Page 5923 - Week 18 - Wednesday, 11 December 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
to demonstrate that they have the willingness and the wherewithal either to have or to get the information that they need to run their businesses, their rural leases, on a sustainable basis. Also, in that regard, we recommend that farm management plans be prepared by lessees in conjunction with the department, to ensure that an ongoing program is developed to manage those pieces of land.
The report also touched on the question of heritage. It was quite fascinating to see what a significant rural heritage there is in the ACT. At one particular property that we visited I was fascinated to see the remains of a number of very early settlements on that land - a settlement that predated the establishment of the national capital by many years, the base of farmhouses, the ground floor structure of a public house sitting out there near the border between the ACT and New South Wales. Because of its age, that is a quite significant part of the ACT's rural heritage, and we must make efforts to preserve that.
We recommend in this committee report that that be done by providing incentives to lessees to do it - not necessarily have the Government come out and put up a piece of wire around these places, put up signs and do the maintenance itself, but rather give lessees the chance to maintain the property themselves, perhaps giving a reduction in their rent in order to provide that incentive.
I want to make one last reference, Mr Deputy Speaker, to the question of hobby farms. The committee was at some pains to examine that question to see whether that was a sustainable part of the ACT's rural scene. We came to the conclusion that, although there are arguments both for and against the existence of small leaseholds, it was premature for the Government to move against and outlaw categorically small rural leaseholdings in most parts of the ACT. There may be some role for them in the future; there certainly is a role, or appears to be a role, for them in surrounding areas of New South Wales - Murrumbateman, for example. It is important for us to bear in mind the evolution of agricultural practices and policy in the coming years. That is why we felt that it was wrong to exclude hobby farms or small leaseholds from the future of our urban scene.
I want to thank my colleagues. It was an interesting inquiry. I particularly thank the chairman, Mr Moore, who worked very hard to head off any dissenting comments. I was pleased that he and my colleagues were able to work hard enough on this report to ensure that we brought down a unanimous report, without the need for additional or dissenting comments.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .