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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (5 September) . . Page.. 3261 ..

(Page 2 of 6)

Section 12 of the Commissioner for the Environment Act 1993 gives the Commissioner the power to conduct investigations.

To enable the Commissioner to discharge the function of investigation effectively, the Act confers on him certain powers including the powers to require the production of documents and provision of information.

However, section 15(3) qualifies the Commissioner's powers by providing that investigations are to be conducted in private.

Given the community interest in this issue, but a legal requirement for a private investigation, the Government and the Commissioner have jointly considered the best way to proceed.

We believe the best approach is for me to direct the Commissioner to conduct an investigation (which must be in private) but also to direct him to include in the report the detail of the submissions received.

This will ensure that the Assembly and the community are aware of all the matters raised in the course of the investigation.

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