Page 1492 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2017
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imperative that, with the amount of investment and development currently occurring in this city centre, our outer suburban projects like Gungahlin’s town centre are not neglected.
Suburban development is a growing issue in the ACT and, as such, needs to be the sole focus of a specific agency. Canberra’s development projects deserve to be done efficiently and to be done right. As such, agencies with the resources and the sole purpose of achieving their goal in urban and suburban projects respectively are a necessity for the ACT.
The bill notes that the Suburban Land Agency will undertake its functions with the approval of the minister. The minister may declare an area of land to be an urban renewal precinct and thus make the City Renewal Authority the responsible body overseeing its development.
While functions of the City Renewable Authority are not subject to the approval of the minister, the agency is required to act in accordance with a statement of expectations and make its own reports on operational intent to the public. These functions extend the coordination between the bodies responsible for public development and renewal and the ACT government.
Cooperation and coordination are emphasised greatly by these reforms and can only serve to allow members of the general public by allowing them to have a greater input in what happens in our city. Beyond this, all the means of coordination between the agencies responsible for development and the ACT public sector will serve as the checks and balances to ensure that the spending and decisions of the agencies are in the best interests of Canberrans.
Canberrans need the infrastructure projects in their community to be given the attention they deserve. There needs to be a body that can take clear responsibility for projects so that they receive the appropriate resources. A body that can be held accountable for their outputs and their plans is one that Canberrans can trust. These two new agencies will work with our community to create a future for Canberra that is in everyone’s best interests.
The agencies themselves will be able to operate with greater efficiency and attentiveness due to the narrowing down of their concerns. The ACT government will be able to coordinate better and hold greater influence in the operations of the development agencies. The ACT public will be provided with greater insight into the functioning of the agencies as well as being able to hold the appropriate bodies responsible for their outputs. This is a bill that acts for a growing ACT.
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism and Major Events) (5.07), in reply: I thank the majority of members for their support of the City Renewable Authority and Suburban Land Agency Bill. The City Renewal Authority and the Suburban Land Agency will be responsible for delivering a significantly expanded city renewal and suburban land development program. I repeat that: these new authorities will be responsible for
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