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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Tuesday, 24 August 2004) . . Page.. 4061 ..

Clearly, having a government developer with these broader objectives should see better planning outcomes on the ground in communities that have been created throughout Canberra. Indeed, the quality of the developments already undertaken by government agencies is very high. Recent developments at Kingston Foreshore and at Yerrabi are producing high quality outcomes. It is this dual approach, improving both the independence of the system and ensuring that the physical outcomes deliver on broader objectives rather than just on profit, that will see better outcomes for all the Canberra community.

The next step in the reform of the planning and development system is for the government to ensure that the new organisations—and especially the ACT Planning and Land Authority—are equipped with the appropriate tools to deliver the better outcomes we need. The significance of having a planning system that is designed not only to consider myriad issues but also to consider the relationship between those issues has been recognised nationally.

The territory is in an excellent position to demonstrate innovation and leadership in planning, as it has both state and local government functions. The combination of these roles means the Assembly can be confident that its policy setting and its implementation can be well integrated. It is the intention of this government to ensure that we continue to deliver a planning and development system that better performs in attracting investment, maintains appropriate community safeguards and protects Canberra’s amenity. This minister has led the government in delivering just that.

I reiterate that I am grateful to Mrs Dunne for putting this MPI on the agenda because it gives the Assembly an opportunity to recognise the quantum leap forward from the stagnant pool of incompetence we were faced with when we came to office in October 2001 and the gigantic leaps forward that have occurred since 2001, remembering that this is the beginning of a journey of excellence—it is the biggest step forward. This government, through Minister Corbell, is leading the way.

We have the confidence of business out there. Business and planning are necessarily linked, so my figuring is that, if business is so buoyant, then they are reasonably happy with the planning process as well. They are very happy with the signals the minister has put out in respect of City West and city central development; and with his commitment to making sure proper planning regimes apply in Gungahlin—so that people can get in and out of Gungahlin—and also making sure that some hope comes out of the misery of the bushfires. People are now planning for what can happen as a result of that devastation.

People in Chapman, through this minister’s planning regimes, have been revitalised further. The opportunity for us to expand into the Molonglo Valley will be done at no detriment to the ACT. It will be a huge credit to the ACT taxpayers’ purse—thank you very much. We will find that we do not have a small number of developers walking away from this place as squillionaires; rather, the taxpayer will benefit. All the places that pop up in that new town centre will do so with the benefit of sound planning regimes, sound planning practices and sound planning processes.

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