Page 4058 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 17 November 2015
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MR BARR: I acknowledge that other community councils are also undertaking changes to the way they engage with the community, and this is a great thing. But it will not be and it cannot be the only way that the government engages with the community. We will push ahead with a variety of other consultation mechanisms. I commend the planning minister for specifically seeking to engage with other sectors of the community who are not represented in these forums. That can only be a good thing. What have those opposite got against broader consultation?
Opposition members interjecting—
MR BARR: What have they got against broader consultation that gets them so agitated on this issue? Why are they so agitated on this to bring it forward as a matter of public importance? To interject throughout my entire speech speaks volumes as to the level of agitation that there is. They are trying to score a cheap political point and misrepresent what I said in the committee. Let me be very clear: this government will engage in a much broader form of consultation. We will use a variety of consultation tools. I was particularly pleased to see the data on the time to talk website, which showed that there is particularly strong engagement with people under 50 using that form of consultation, and it is particularly strong with people under 30—people who have not been heard. (Time expired.)
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (5.00): Mr Assistant Speaker—
Mr Doszpot: A point of order.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Rattenbury, please be seated. Mr Doszpot, do you have a point of order?
Mr Doszpot: I would like to raise a point of order. I stood way before Mr Rattenbury did. The government has already had two speakers, Mr Assistant Speaker.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Doszpot.
Mr Doszpot: But it is the opposition’s turn for a speaker.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Doszpot, be seated. Mr Doszpot, there is no point of order. Mr Rattenbury, you have the call.
Mr Hanson interjecting—
MR RATTENBURY: It is a cruel world, folks, isn’t it? It is a really cruel world. I would like to thank Ms Lawder for bringing on this matter of public importance on the importance of community councils in the ACT. The community councils do play an important role in our participatory democracy. They do provide a clear and established mechanism for people to work together, to advocate for their community, to raise issues with government, to campaign on local issues and to progress change.
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