Page 936 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2016

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These reforms continue building on the broader regulatory reform activities my government is undertaking from being the first jurisdiction in Australia to establish a legal ride-sharing regime to the establishment of Access Canberra as the one-stop shop regulator for business and the community. The government will continue to foster a regulatory environment that helps businesses to establish themselves in the territory.

Removing red tape and creatively structuring regulation is, as many have observed, a never-ending process. It is particularly important for Canberra at this point in our city’s history if we want to retain our competitive advantage over other jurisdictions. It is therefore an essential part of our ongoing strategy for the economic growth and prosperity of the city of Canberra. I commend the legislation to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Wall) adjourned to the next sitting.

Planning and Development (Efficiencies) Amendment Bill 2016

Mr Gentleman, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.

Title read by Clerk.

MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Racing and Gaming and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (11.27): I move:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

The government is presenting the Planning and Development (Efficiencies) Amendment Bill 2016 today. The bill reduces red tape and improves administrative efficiencies and service quality in relation to the planning and development approval process in the ACT. Recognising the substantial benefits that could be gained, the government has looked at the Planning Act from the viewpoint of streamlining planning processes, and the result is this bill. Three planning processes—the territory plan, development assessment and environmental impact assessment—lend themselves to this objective.

To deliver on this objective the bill seeks amendments to the Planning Act. These amendments will reduce the burden on the building and construction industry to the benefit of the community as a whole whilst also providing the community with an opportunity to view development proposals from the initial concept through to approval, or not, of the final development.

A key premise of the bill is that it brings together these three planning processes for notification. After notification each planning process operates as it does now: the draft territory plan variation is progressed under the exact same legislated requirements, the DA is assessed in exactly the same way, and the environmental impacts of the


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