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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 05 Hansard (Thursday, 13 May 2004) . . Page.. 1887 ..

That amendment No 6 be agreed to.

Question resolved in the negative.

MR STANHOPE (Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Environment and Minister for Community Affairs) (10.14): I move amendment No 2 circulated in my name and table a supplementary explanatory statement to the amendments [see schedule 3 at page 1914].

Mr Speaker, item 2 substitutes new subsection 60T (2). This has the same effect as that proposed by amendment No 1, which I moved previously in relation to the offence of causing damage to land, that is, that a person convicted or found guilty of a damage to land offence can be required to pay the territory the cost of restoration of the damage caused and monitoring of the outcomes. The order would be sought where it is considered inappropriate for the offender to be required to do the restoration themselves due to their competence to carry it out or the sensitivity of the area. It is the same rationale as for the amendment I moved previously. It is a fairly straightforward matter, designed to ensure that the values of the land that have been damaged are protected with the greatest defence possible.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 7, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 8 agreed to.

Proposed new clauses 8A, 8B and 8C.

MR STANHOPE (Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Environment and Minister for Community Affairs) (10.16): I move amendment No 1 circulated in my name on the blue paper [see schedule 4 at page 1915].

These amendments have been much consulted on. We have sought to achieve some consensus on an amendment that will facilitate the building of the Gungahlin Drive extension. The government has compromised on the motion that was circulated last week to a very significant extent and has taken advice in respect of the views of other members of the Assembly in relation to the need for an amendment of this order to be directed just at the Gungahlin Drive extension. We believe that we have achieved that through these amendments.

The amendments are directed at facilitating the building of the GDE. The effect will be to allow the Minister for Environment to declare certain licensing decisions of the conservator to be exempt from appeal to the AAT. Only a decision to grant a licence, grant a licence with conditions or vary a licence will be subject to such a declaration. It will not interfere with appeal rights against a decision to refuse a licence under the Nature Conservation Act 1980. This will be done in cases like the Gungahlin Drive extension, where the environmental issues have been considered and addressed and there is no need for further second-guessing of the decision of the conservator.

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