Page 1926 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 25 June 2008
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economic diversifiers over here! Is this something where the great economic diversifiers over here might have initially wanted to support it but suddenly realised, “Hang on; there might be a vote in this. We might do a dramatic about-face.” Was it because he thought such a project was worthy of going through a full independent assessment process to see if the project could proceed with proper regard to the environment and to the requirements of residents?
Whilst the Leader of the Opposition does not appear to know much about the planning portfolio, he is aware that there is a process. When asked by the ABC Breakfast announcer Ross Solly whether, as a resident of Macarthur, he was “relaxed and comfortable” about the development being sited on Mugga Lane, Mr Seselja responded, “Well, we’re just going through a process.” A little later in the interview, he said, “I think everyone would have some concerns about it and that’s why we’ve been going through this process.”
It would appear that we have an agreement that there is a process and that we should go through it. It begs the question: why has the opposition spent the last two months ignoring this process and trying to kill off this project? Why are you so incapable of respecting an independent process?
Mr Pratt: You did not live by the process.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Mr Gentleman): Mr Pratt, remember that you are on a warning.
MR BARR: Good governments develop robust and independent processes to assess projects such as this. Good governments put the good of the people of the ACT and the economy above petty, cheap political stunts. The opposition leader and his team of ACT Liberals have shown that they would be a danger to the sustainable economic development of the ACT but they have also, perhaps most importantly, shown that they would be a danger to independent planning assessment. They would open up the ACT to Wollongong-style corruption as a way to buy votes.
That is what this motion is really about. It provides a further insight into how the Liberals propose to operate the ACT’s planning system if they ever get back into government. That is the issue that the media should focus on. If the opposition are unhappy with the statutory process, let them put forward an alternate statutory process.
Mrs Dunne: You’ve got two minutes to address the motion.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mrs Dunne, remember that you are on a warning.
MR BARR: Or are we going back down the path of what planning and development was like in this city when Mr Smyth was the planning minister, when the call-in power was the most frequently used planning instrument and when there were no controls: there was not an independent statutory planning authority and there was not an independent planning process. That is the choice we face.
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