Page 3239 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 21 September 1994
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I think this document is so important because, for the first time, we have a comprehensive document which will allow us to assess the effectiveness of measures we put in place to protect, preserve and promote environmental consciousness within our community and also within government. This document will be the test, and I am confident that as the years go by this will be, as will each annual report from the commissioner's office, the test by which we will be judged and measured. So, I look forward to working cooperatively through my own agencies with the Minister, Bill Wood, and the Commissioner for the Environment to ensure that as a community we pass the test.
Debate (on motion by Ms Szuty) adjourned.
COMMERCIAL AND RETAIL LEASES - PROPOSED CODE OF PRACTICE
Paper
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General and Minister for Health) (3.26): For the information of members, I present the proposed code of practice relating to commercial and retail leases, including an explanatory booklet, and move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
I table the proposed code of practice relating to commercial and retail tenancies, which I believe will assist members in their consideration of the Commercial and Tenancy Tribunal Bill 1994. I also table a draft explanatory booklet which explains the provisions of the proposed code. Mr Deputy Speaker, I circulated an advance copy of this under a covering letter to all members last week, but this amounts to a formal tabling. It has also been distributed quite widely in the community.
On 16 June this year I tabled a draft code of practice for commercial and retail tenancies as a basis for discussion with interested parties. Since then, my officers and I have been involved in comprehensive discussions with property owners, tenants and other interested groups in the development of the proposed code of practice that I have just tabled. The Government has sought, wherever possible, to obtain consent from both tenants and property owners to the policies contained in the proposed code.
In most areas I think we have been able to achieve a result that is generally agreeable to both owners and tenants. In some cases, most noticeably the question of renewals, this has not been possible. Where there has been sharp disagreement between owners and tenants, the Government has tried to accommodate the concerns of all parties, while still remaining focused on the need to provide a code that is fair and equitable and in the best interests of commercial leasing in the ACT.
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