Page 5688 - Week 17 - Thursday, 5 December 1991
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assessments to be taken. As I have said, when we have a Conservator, who is a responsible statutory officer, who seeks to have an inquiry or an assessment, the least the Minister can do is to have an assessment conducted.
Amendment negatived.
Clause agreed to.
Clause 199
MR JENSEN (4.21): I move:
Page 92, line 32, after subclause (1), insert the following subclause:
"(1A) The Conservator shall make copies of a draft Plan of Management to which this section applies available to an appropriate Committee of the Legislative Assembly.".
This amendment seeks to insert a new subclause which would require the Conservator to make copies of a draft plan of management to which this clause applies available to an appropriate committee of the Legislative Assembly. I do not think I need to say any more about what we believe to be the role of the committees of the Legislative Assembly in this area. We think that it is appropriate for committees to look at these issues, particularly issues in relation to environment and conservation, and that is why we have proposed what we consider to be a very important amendment to this legislation.
MR WOOD (Minister for Education and the Arts and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning) (4.21): Mr Speaker, the Government opposes this amendment. Again, it would tend to take responsibility out of hands of certain people ahead of the time when that needs to happen. We have had this argument on other matters, so I will not say any more.
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (4.21): Mr Speaker, the Liberals will support this. The Bill provides that the Conservator shall make copies of his draft plan available to the public. There is no reason why he should not also make it available to the Assembly's committee. The thing that troubles me about this, however, is that there is an implication that the committee, having received it, is actually going to do something about it. If the committee is required or obliged to do something about every piece of paper that hits it as a result of this legislation, and particularly of the amendments that Mr Jensen is putting forward, the committee is going to be working 365 days a year on planning variations, and that is not going to work. But, for information only, if the members of the committee have time to read it, I do not mind.
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