Page 139 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 26 February 2014

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With regard to the lease variation charge, these are problems that the opposition has been talking about for years. Minister Barr can try and say that this is a Tony Abbott problem, but these are problems that we have been talking about in the Assembly for years. Only now are they starting to flag that there might be some changes coming.

With regard to commence and complete fees, there is a review happening, but again these are things that we have been talking about for years. This is hardly a Tony Abbott creation; this is hardly a federal coalition problem. This is a problem created by this government. It has its genesis with this Labor government.

ACTPLA does have real performance issues. Mr Rattenbury in effect admitted that and said they needed to be resourced better. I have got a lot of sympathy with ACTPLA staff, because trying to assess some of these DAs based on the territory planning that we have at the moment is very tricky. I think we owe it to ACTPLA staff to simplify the territory plan to make their job easier and to make planners’ jobs easier. Therefore we might actually get some intended outcomes here.

As it stands at the moment, the plan is so complex that when a builder submits their plan it is hit and miss as to whether they will get the green light, the red light or, as happens so often, the amber light, which means they just wait and wait and wait. That is not good enough. There is, of course, a cost to waiting—the cost of capital, the cost of missed opportunities and other costs. All the problems and uncertainty which we have in the building sector—whether it be through variation 306, the lease variation charge, commence and complete fees, ACTPLA’s performance, the government’s inoperative land supply or the complexity of the territory plan—are problems of this government’s creation. They all have their genesis here.

Madam Speaker, we owe it to all Canberrans, and we certainly owe it to those employed in the construction sector, to make it easier for them to do their business here in the ACT. I urge members of this place to support our motion.

Question put:

That the motion be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Question so resolved in the negative.

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