Page 1661 - Week 06 - Thursday, 20 May 1993
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MR DE DOMENICO (11.52): Madam Speaker, I am going to be very brief because I think my colleagues have said it all. I will pick up on what Ms Ellis said and agree with her: It is not the end; it is the beginning. As Mr Kaine said, we have condensed some 11,000 NCDC documents or rules - - -
Ms Ellis: No, 1,100.
MR DE DOMENICO: Yes, 1,100. My colleagues and I had to read voluminous pieces of paper sometimes six or seven times, with changes in spelling and all sorts of things. It seemed like 11,000, but it was only 1,100. Like my colleagues, I have learnt a lot from the process. Anybody out there who pours scorn on the Assembly from time to time ought to realise the hard and important work done by all members of this Assembly. Looking into the Territory Plan has proved to me, once and for all, that anybody who wants to take over from any one of the 17 of us here should put his name down for preselection and get elected. It is not what you think it is all about.
"A new baseline" and "a living, breathing document" are phrases I have heard, and that is exactly what it is. It is an attempt by the elected members of this Assembly to say to the people of the ACT that we have listened and, as much as possible, we have attempted to put what we have heard into this document. Not everybody is going to be happy, as Mr Kaine and others have said; but hopefully a significant number of people in the ACT will realise that this is the best outcome possible, following different people from different political persuasions coming together and agreeing to something, as this document reflects. That is one thing I have learnt about the beauty of our committee system in this Assembly.
I also agree that it was a significant example of community input and proper consultation, and I think credit is due to the Government for this. Some people on the opposite side of the house tend to say that we never give credit where it is due, but in this instance I say, "Well done". This is what community consultation is all about. It has worked to everybody's advantage, and people need to be congratulated for that. Specifically, I agree with Mr Kaine and others that it is not a strategic document; nor should it be, in my view. If it were a strategic document, perhaps it would not be as living and breathing as it is. One thing I will say about this document is that it is going to change the day after the Executive approves it. There will be someone who will have a different point of view when he reads the document after it is approved, and that is the way it ought to be.
There was mention of the four-star rating. I have to say that I am concerned about that, but I am happy with the way it is worded in this recommendation to the Executive. Once again I stress that the beauty of the committee system is that, while we might not agree 100 per cent of the time or any of the time, when it comes to the nitty-gritty of presenting something in writing, there is nothing that cannot be solved. That is, I believe, fantastic.
I also commend particularly the work done by Mr Kaine. People tend to forget that Mr Kaine has been involved in this process for longer than anybody else on the committee. Mr Lamont as chairman did a magnificent job, in his inimitable way, and people will understand what I mean when I say that.
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