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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 07 Hansard (Wednesday, 30 June 2004) . . Page.. 3069 ..

Amanda Tobler said to me that a number of people in contact with Lifeline on a regular basis have got to the stage where they know how to harm themselves without having to seek medical help. They cut themselves just enough to release the pain.

The point of this motion today is about giving support to these people and about raising awareness. I said at the end of my previous speech that I hope everybody in this place will seek to put the information out there and assist. I am sure that everybody in this place would give people who self-harm the support that is needed. But this is also about raising awareness.

Finally, I want to say thank you to Jeremy Johnson from my office for the research and the excellent work that he did for me on this speech. I also thank Lisa Brill from my office who assisted Jeremy with the speech. The work that they did has raised my awareness and their awareness of this growing issue. I commend the motion to the Assembly.

Ms Tucker’s amendment to Mr Smyth’s amendment agreed to.

Mr Smyth’s amendment, as amended, agreed to.

Motion, as amended, agreed to.

Land (Planning and Environment) Amendment Bill 2004

Debate resumed from 3 March 2004, on motion by Ms Tucker:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

MR QUINLAN (Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Business and Tourism, Minister for Sport, Racing and Gaming, and Acting Minister for Planning) (4.44): Mr Deputy Speaker, the government cannot support this measure. I gather from the research that has been presented to me that this hoary chestnut has been before this place before. So it is a regular.

It is fairly clear why such powers exist but they will always be controversial. The various issues that arise from time to time may be different but the underlying issue has not changed, and the underlying issue is that there needs to be some way of dealing with exceptional circumstances—issues of territory-wide significance—that might occur.

So the framework that exists which requires the minister to obtain the comments of ACTPLA and the comments of the Planning and Land Council before a decision is made and to advise the Assembly are, I think, about the best controls that you could put on this. In fact, I think it has been this side of the house that has actually enhanced the controls that exist over the use of call-in powers. I think the checks and balances are sufficient.

It is important that we recognise that from time to time there will be a particular development that will not appeal to everybody but that in the public interest, because it has a major influence on the community, the government of the day has to have that final

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