Page 4234 - Week 13 - Thursday, 27 November 2014
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Then in February I came in here and argued for the bill to be sent to committee. I argued that we needed proper consultation and we needed to take the time to get it right. Unfortunately, that motion was defeated, but Mr Rattenbury suggested the bill go to a roundtable process instead. I was pleased with that roundtable process. Many stakeholders were involved and the review was taken very seriously. We have seen many changes which have occurred as a result of that roundtable process. After years of review, 12 months after the consultation draft and countless reviews and amendments in between, we are still here talking about amendments.
We have many amendments that will be moved today but it is important to make these improvements so that we have a better piece of legislation than we currently have. Once this bit has been completed, I encourage the government to fulfil their other commitment in the Labor-Greens agreement to a single nature conservation agency.
I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in putting this bill together. I know everyone is trying to ensure a comprehensive, simple, yet effective Nature Conservation Act, and I truly hope that is what we will achieve here today. Thank you to all the stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the Conservation Council of the ACT, who have been very actively involved throughout the process, and all of their member organisations. I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to Mr Corbell and Mr Rattenbury and their staff for their genuine consultation during the process of drafting the amendments and coming to agreement on them. I look forward to the detail stage of this bill today.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (4.54): The Greens are pleased to finally see this bill at the stage where we can vote on it and progress it into legislation. The Nature Conservation Act 1980 is the keystone of biodiversity protection in the territory and thus an important bill to get right for our future. I think that most people agree that this bill is a vast improvement on the old one. Certainly tripartisan coordination and a thorough consultation process with key stakeholders and the public have brought about a solid step forward in updating the legislation that underpins the principles, people, plans and penalties for biodiversity protection and management.
I would like to thank all the people who have contributed to the development of this bill, in government, in the Assembly, in the environment commissioner’s office, a volunteer intern in my office, Claire Reynolds, and, of course, the many environment groups and park users who have contributed their considerable personal and organisational expertise to this process.
As Ms Lawder noted, it has been a long journey to get the bill to this stage, with many trials and tribulations. It is a complex and important piece of legislation that has evolved considerably since its inception as federal legislation enacted in 1980 by the commonwealth. It has had many new powers and clauses added over the decades reflecting the growth and changes in the ACT as well as many changes in best practice protection and management of biodiversity.
This bill before us today is now the first major review of the act since self-government. As well as generally modernising, we can now be more satisfied that it has been fully
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