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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 7 Hansard (19 June) . . Page.. 2021 ..

Drugs of Dependence Amendment Bill 2001

MR MOORE: (Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services): Mr Speaker, before you call the Clerk, I wonder if I could make up for an inadvertent omission I made when we were debating the Drugs of Dependence Amendment Bill. I seek leave from members to table a supplementary explanatory memorandum for the amendments that I circulated at that time.

Leave granted.

MR MOORE: I present the following paper:

Land (Planning and Environment) Amendment Bill 2001 (No 3)

Debate resumed from 13 June 2001, on motion by Mr Smyth:

MR CORBELL (12.03): The Land (Planning and Environment) Amendment Bill 2001 (No 3) amends the Land (Planning and Environment) Act as it relates to the grant of long-term leases for rural lessees. Last year, the Assembly passed a significant bill, which made provision for rural lessees to receive 99-year leases. Prior to that time, rural lessees received shorter-term leases, and it was highlighted during the Assembly debate that there were problems with rural lessees who held leases over land which in no way was to be subject to possible future development, as that inhibited their ability to appropriately manage their leases because of the short-term nature of their tenure.

The Assembly, including the Labor Party, supported those amendments to provide for longer-term tenure of rural lessees on land not required for territory purposes at some future time. When that legislation was passed, the Assembly agreed to the government's proposal to establish an 18-month sunset clause in relation to the opportunity for lessees to apply for a long-term lease. When that was agreed upon, it was on the understanding that the government would make a provision to rural lessees to make an offer for a long-term lease within the 18 months of the original bill being passed by the Assembly.

Unfortunately, the information that I have been provided with, through a briefing by officers of PALM, indicates that the original intention and the original target was not able to be met-of providing for all rural lessees in the ACT who are potentially entitled to a 99-year lease to have that offer made to them within the original 18-month period. That is why this bill has been presented to us today.

This bill is retrospective, albeit by only a couple of days. Its commencement period is 15 June. That reflects the fact that the 18-month period for rural lessees to make an application for a long-term lease expired 18 months after the period the original bill that provided for long-term leases commenced.

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