Page 1934 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
and the shadow minister for planning, sitting next to a very, very bad former Minister for Planning. It needed overhauling because some of us can remember when that ratbag bunch opposite headed a minority government and were at the mercy of the crossbench and any carpetbagger that came through the door. Tweet, tweet—open your mouths a bit more and I will put a worm in them—tweet, tweet, tweet!
The lack of process under the previous government, in which Mr Smyth and Mr Stefaniak were ministers, led to such real debacles as the building of suburbs with roads too narrow for buses, in Gungahlin; the Hall-Kinlyside proposal; the on again, off again rock concerts Mr Smyth knows all about; Impulse Airlines—what an impulse that was, straight down the toilet with a little blue block; the Bruce stadium fiasco that cost Carnell her job, overnight loans for millions and spending taxpayers’ money without appropriation.
This current project has had much more robust process around it than those used by the previous government or even the procedures that the unelectable lot opposite are proposing in Mr Smyth’s bill. The consortium approached the government for land and were referred to the appropriate sections of the public service, which identified a number of blocks that might fit the purpose. The consortium made their selection from the lots offered and then the statutory processes kicked in—land valuations, planning studies, preliminary assessments, development applications, public notification of the DA et cetera. These processes are all at arm’s length from the government, and that is how it should be.
The inexperienced Leader of the Opposition accuses the Chief Minister of mismanaging the process associated with the data centre and gas-fired power plant at Tuggeranong, thereby jeopardising this most important project for the Australian Capital Territory. Guess what, Mr Speaker: it is not the Chief Minister’s job to manage this project. The Chief Minister has to do a lot of things—but managing this project is not one of them. If we assume that Mr Seselja is talking about managing the process of identifying land that might be suitable for the consortium’s purposes, that is the job of the Land Development Agency in consultation with elements of the Chief Minister’s Department. It is not something for the Chief Minister to manage.
If Mr Seselja is talking about managing the process of determining whether the data centre and power plant are appropriate for the ACT and will be viable, that is the job of the consortium. It is a matter for the managers of the consortium to determine which commercial operations will stand or fall on their profitability—not the government, not the opposition, not the community, but the consortium. It is not something for the Chief Minister to manage.
If he is talking about managing the development of a greenfield site through to the completed project, that again is not the Chief Minister’s job. ACTPLA must carry out their statutory obligations in assessing and notifying the development application. If they approve a DA, objectors have a right of appeal. If the appeals are rejected, the consortium must carry out the development in accordance with the DA. Nowhere in this chain is there a task for the Chief Minister to manage.
Of course, the government are interested in the project and kept a close watch on what was happening because we are concerned for the future of the territory. If someone
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .