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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 9 Hansard (2 September) . . Page.. 2768 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

for the grant of a further rural lease. The only people who will be able to apply for the direct grant of a rural lease are those who have held a licence or other formal contract over a parcel of land, or land adjoining the parcel, for a period of more than 15 years.

Where a rural lessee can apply for a grant of a further lease for 99 years, additional conditions will be attached to the granting of that lease. The principal condition, in addition to the requirement for a land management agreement, will be that the lessee must pay out their land rent commitment and purchase all government owned improvements, excluding timber treatment.

Section 171A of the Act, which deals with the grant of a further rural lease, has been amended to allow rural lessees a period of 18 months from the commencement of these amendments to apply to pay out their land rent. The new disallowable instrument under section 171A contains the formula to be applied when calculating the payout figure.

The 18-month period has been specified because the formulae in the disallowable instrument are not based on market value and include a 15 per cent discount for landcare requirements. The Government agreed to this approach, recognising that current rural lessees have not had the opportunity in the past to engage in long-term management planning. This was because there was no guarantee of long-term tenure. The 18-month period will provide sufficient time for rural lessees to assess their personal circumstances and make business decisions around primary production activities. Once the 18-month period has elapsed, eligible rural lessees will still be able to apply for 99-year leases, but the payout requirement will be calculated at market value.

If an eligible lessee applies within the 18-month period, the disallowable instrument provides three options for the payment of the amount owing. The first option is a lump sum. The second option is a partial lump sum, with the remaining amount to be paid out over 30 years at 8 per cent interest on a reducing balance. The third option is for the entire sum to be paid out under the 30-year payout arrangements. The lessee will be required to purchase any government owned improvements, excluding timber treatment. Any outstanding rent or other moneys owing under the lease must also be paid before the new lease will be granted. The cost of purchasing the improvements can be included in the lump sum or the 30-year payout arrangements.

In the government response to the task force report, 99-year leases for the Tennent and Booth districts were supported. Recent advice from the NCA indicated that the National Capital Plan does not allow for long-term tenure in Tennent and Booth. Unfortunately, when the Government consulted with the NCA in 1997, there were no indications from the NCA that long-term leases in the Tennent and Booth districts were inconsistent with the National Capital Plan.

The Government is still committed to offering a maximum lease term of 99 years in the Tennent and Booth districts. The NCA has been formally requested to consider the issue of the lease terms as part of the proposed review of the National Capital Plan. Recent advice from the NCA indicates that they would be willing to prepare an amendment to the National Capital Plan to allow for long-term tenure. Any amendment prepared by the NCA would require the approval of both houses of the Federal Parliament. This Government will be pursuing this issue with the Federal Government as a high priority.

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