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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 11 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3307 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

As from 1 January next year, ACT Tourism will become a statutory corporation. The role of the new corporation will include responsibility for events and festivals funding and management, with a capacity to enter into joint ventures with the private sector. This will better position Canberra Tourism Corporation to compete with similar organisations in other States for a larger share of the tourism market and allow it to enter into commercially oriented arrangements. This year, Canberra Tourism's advertising campaign will focus on the key domestic markets of Sydney and regional New South Wales. The campaign, based on the "most talked about city" theme, will include cinema advertising in Sydney and television advertising in regional areas, with the objective of increasing visitor numbers from 1.6 million to 1.7 million, thereby injecting an additional $20m into the Territory's economy. As part of our intention to enhance transport services and links within the ACT and the surrounding region, the Government will continue to pursue vigorously a high-speed rail link with Sydney and support the upgrading of Canberra Airport to international status.

This Government has taken the lead in recognising that sport for Canberra is big business. In 1996-97 we will continue our aggressive approach to securing Olympic involvement for the Territory, targeting soccer for Bruce Stadium, the possible inclusion of futsal for the year 2000, and training opportunities for elite athletes and Olympic squads from around the world. Over the next 18 months, Canberra will also host several national and international events, including the Sixth Australian Masters Games, men's and women's international futsal five-a-side soccer tournaments, and the FAI Canberra rally, which will soon become a round of the prestigious Asia-Pacific championships.

This Government is committed to simplifying and streamlining planning and approvals as a critical part of our drive to stimulate economic development and create more jobs. New integrated development approval processes that were introduced on 1 July have already had a remarkable effect in reducing turnaround times and cutting red tape. The average time for assessments to be completed has been reduced from between 36 and 43 weeks, under the old system, to just six to nine weeks for new applications. This is but one example of the can-do approach we have brought to government. The Government will be introducing legislation in the next sitting to amend the Land (Planning and Environment) Act, as proposed in our response to the Stein report. The amendments to be put forward will further improve the processes and timeframes under which development applications are made and considered.

In a move to further stimulate development and job creation, I can announce today that we are moving to amend the regulations to provide for the payment of a change of use rights charge, formerly betterment, at the rate of 75 per cent of the added value arising from an amendment to a lease. In addition, I have written to the Federal Government and requested that it consider amending the self-government Act, which would then enable this Assembly to provide for the automatic renewal of residential and commercial leases under the Land Act. The Government has commissioned a senior academic at the Australian National University to undertake a study of the impact that the change of use rights charge has on investment and also the impact of automatic lease renewal. It is this Government's firm belief that these reforms will be extremely important in creating a more positive investment climate in Canberra, thereby helping to stimulate the economic development we know we need.

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