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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (22 May) . . Page.. 1593 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

Okay, I do not argue with that. I agree with that statement. He continued:

If it is red tape to protect small business in the Tuggeranong Valley, live on red tape.

It was this man who brought down the Red Tape Task Force report. This argument at the time was totally wrapped up in a great amount of hype to be merely opportunistic, to take every advantage that was available at the time. It was typical of this Government. Mr De Domenico at that time, and subsequently, made a great number of statements about protecting small business. I have not seen anything yet, and he is now holding out a promise of something in a fortnight or so. So we do not know. We wait in hope. I hope that something is delivered.

This motion by the Greens, however, is too arbitrary. At least they are consistent, which is what these people across the way are not. The motion is altogether too arbitrary. We all seem to agree that there are very significant problems. I think there is a consensus emerging that this is because of changing patterns. We live in a city that is always deemed to be well planned, but that well-planned city, certainly in this case, has not been able readily to adjust to the changing social habits of people. People have changed the way they do things. The rather inflexible planning we have had - that we have a shop here and then another bigger group of shops here, and then the big town centres - has not been effective in protecting those smaller shops. In some circumstances those small shops have done extremely well because of the entrepreneurial skills of their management. They have survived. In other areas, among other factors, lacking those sorts of skills, they have not survived or they are doing very badly.

In some areas I tried to convince shopowners to join with the Government to do something in the area. Mr Lamont, in the end, was able to get up some precinct committees. In other areas I know that the shopowners - not the tenants, but the people who own the premises - were absolutely reluctant to spend a cent on their premises. It is some of those shopping areas that are now in the most difficulty because they are not able to compete with the greater attraction elsewhere. It is very much a local issue. Where the local owners and the traders have worked hard with energy and vision, they survive. Maybe some who do have energy and vision do not survive.

There are very difficult circumstances, and imposing a blanket moratorium is not necessarily the answer. There is a process that we have to work through. That is what I told Mr De Domenico and Mrs Carnell a couple of years ago. There is a process that has to be worked through and we are now working through that process.

Mrs Carnell: And we said that that is fine.

MR WOOD: You were not prepared to listen a little while ago.

Mrs Carnell: I am sorry; but we did.

Mr De Domenico: We did, Mr Wood. You should read everything that you have in front of you.

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