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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 14 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 4887 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

that is originally reached. That is why Ms Follett tabled the report of the scrutiny of Bills national committee about how we might do that. I supported that process myself when I was on the Scrutiny of Bills Committee.

However, I am not proposing that we go back and rewrite or withdraw from every intergovernmental agreement reached in these areas while we are trying to sort out some way of doing that better in the future. The ACT is a signatory to the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment - a document which generally, like it or not, Ms Horodny, does protect the environment and provide for higher standards and uniformity of standards around this country in these areas. To throw it out unilaterally would be a risk, if not an outright mistake.

I think we have to be a little more careful than Mr Moore suggests, and I would argue that in this case we should spend the summer recess thinking about how we might do this properly and come back and address the issue. As far as I can see, everyone in the Assembly agrees that there is a problem with perception out there. Some go a bit further than that, but most agree that there is a problem of perception out there. We have to fix that when we come back to this issue later.

MR OSBORNE (9.38): Mr Speaker, how are you? Did you have a good break over dinner? Are you in a bit better mood now?

MR SPEAKER: No.

MR OSBORNE: I am.

MR SPEAKER: A 202 can still be a 303, Mr Osborne.

MR OSBORNE: Please put me out of my misery, Mr Speaker.

I will speak briefly to Mr Moore's amendment. I will rise only once this evening to explain my reasoning for supporting Mr Moore on this and also the rest of his amendments. I do not profess to know a lot about planning, and I do not particularly want to know a lot about planning. It is not something that overly interested me prior to the election, and it is not something that overly interests me now, other than when it comes to schools not in my electorate. However, there are a couple of things that I would like to say. The changes that have been proposed here are very substantial changes. For as long as I can remember - I do not know for how long it goes back - this Territory has gone down a certain road when it comes to planning issues. From what I can work out, what is being proposed means that we are now heading off on a different road completely.

Mr Moore: Correct.

MR OSBORNE: "Correct", Mr Moore says. That requires this type of legislation to be looked at very thoroughly and members of this Assembly to take time to address all the many very contentious issues. In my constituency, I do not think I have been approached about the Land Act - only specific issues. For as long as I can remember - perhaps Mr Moore can place a date on it - planning in the Territory has gone down

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