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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (3 December) . . Page.. 4411 ..

MS McRAE (continuing):

This motion, which condemns this Government's complete incapacity to work in partnership with the Federal Government, is more than timely. I think that this motion is absolutely - - -

Mrs Carnell: Do you think you would do better with this Federal Government? He has not even met Bob Carr.

MS McRAE: It is a challenge I will happily rise to, Mrs Carnell. Just watch this space next year. You will see how we deal with the Federal Government then. Looking back at the record of this Government, we see that the rhetoric has not been matched by action for three years. Early in the life of this Assembly we passed a unanimous motion stating that we needed one planning authority. Crispin Hull, in his article today, referred to the frustration and tensions inherent in having two planning authorities for one city.

Mr Berry: Ros Carnell over here.

MS McRAE: Ros Carnell; that is right. It is absolutely nothing new, nothing of any concern and nothing of any surprise that people who like to get their own way get a little upset with anybody who gets in their way. We saw similar actions from the member for Canberra to those we have seen from Mrs Carnell. It is no secret and one understands why those anxieties exist. The real question before us is: What has this Government done to deal with those tensions? What has this Government done to improve the situation? What has this Government done to protect the best interests of the people of the ACT? I declare that they have done nothing on every score. I declare that they have been a complete failure in coming to grips with the need for better planning in the ACT and the need for better cooperation with the Federal Government.

Subsequent to the motion to have a single planning authority, what action did we see? We saw Mrs Carnell glibly and blithely take over Michael Moore's first push to have a strategic plan done via the Planning and Environment Committee. She declared, "That is the work of the Government and the Government will take it on". Off they ventured into the brave world of a strategic plan for all of Canberra. The so-called plan that eventuated, we found out very rapidly, was not signed off by the Federal authorities. They were not involved. What a complete and utter disaster!

This one notion, this one plan, this one idea, should have started the process of partnership and should have paved the way for a single planning authority and the best way to deal with the planning needs of the Federal Government and the local government and, most importantly, the rights and needs of the people of the ACT. It was a complete and utter waste of time. There was a complete and utter incapacity to work together, to draw each other in, to respect the rights of both authorities and to work towards a coherent outcome. An awful lot of money was spent to prove the point that this Government simply cannot manage one of the most important issues in the ACT.

That was one of many failures. Who can forget the wedding chapel fiasco? Somebody came up with a bright idea. They approached the NCA. The NCA approached the ACT Government. The ACT Government, without as much as a whisper to the people of Canberra, said, "Oh, what a wonderful idea! Yes, build it tomorrow".

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