those areas that are dependent on the plan, we could be caused some problems.
In relation to community consultation, which, of course, is part of this process, it seems to me that the Government - or certainly someone within the department - has made a decision to reduce the amount of consultation in relation
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