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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 6 Hansard (17 June) . . Page.. 1973 ..

MRS DUNNE

: We will listen to the community. We may not come up with a perfect solution. We may come back and say that what the government is proposing is the best possible thing. But we have a responsibility to the people who have asked us, and I have a responsibility to the people who have asked me, to look at this issue openly and try to hear the views of the people.

Mr Wood may not think that committees are important, but I happen to think that committees are important and that they are a useful way of tapping into the views of the community. That is what we found when we had 25 or 30 hours of hearings on draft variation 200. The community came to us. The other day I had an email from somebody with whom, generally speaking, I would disagree to say how grateful he was for how courteously he was treated before the Planning and Environment Committee. He was happy just to have his day in court, because he was treated so well by us. Even if we ended up disagreeing, at least he had his day in court and somebody heard him. Mr Wood is not prepared to let those people have their day in court.

Mrs Cross

: So much for unanimous decisions.

MRS DUNNE

: That is right. I am going to have to get used to being ignored. The planning minister said, "Get used to being ignored, Mrs Dunne."I suspect that mentally Mr Wood is saying, "Get used to being ignored, Mrs Dunne."The scheme that the government proposes is in some way new to the ACT. It had not been canvassed until the announcement on it was made and it was dropped as legislation. The only message that I am getting from the community is one of angst. I think that there is so much angst in the community that we must go and hear what the community has to say-the owners, the drivers, the mums, the dads, the users-and see if we can come up with a unanimous report that might move this process on. One of the reasons for putting in the reporting date that we have is so that it will not slip off the agenda, because we can come back here in the first week of February next year and Mr Wood can introduce amendments, if necessary, or a new bill, if necessary, and we will debate the issue. I make that commitment. I will debate it and I want it solved in the autumn session of next year.

Question put:

That the motion, as amended, be agreed to.

The Assembly voted-


	Ayes 9  			Noes 8

Mrs Burke  	Mr Pratt  	Mr Berry  	Mr Quinlan
Mr Cornwell  	Mr Smyth  	Mr Corbell  	Mr Stanhope
Mrs Cross  	Mr Stefaniak  	Ms Gallagher  	Mr Wood
Ms Dundas  	Ms Tucker     	Mr Hargreaves  
Mrs Dunne      			Ms MacDonald

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Motion, as amended, agreed to.

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