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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 7 Hansard (6 June) . . Page.. 1993 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

Do we need government land development? The government has decided that its policy is to introduce government land development. We went to the election on a commitment to introduce government land development, and the government will seek in a responsible way to implement its election commitment.

The government is very open to the Liberal Party and crossbench members investigating the detail of the government's election commitment once we have announced how it will be implemented. The government is very open to having all of the assumptions tested through the appropriate forums. But the opposition is seeking to establish an inquiry when we do know any of the detail of the government's model. We do not yet know how the government proposes to introduce this, because the government is still finalising the arrangements. But the opposition still wants to have an inquiry so that it can roll out its prejudices on this matter. That is not an approach this government is prepared to support.

There are two very clear ways in which this Assembly will have an opportunity to scrutinise the government's implementation of its election commitment in relation to government land development. Firstly, if the government is seeking funds-start-up capital-to establish government land development, it will have to do that through an appropriation bill, Mr Smyth. Unless you are not proposing to have an estimates committee this year, which I doubt, then you will have an opportunity through the estimates committee process to test all of the things you would like to test about any possible request in the budget for government land development start-up capital. First and foremost, the opportunity is there through an appropriation bill, through an estimates committee, if the government proposes such capital expenditure in this year's budget.

Secondly-Mr Smyth should have paid closer attention when he was sitting in the audience at the briefing I provided to the Planning and Environment Committee last Friday on the government's work on this matter-we made it very clear that the government would be introducing legislation shortly to establish a statutory planning and land authority and related models in relation to government land development and a government land development agency.

When we debate a bill on those matters, there will also be an opportunity for members to have their say about the appropriateness of the models the government will propose in relation to the establishment of a government land development agency.

There you have it-scrutiny through an estimates committee, scrutiny through the Assembly's discussion of an appropriation bill and scrutiny in relation to the bill to establish a planning and land authority and set down the government's arrangements for land development. It sounds to me like a pretty open and transparent process. The government has not indicated any intention to hide anything.

The opposition is saying, "Let us do the inquiry now, when we do not know anything about what the government is proposing to do. The government has not announced its policy intention in detail, but we still want to get it all done now." The only reason they want to get it all done now is to thwart this government's commitment to establish and implement its election commitments.

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