Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (3 December) . . Page.. 4424 ..

MS McRAE (continuing):

Let us get back to the heart of the problem. We in this Assembly, as opposed to any other assembly, passed unanimously a motion calling for the formation of a single planning authority. We have seen nothing from the Minister that demonstrates any movement on his part to establish a single planning authority. I am not here to condemn the Federal Government. The Federal Government can be condemned on its own. The polls are doing that very nicely, thank you very much. The people of Canberra have shown the total contempt that we all hold for it. It is not the point in this debate.

The point in this debate is that this Minister, with a clear motion from this Assembly to which he is responsible, has done nothing. He has treated this Assembly with contempt and has disregarded the clear will of the people of Canberra to get on with it and to establish a single planning authority. Worse than that; he has not taken the few steps that he could have taken to establish a more open partnership and a clear role for the ACT Government and the people of Canberra to be involved in key decisions that relate to this city. He has dealt with that problem by saying, "Let us ignore the problem; give us all of the land and then we do not have to deal with it", bypassing entirely all of the proposals that have been talked about over the years in this place about the right of the people in the ACT to have their say.

The current process of planning management by the NCA is that if a proposal is put to them they talk to a range of people to get their response to it. One of the range of people talked to is the ACT Government. We have asked before - the request has fallen entirely on deaf ears because the Minister is clearly contemptuous of the idea - that at this point the ACT Government establish protocols. When asked to approve or disapprove a project that has been put to the NCA or that has been asked for by the NCA, this Government could demonstrate its willingness to engage the people of Canberra in equal partnership in proper processes to enable them to have a say. This Government has failed on every count and has done nothing towards advancing that.

When the wedding chapel proposal was put forward, did anybody in the ACT know? No. Only after vigorous and noisy publicity was the idea finally turned down. When the proposal was put forward for the futsal slab, did the people of Canberra know? No. When the proposal to use the lake for the FAI rally was put forward, was it talked about? No. It is at this point that this Government could have put in protocols; it could have demanded that the NCA undertake proper consultative processes and engage us equally as partners in the planning processes. It would have been an open and proper step to establish in principle what we want to happen in practice eventually - one planning authority. This Government has spectacularly failed.

Mr Humphries is very good at diverting with personal attack, with side issues, with obfuscation; but the more he does that the clearer it is that he absolutely refuses to take seriously his responsibility to deal with the Federal National Capital Authority and to engage the people of Canberra in planning decisions. We have yet to see the disaster that is going to befall us on Northbourne Avenue. It is another example of how this Government works cooperatively with the Federal Government - "We go off quietly and do deals behind closed doors. When we have it all stitched up we land it on the people of Canberra".

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .