Page 1245 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 25 March 2009
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To its credit, the government actually did listen to some of the concerns and made some last-minute changes. But this did little more than heighten the scepticism and suspicion in the minds of stakeholders. This was consultation on the run; it was evidence of a government that could not think things through, a government that could respond only when there was a public outcry.
The suspicion and the scepticism continue in the community. The scepticism and suspicion spawned the formation last October of the Owners Corporation Network. The network was established as a representative and lobbying body for unit owners.
The scepticism and suspicion in the strata manager industry sector continues too. The new arrangements relating to section 75 certificates, for example, according to the industry, will result in reduced efficiency and increased costs for unit owners. In this connection, I note that the Greens were all set to introduce corresponding or complementary amendments to those which I am proposing to introduce today, which would address the concerns in relation to section 75 certificates. The industry very much anticipated and warmly welcomed what looked like innovation from the Greens on this. But in a spectacular display of indecision—I hope not duplicity—the Greens have informed me this morning that they will not be supporting the bill as they said they would. They have also told me that they will not be supporting the opposition’s bill, which was their previous commitment.
It seems that the Greens have bowed not to the views and expectations of the community who elected them to serve, but to the politics of their agreement with the Gallagher-Stanhope Labor Party. In stepping back from their commitments they previously made—not just to me but, more importantly, to the stakeholders and the residents of the ACT who were relying on their support—the Greens seem to be showing their true colours.
That brings me to the bill I present today. Unlike the Greens and the government, the Canberra Liberals are willing to listen to stakeholders and to act on their aspirations and their expectations. The bill I present today is in direct response to the continuing scepticism and suspicion of unit owners.
Even this bill has been something of a moving feast over the last couple of weeks. It had been my initial intention—and it was the intention that I flagged at the first annual general meeting of the Owners Corporation Network—that I would introduce a bill to defer all uncommenced provisions of this bill for some time. This was in direct response to the many concerns that had been articulated by the Owners Corporation Network and individual members of that network.
However, after further discussions with representatives of OCN, the Owners Corporation Network, as well as representatives of the Strata Managers Institute and various members of the legal profession—and, yes, even the bureaucrats—the bill was refined to be as it is today. Some of that redefinition was undertaken in the light of my knowledge of what the Greens had said that they would be doing and the discussions that I have had with members of the Greens and their staff. It is unfortunate that the scope of this bill has probably been somewhat limited because of those undertakings, which are no longer good.
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