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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 11 Hansard (29 November) . . Page.. 3425 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

I felt it was important for people in Canberra to understand what work had been done in other districts, particularly the inner north and the inner south, which were the areas cited as the next ones on the list for investigation.

On 26 October I received a letter from the FOI coordinator in the Department of Treasury and Infrastructure indicating that the request had been transferred to the Department of Urban Services as a result of the changed administrative arrangements and that my request had been forwarded to the FOI coordinator of that department.

I was further informed that the statutory date for a decision on access to the requested documents was 19 November. Mr Speaker, 19 November came and it went. Did I receive a reply by that date? I did not. That is unacceptable. The department broke the law. It was required to provide the information, or an explanation as to why the information was not forthcoming, by that date and it did not.

The Canberra community are sick and tired of waiting. The Canberra community deserve to know what is happening in relation to urban infill in our city, and they are entitled to learn what further work the government has undertaken in identifying sites for urban infill since that time. That was the purpose of the request.

It is particularly important, following the Chief Minister's commitment that no further work is being done on investigating areas of urban open space for possible development, that we have an opportunity to test that by seeing exactly what work is being undertaken by government departments, particularly the Infrastructure and Asset Management Group. That is the purpose of the motion today.

Because of the change in time today, I proposed an amendment to my motion, which the Assembly accepted, and the proposal now is that these documents be provided by close of business tomorrow. It is not an unreasonable request. The government has had over 30 days to respond to this request, and I believe it is time that they provided the documents to me, to the Assembly and to the people of Canberra.

MR MOORE (Minister for Health, Housing and Community Care) (5.27): This is a most unfortunate motion. Effectively, it puts an Assembly member above the law. Mr Corbell, as he is entitled to do, sought documents under the FOI process. Legislation sets out how that process should operate. If he is unhappy with the way that process is operating, then under law he has recourse to the AAT.

This motion says, "I do not like what is going on with that methodology. I am going to put myself above the law and above the process and use my Assembly power to get the minister to intervene in and override that process." What was the debate over the former Chief Minister about if it was not about process? It is okay for the Labor Party brothers to point the finger at the Chief Minister and say, "You did not follow due process. You went above the law. You broke the law." But when it suits them, it is a different story altogether.

It is extraordinarily unfortunate that this motion has been moved. I do not think any member of the Assembly should support this motion in its current form. I understand Mr Corbell's intention. He wants particular documents and, as a member of the Assembly, can request those documents or, through the committee system, order those

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