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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 3936 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

(3) if the Assembly is not sitting when the Committee completes its report, it may send its report to the Speaker or, in the absence of the Speaker, to the Deputy Speaker, who is authorised to give directions for its printing, circulation and publication; and

(4) the foregoing provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.".

It is with some regret that I have to use this rather blunt procedure to have the will of the people of Ainslie reflected in a motion before this Assembly. The possibility of real consultation over the future of planning for Ainslie was given new life last weekend at a very well attended meeting between the ACT Government's planners and the people of Ainslie facilitated by the Ainslie Residents Association. The Greens put a motion on the notice paper to give effect to the agreements reached at that meeting; but we found that Mr Moore, who was not at the meeting, had proposed another motion which would be debated first and which, unfortunately, negates key components of the process the meeting called for. We have therefore formally withdrawn our motion from the notice paper.

Mr Moore: You have withdrawn it?

MS TUCKER: We have withdrawn our motion from the notice paper and we seek to amend Mr Moore's motion. I acknowledge that Mr Moore's intentions are good and it is a pity that we have not been able to get him to acknowledge what this amendment does. I hope that we will be able to convince him this morning that this is not undermining his intentions and that the Planning and Environment Committee does have a role to play in this important issue. It is just that we have made it more appropriate, we believe, to what the people of Ainslie want.

As I said, the possibility of real consultation over the future of planning for Ainslie was given new life last weekend when planners and residents agreed on a detailed process of consultation which included a survey, public meetings, small group meetings, a mid-term review and evaluation. It was an excellent strategy. I am very impressed by it because the Social Policy Committee, as members are aware, has been looking at consultation and basic principles that are commonly found where consultation works.

It is interesting that those principles are reflected in this suggestion that has come from the community. We see over and over again very basic aspects of community consultation, such as evaluative mechanisms being integrated through the whole process, not being found. Even government departments which are supposedly working on how to consult adequately and appropriately are not coming up with that. Here this community has come up with what the Social Policy Committee is finding, and what the experts agree are very fundamental requirements for effective evaluation and implementation of consultation. We want to see that process implemented exactly, and we are very happy to

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