ACT Government riding roughshod
ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey has described the ACT Government as disrespectful following the passage of the ACT’s new Territory Plan today.
“The second Draft Territory Plan was released last November for consultation” Dr Foskey said today.
“And many business and community organisations put a lot of time into providing feedback.”
“The extraordinary thing is that the final Plan – presumably reflecting much of that feedback – was put in front of the Assembly today and voted on, before any of those interested parties had the chance to see it.”
“Any decent consultation process lets people know what impact their feedback has had.”
“But today a document several hundred pages long was deposited on our desks just in time for us to vote on, with no opportunity to digest it.”
“The Minister might argue that the document is policy neutral. But in my view, the Planning Minister’s media release makes it clear that is not the case.”
“Even if it were policy neutral in ambition, expecting a few MLAs and their staff to digest a complex document of hundreds and hundreds of pages, and vote on it – on the run – is completely undemocratic.”
“It is salutary indeed for us to see how a government behaves when it has a majority in the Assembly, and an urgent agenda of its own” Dr Foskey said.
