Page 1534 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 May 2017
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of issues is in committee. Let us simmer this down and settle this down. Let us do our jobs here as parliamentarians and refer it to a committee. Let us do our jobs, members. Instead of ramming this through, riding roughshod over the community, let us do our jobs in committee and in the Assembly, and refer this for inquiry and report back.
My amendment says “prior to any development application being approved”. After some discussion with the Greens, I removed the words “development application being submitted”, so it allows a process to continue in terms of concurrent activity. I do not support that process, but I am trying to get this up. This is about saying, “Get together with Liberals, Labor and Greens to acknowledge the concerns of the community and refer it to a committee where we can do our jobs properly.” It removes the politics from this process as much as we can.
I will move my amendments to Mr Gentleman’s motion shortly, but I implore you, members, to acknowledge the concerns of the community. I implore you to acknowledge the fact that this is the community’s land and that the decisions we make here today will affect the use of the community’s land forever. Once this precedent is set, we are going to see the community’s land being built on with residential blocks forever. That will be on the heads of us in this place, particularly anyone who votes against it today. I implore you to use the mechanisms of this Assembly, principally the committee that has been established to look at exactly these things.
I move:
“(3) calls on the Assembly to refer the use of CFZ land to the Planning and Urban Renewal Committee for inquiry and report back to the Assembly prior to any development application being approved on CFZ land by the ACT Government.”.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (11.24): I will start by commenting on Mr Hanson’s amendment and I thank him for the brief discussion on it. In principle, the idea of the planning committee talking about CFZ zones has to be a good one. However, as chair and as a member of the planning committee, I make the comment that we already have two inquiries on the boil.
Mr Hanson: You are too busy, are you? Is that your answer—you are too busy?
MS LE COUTEUR: I am not really sure of the time line in which we could report. One of our inquiries is not planned to finish until October next year. I am seriously concerned about the practicalities of doing this.
Opposition members interjecting—
Mr Gentleman: On a point of order, Madam Assistant Speaker, most of the debate around this was heard in silence. Everybody had an opportunity, particularly Ms Lawder when speaking to her motion. Now Ms Le Couteur is speaking and the opposition are interjecting across the chamber.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ms Cody): Thank you, Mr Gentleman.
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