Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) Share this | Hansard source

The words of the media release that I refer to are on a bit of paper that I can get, but I remember them by heart—they are that good. In response to the member for Barker, the words were that within two weeks they would release the draft and proceed with its implementation immediately. That was the commitment that the opposition made. Notwithstanding that, nobody on either side of the House, as I understand it, now has any interest in implementing the guide. I think that is common ground. We have a long process to go through now as we move towards the document which the government is committed to implementing, which is the final plan. As I say, the authority does not have sole control over what goes into that document. It only becomes the plan after the draft has been presented to ministerial council and I, as minister, have directed the authority either to reconsider certain matters or specifically to change elements of the report. At that point, it becomes the plan. That is the document that the Prime Minister guaranteed we would be committed to implementing. That is the commitment that the Prime Minister made during the election. That is what the government intends to do. I think it is important that we are able to provide that reassurance for communities so that they know exactly the extent to which the processes that must occur independently by the authority are part of a long period of statutory consultation but are not definitive in the different documents that get released on the way through.

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