Page 326 - Week 01 - Thursday, 12 February 2015
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It was interesting to listen to Mr Rattenbury speak about the Gungahlin Drive facilitation legislation that was passed in 2003. He said, “That was a terrible piece of legislation because it took away AAT rights,” but this is an all right piece of legislation when it takes away AAT rights and judicial review because we are doing it in a more nuanced way.
I think it is useful to put on the record what actually happened in the period 2000 to 20003 which culminated in the passage of the Gungahlin Drive authorisation legislation. There was an inquiry by a committee of this Assembly in 2000-01 that looked at the options for Gungahlin Drive. There was an inquiry that took a very long time and took many hundreds of submissions from the people of the ACT. There was an election which was strongly fought not on whether or not we should build Gungahlin Drive but on what was the preferred route. So the question was put essentially to the electorate.
After that there was a lengthy process where the government, which had gone to the election with a particular route, had to reconsider that route. There was considerable inquiry into the reconsidering of that route, and they came up with the current route. All through that process—Mr Rattenbury would not remember because I suspect he was not even in the country at the time—there were appeals to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, as it was at the time, and eventually through AD(JR) an appeal to the Supreme Court, which held up the project for about 18 months. I introduced a bill called projects of territorial significance, and Mr Wood—
Mr Corbell: A point of order.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Resume your seat, Mrs Dunne. On a point of order, Mr Corbell.
Mr Corbell: As interesting as this recitation of history is for those of us who were there, we are at the detail stage and we are debating clause 8, and the specifics of clause 8. I know Mrs Dunne missed the opportunity to speak in the in-principle debate, but that is as it is and she needs to confine her remarks now to the detail of clause 8, not to some wide-ranging debate about the Gungahlin Drive extension, the legislation she introduced 10 years ago, and a whole range of other matters. I simply ask you to ask Mrs Dunne to be relevant and speak to the specific clause that is before the Assembly.
Mr Coe: Madam Deputy Speaker, on the point of order.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Coe.
Mr Coe: Clause 8 is with regard to the government being able to disregard advice from the Heritage Council and the Conservator of Flora and Fauna. That is, in effect, what happened with regard to Gungahlin Drive. I think it is a very important precedent that should be considered for the consideration of clause 8.
MRS DUNNE: On the point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker—
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