Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 14 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 4861 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

a relatively unconstrained so-called planning regime serves particularly well particular developers and their need to evade planning constraints. It favours them at the expense of the public purse, so that they can make a quick and speculative profit as opposed to the profit that is rightly earned from a property development. Mr Speaker, unfortunately, the changes most assist these latter kinds of developers and thus work against those who have been working well within the system.

The foremost error of this legislation is the betrayal of the most crucial element of the Stein report, the need for the Canberra community to be served by independent statutory authorities for planning and lease administration, in particular lease administration because under those circumstances - - -

Mr Whitecross: You do not need a committee to look at that. The committee has already looked at it.

MR MOORE: Mr Whitecross correctly interjects that this particular matter has already been considered by the committee. If this Bill is referred to the Planning and Environment Committee, the committee can assess whether the committee's recommendations - on some of which committee members were divided 2 : 2; some of which were agreed recommendations - have met the community need. Mr Speaker, lease administration has long been a problem in this city and I believe it will continue to be. This particular piece of legislation will not assist in dealing with that matter. If this Bill is referred to the committee, the committee can consider whether it will assist in achieving what members of the committee wished it to achieve.

The city's planning has been eroding for years, if not decades. This is a time of desperate need to arrest the decline and recover community control over our assets and our future. It is not a time to ease back on those controls. This is where I agree with Ms McRae. She pointed out that planning has to look to the future. We should not look behind us but look to setting out the goals we want to achieve as a community and ensure that we protect for future generations just what it is about this legislation, our planning and our city that we want to protect. If we proceed this evening to the detail stage, if we do not refer this to a committee, it may be the single most irresponsible act of this Government and this Assembly so far. The betrayal - - -

Ms McRae: Mr Moore, go on with you!

MR MOORE: I would be quite happy for an interjection from somebody, even Ms McRae, to tell me - or perhaps the Government wants to tell me - an act by the Government more irresponsible than this.

Mr Whitecross: Shopping hours.

MR MOORE: Mr Whitecross chooses shopping hours. I must say that it is on a par, but I think the shopping hours legislation is likely to have a shorter-term effect. This is likely to have a much longer-term effect. Mr Speaker, we live in probably the most planned city in the world. It is a city renowned for planning. If this Bill goes through tonight, we will actually do away with the Chief Planner. We will live in a planned city without a chief planner and people will go - - -

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .