Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories, I have pleasure in presenting the committee’s report entitled The way forward: inquiry into the role of the National Capital Authority, together with the minutes of proceedings.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

The committee, through this inquiry, has examined the current planning arrangements with a view to reducing red tape and confusing duplication but at the same time ensuring that the Commonwealth has a direct and enduring role in the future planning of Canberra, the nation’s capital. The committee focused on the administration of the National Capital Plan, the governance arrangements of the National Capital Authority, the level of oversight required to maintain the highest standards of design in the Australian Capital Territory, opportunities for greater cooperation with ACT government planning authorities, and the promotion of the national capital.

The committee believes that the National Capital Authority should continue to exist but is in need of structural renewal. The committee has proposed that the governance arrangements be changed to give more independence to the National Capital Authority board commensurate with its status as a statutory authority. Persons appointed to the board should have qualifications or expertise relevant to a field related to the National Capital Authority’s functions. Transparency and accountability to the parliament would be enhanced through the chairperson of the board appearing twice a year at public hearings before this committee.

The most important feature of the report is the future planning framework. The principles and policies that define the Commonwealth’s interest in the national capital can be enhanced by their inclusion in the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act. The National Capital Plan is in need of updating to respond to the modern challenges of climate change and ecological sustainability as well as providing for more effective consideration of future transport needs. In this way, the Commonwealth continues to set the framework for future planning.

The committee recommends the development of a single integrated planning document which comprises the National Capital Plan and the Territory Plan, with agreed definitions and clear geographic boundaries between the two plans. Where possible, these boundaries should be based on the objective that land administration be aligned with planning jurisdiction. In this way, proponents, stakeholders and the community would deal with just one planning authority.

There was a great deal of goodwill expressed by both the National Capital Authority and the ACT government to achieve such an alignment of the respective plans, as contained in their submissions. However, it became clear that there were many important details to be ironed out. Many witnesses and submitters to the inquiry were not able to express a view or contribute to the discussion about the proposals because the inquiry represented the first public exposure of the ideas.

The committee recommends a working group comprising the National Capital Authority and the ACT Planning and Land Authority, or ACTPLA, should prepare detailed proposals of an integrated, cooperative approach which would be considered as part of a broader package of updating the National Capital Plan and any legislative amendment. It is envisaged that this process could take around 18 months.

The committee, therefore, has proposed that, as an interim measure, in order to resolve planning duplication the Commonwealth consider amendments to the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act to permit the National Capital Authority and ACTPLA to negotiate a memorandum of understanding to delegate the planning jurisdiction for territory land which has designated status.

The National Capital Authority and ACTPLA will also have the opportunity to receive advice on a range of planning matters through the creation of the National Capital Consultative Council, or NCCC. The NCCC would consist of representatives from the Commonwealth and ACT governments, the community and business and be co-chaired by the responsible Commonwealth minister and the ACT Chief Minister.

In conclusion, and on behalf of the committee, I thank all groups, organisations and individuals who contributed to this inquiry. The interest in, passion for and commitment to their national capital by so many Australians was inspiring and uplifting throughout the course of the inquiry.

Annette Ellis (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, in the apparently very short time that I have—

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes.

Annette Ellis (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and I am sorry about that—I just want to note my participation in this inquiry and I want to thank the chair, Senator Lundy, and Senator Gary Humphries, who, along with other members of the committee, put a great deal of effort into coming up with a bipartisan report. There is no doubt that, at the beginning of this process, this inquiry was seen to some degree to be controversial within the ACT. However, Canberra is a very well-planned city, one of very few in the world that were planned from their inception. Of course, the Commonwealth had full planning responsibilities up until 1989. Self-government in 1989 has meant that since then we have had a dual planning process. It was very timely that this inquiry came along at the point that it did because, after 20 years, we really needed to look at dual planning, at duplication, at the removal of red tape and, most importantly, at the governance and administration issues that affect the NCA and their ability to carry out their work.

I want to thank the staff from the committee secretariat for the work that they did in pulling this report together and the wonderful work they did in collaborating with the members along the way. And I want to thank the members of the Canberra community who, through organisations or individually, took the time to put in submissions and to appear at public hearings for this very important report.

I suggest that anybody who has an interest in the ACT and Canberra as the national capital should read this report to understand as fully as possible the importance of a really good, proficient, proper planning process so that not only Canberra as a community but, more importantly in this regard, Canberra as the national capital has every possibility of continuing to be one of the most highly regarded planned cities and communities in the world.

The range of information and advice that the committee was able to take really meant that we could come up with a hard-worked-at but good product in the end. As I said, this is a bipartisan report. Its 22 recommendations go to the thrust of governance and planning work within the NCA, as well as to an understanding of the relationship between the federal role in the NCA and the ACT role through the ACT planning role.

As I said, we have made 22 recommendations. One point that needs to be made is that the committee found that the NCA has endured financial cuts that went far too deep, and that this has meant that the NCA did not have the ability to discharge their duties in ways that would assist in reducing red tape or to help make the organisation more effective and more role focused. I want to particularly make that point. That was the finding of the committee after hearing the evidence and listening to a broad range of opinions within the Canberra community that the NCA should be able to do its work. I am pleased that the recommendation is that the NCA will remain. It will have a slightly different focus in the way it is structured. And the Commonwealth is, by this report, suggesting that it has a continuing role in planning as well in the national capital.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her goodwill.