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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 3 Hansard (6 March) . . Page.. 618 ..

MS TUCKER (4.31): The Greens will be supporting this amendment. What Labor is trying to do here is to ensure that there is not a possibility of manipulation. The landlord will have to hold off for 12 months rather than three, which is fairer. It would make it less likely that landlords would manipulate the process.

The act provides for existing tenants to have the option to renew their lease and to have it assessed for market rent. The bill, however, allows for a landlord to hold off on making an offer to the existing tenant for three months, thus avoiding having to face a market rent assessment and being able to further push up the rent. I agree with Mr Stanhope. We certainly hope that this sort of thing does not happen, but in creating laws you want to make it much less likely that it will happen.

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education and Attorney-General) (4.32): The government accepts the amendment.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 51, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 52.

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education and Attorney-General) (4.33): I move amendment No 17 circulated in my name on the purple sheet [see schedule 1 part 1 at page 679].

This is a formal amendment. It makes clear the circumstances in which subclause 52 (2) applies. It omits "this section" and substitutes "Subsection (2)".

Amendment agreed to.

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education and Attorney-General) (4.34): I move amendment 18 on the purple sheet circulated in my name [see schedule 1 part 1 at page 679].

Again, this is a formal amendment clarifying the operation of subclause 52 (3) by inserting the word "also", which makes it read logically.

Amendment agreed to.

MR STANHOPE (Leader of the Opposition) (4.35): I move amendment No 6 [see schedule 4 part 1 at page 720].

This is an amendment to subparagraph (3) (a) (ii) of clause 52. The design in this amendment is to extend from three months to 12 months the period in relation to which a negotiation may open or commence between a landlord and a tenant. The intention is to facilitate the opening of negotiations at a much earlier stage, in the hope that matters will be settled between the landlord and the tenant in a timely fashion. It also allows the tenant more scope and more time to apply at an earlier stage for whatever orders they may wish of the Magistrates Court in respect of things that they may be unhappy with.

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