Page 5418 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 3 December 1991
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variations are held up simply because the committee cannot process them, or they deliberately hold up particular variations and do not process them within a reasonable timescale, I personally will move to have this particular provision in the Act changed.
MR MOORE (4.40): Mr Speaker, I think it is a very sensible amendment by Mr Jensen. We are talking about a variation to the Territory Plan. We are not talking about every small development that is going to occur in Canberra. We are talking about variations to the Territory Plan. We are not talking about lease purpose changes or any of those other minor matters. Considering the fact that the draft Territory Plan is now going through the process of variation, we can expect that the vast majority of issues that need to be raised will be dealt with, in the initial instance, by the draft plan.
Of course, planning is a matter that is constantly evolving and constantly changing. There will need to be variations, but it is important that all members of the Assembly have involvement in those variations to the plan. What Mr Jensen's amendment provides is a very sensible methodology for doing that. Mr Kaine's very sensible speech reinforced that, if in fact this does create a bottleneck, members will be prepared to change this provision.
Often we are very fearful of all sorts of things and can react because of some terrible fears that are quite unfounded. I believe that the fears will be shown to be unfounded, and I believe that we have had a demonstration that members are not prepared to move disallowances willy-nilly. In the Planning Committee they have not moved to investigate every variation. The vast majority of them are quite sensible; but it is certainly appropriate to refer them to the Planning Committee as a matter of course, so that they can be looked at.
In fact, of course, major variations to the Territory Plan have been referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the ACT for some time. If the Federal Parliament considers it appropriate to have a Federal parliamentary committee look into this issue, then surely it is appropriate for the Assembly to ensure that they can look at the issues that arise in variations.
MR WOOD (Minister for Education and the Arts and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning) (4.43): I want to be quick, Mr Speaker. I think the answer is in the next proposed amendment. Things will get clogged up, because the next amendment says:
The Executive shall not seek to place any unreasonable time period on a Committee ...
Mr Jensen: You have brought that on yourself, Bill.
MR WOOD: No, that has been there for a while, Mr Jensen.
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