Page 258 - Week 01 - Thursday, 18 February 1993
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too smart to cop that sort of stunt. They will not be sucked in by those sorts of tactics. You will not get away with that sort of stuff because the people out there know that the ACT police are working, very clearly, in the interests of the community. Mr Humphries also screeched about the rescue matter.
Mr Humphries: The rescue squad, I think, is their proper title.
MR BERRY: The rescue squad. The chief police officer has made it very clear that there will be no person at risk as a result of his decision. That is the chief police officer who knows all about police in the Territory, not the Liberal Party. I believe him.
MADAM SPEAKER: The time for the discussion has expired.
LAND (PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT) (AMENDMENT)
BILL (NO. 2) 1992
Debate resumed from 15 December 1992, on motion by Mr Wood:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (4.36): When the new land Bill was introduced it included a number of provisions which were thought necessary to protect the public interest. One of those was a provision that, where the Government made decisions about leases, the facts of those decisions were to be announced publicly and the information disseminated. Since that Bill was largely drafted by the Alliance Government, it was something with which we agreed. The Minister has come to us now and said that complying with an aspect of this requirement of informing the public and the Assembly of what is going on has created a situation that he finds difficult to cope with. In fact, he says:
The tabling of the leases has proved to be administratively onerous.
If it were simply a matter of this requirement becoming administratively onerous, I would have to disagree with the Minister that we should be adopting this Bill. It is not a reason for doing away with provisions of the law that are in the public interest. In this case, however, the Opposition has no difficulty with what the Minister is proposing. He has noted, and I also noted some time ago, that the new land Act was a benchmark and that it would constantly change, that it would be constantly reviewed and various changes would occur.
The Government in this case has reviewed this matter and has decided that, in their opinion, there is an easier way to deal with this matter, and the Minister is proposing now that this easier way be put into effect. I do not disagree with that. This requirement of tabling leases in the Assembly so that we can all know what the leases are and who agreed to them and what the conditions are, while useful information, does generate a lot of paperwork. The Minister tells us that he can introduce a simpler system that will suffice. I am prepared to accept the Minister's opinion on this matter, although I note that the Opposition will be observing the way in which this new provision works, to make sure that nobody is disadvantaged in the long term and that information is readily available.
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