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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 (Hansard) 16 May) . . Page.. 1389 ..

Mr De Domenico: It is true.

MS HORODNY: No.

Mr De Domenico: Unless you have finally got a degree in constitutional law.

MS HORODNY: Mr De Domenico, the fact is that the Noise Control Act can be amended. It is within our power in the ACT to do that.

Mr De Domenico: No, it is not, Ms Horodny, I suggest.

MS HORODNY: I am happy to debate this when you have done some more research on this issue. You are saying that the rules here are the best compromise and that they support the majority findings of the working party. Again, that is not true. The working party have themselves publicly stated that you have not taken on the concerns of that working party, and you certainly have not solved any of the problem. You certainly have not solved the truck parking problem at all, I am afraid. It is very disappointing. I hope that other members of this Assembly will come forward and try to solve this issue once and for all by supporting the motion that I have put forward.

MR WHITECROSS (Leader of the Opposition) (4.32): I agree with Ms Horodny that in many respects this is a very disappointing effort in addressing this issue. I do not agree with Ms Horodny about all her solutions, and I will come to that; but I do agree with her that it is a disappointing effort. I am drawn to respond now rather than later by the fact that Mr De Domenico has implied in his ministerial statement my wholehearted approval for his scheme.

Mr De Domenico: I just quoted what you said.

MR WHITECROSS: Yes, indeed you did, Mr De Domenico; but the implication was there. Mr Speaker, there are two areas, in particular, on which I think Mr De Domenico has failed in his approach to this, and they both go to areas of executive action - action which is within the power of the Minister and the Government but not really of the Assembly.

The first goes to the question of enforcement. Who is going to make the rules work? Mr Speaker, one of the big problems that is a recurring theme among residents who complain about truck parking - of course, not all residents complain - is the lack of commitment by government departments and agencies, particularly Lease Administration, to enforce existing law. It comes up again and again. Things which seem on their face to be clearly in breach of the law are allowed to continue without the residents being given any assistance at all to remedy the situation. It is left to the residents to run their own arguments in various courts to seek orders to remedy problems which, on their face, ought to have been handled by the department as part of its responsibility for administering the lease system in the ACT and ensuring that residential amenity is maintained. That is a concern. It is a concern, too, that that is an area which Mr De Domenico has not addressed.

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