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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 5024 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

a commitment without a goal amount to a very shallow and hollow plan. The Treasurer stated that the white paper was "a long-term strategic document". But you cannot tell whether it is long term because there are no timelines and no targets to reach. I do not know where we are going, I do not know when we will get there, and I have not been given any tools to tell me how we have achieved what the Treasurer has taken almost 21/2 years and close to $1 million to do.

The Treasurer went on. This was the killer punch from the Treasurer-he was all geed up for question time; he knew the white paper question was coming-"And anyway, it's never been done before. I've got the first one. Mine is the best. It's never been done before; there's never been a strategic plan for the ACT."To put lie to that, I have a document entitled "Canberra: a capital future". I will turn it on its side so that the Treasurer can see it-the ACT strategic plan for 1996. The interesting thing about the plan is that it has actions and says who is going to carry them out. It does not purport to be a white paper; it is a strategic plan. It does not purport to be what the Treasurer has put on the table before us, but it achieves a whole lot more.

I would like to refer to one chapter, chapter 7, entitled 'Supportive planning and infrastructure". What is the Treasurer going to do for you? You read, and you read and you read until you get to action 41 where there is a bit of coordination-that will be beneficial. Coordination is beneficial. Perhaps I should not be so disparaging. Action 42 states:

The Government will create a planning environment that better reflects residents' aspirations for living close to work.

I wonder whether Mr Corbell was told this. You cannot be close to work; you have to be further away. Action 43 states:

The Government will establish a Central Area Development Task Force.

Something is coming out of this: we are going to have a task force. Action 44 is my personal favourite:

The Government, through the Land Release Program, will release residential and commercial land in Civic as part of the Central Area Strategic Implementation Plan.

That is a novel concept: a land release program that releases land. That is fabulous. And on it goes. Action 47, the last one, states:

The Government will recognise Canberra International Airport as a major activity centre and work with the Commonwealth Government and airport management to continue to upgrade connections to the airport, especially from Civic.

That is original. Look, it is an airport! We are going to recognise that planes come to the airport, that international planes might come to it. Chapter 7-"Supportive planning and infrastructure"-is interesting. What is that going to achieve? Absolutely nothing.

If you flick through the document that the Treasurer has never seen, the ACT strategic plan for 1996, you will see that it lists what the community wants: critical infrastructure projects. The former CIRT council, now renamed the Australian Capital Region

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