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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 248 ..

Mr Moore: It is not convenient this time.

MS TUCKER: The amendments made to the Land Act last year, unfortunately supported by Labor, severely limiting rights of appeal over planning decisions, are another indication of a government that is wary of community input.

Mrs Carnell: What do you think Tina's unit is, Michael, apart from a response?

Mr Moore: That is a different thing. We are talking about Jacqui Rees.

Mrs Carnell: She was not talking about Jacqui. She was talking about community consultation.

MS TUCKER: I am actually talking about the Land Act at the minute. I think it is another important example where rights of appeal over planning decisions were limited, and this is another indication of a government that is wary of community input. While the Government has been using the local area planning advisory committees as an example of how good its consultation is - and I think it was a worthy attempt and a good initiative, although it certainly needed development - proposals are now being developed to reduce community representation on LAPACs. There are a number of other examples of planning consultative processes going awry or not existing - for example, the sudden appearance of the futsal stadium next to the lake.

As I have said, reinstating Ms Rees would be symbolic. It would be symbolic of a number of issues that have been bubbling away under the surface with this Government. It would obviously not solve the problems because there does have to be an improvement to the overall process of community consultation. I have heard Tina van Raay talk on the radio about the customer involvement unit, and I guess that is the beginning of improvement of the strategy the Government is using. We often talk in this place about community consultation but we rarely debate what is effective consultation. When you see initiatives such as the customer involvement unit, it is hard to take it seriously when at the same time you see the Government sacking people such as Jacqui Rees because they have criticised the Government. What kind of consultation would be acceptable to this Government is interesting, to say the least, when those sorts of actions have occurred.

It is true that some people feel they are overconsulted, as Mrs Carnell pointed out the other day, and they feel that they are never effectively heard. That is a common flaw. Another common flaw is involving the community too late in the process. The Ainslie redevelopment process was a good example of that, when the Government turned up with an almost complete plan. We all know community consultation is not easy, but there are some fundamental principles of good consultation. I remind members that the Social Policy Committee did produce a discussion paper on this issue and will be producing a report on the topic in the near future. I hope to get more feedback from the Government on that discussion paper.

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