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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 13 Hansard (20 November) . . Page.. 3848 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

Let me hark back to the Estimates Committee of this year in which similar concerns were raised. Members of the committee raised, in particular, the relationship between the Planning and Land Bill and the land act. The committee noted that the land act had been from the outset a cumbersome piece of legislation and that the changes proposed because of the new legislation might necessitate a review of the land act. At that time, it will be recalled that the minister and officials advised that a review of the land act was anticipated, but not before the passage of the Planning and Land Bill.

Mr Deputy Speaker, it was a recommendation of that committee that the government review the land act before the passage of the Planning and Land Bill. To avoid this is to court disaster, and I strongly urge the Assembly to give serious thought to what has occurred from 1991 onwards. I ask you: do you want to repeat that? We will have, I am sure, ample time to repeat it if we do not act on a thorough review now before major changes are implemented. I therefore commend the motion to the Assembly.

MR CORBELL (Minister for Education, Youth and Family Services, Minister for Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations) (4.40): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move the amendment circulated in my name:

Omit all words after "Further that this Assembly", substitute "notes that the Government proposes to undertake a review of the Land Act in 2003 with an exposure draft of new legislation in mid 2004.".

The motion put forward by Mrs Dunne today calls on the government to immediately commence a review of the land act and to delay the commencement of the planning and land legislative reform package until the review has been completed. Quite frankly, Mr Deputy Speaker, this is another in a series of spoiling tactics that the opposition has embarked on since I first announced the government's planning and land reform package. It is clear to me that the opposition does not accept the electorate's verdict of last October and is seeking to stall the Assembly's consideration of the planning and land legislation at every possible opportunity.

That there has been a series of blocking and delaying tactics is clearly evident in a number of Assembly actions from the opposition. It starts back on 22 February with Mrs Dunne's matter of public importance about the deleterious effect of the moves by the Minister for Planning to resume what she called state control of planning and land development in the territory. On 6 June, we had Mr Smyth's notice of motion that the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment jointly inquire into and report on methodologies and outcomes proposed for resumption by the government of the process of land development and the restructuring of planning arrangements.

In July and August, we had the Estimates Committee recommendation that the Planning and Land Bill not be debated until the associated consequential amendments are completed and made available for scrutiny. Again, in July and August, we had the Estimates Committee recommendation that the government review the land act before the passage of the Planning and Land Bill. On 22 August, there was Mrs Dunne's motion to replace Mr Smyth's motion to refer the Planning and Land Bill for inquiry by the Planning and Environment Committee, with the committee to report by 12 November. On 12 November, the Planning and Environment Committee sought an extension of time

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