Month: September 1994

Canberra’s planning, including dual-occupancy rules, has come under fire from the convenor of the Prime Minister’s urban design task force.

John Mant was in Canberra to deliver the Institute of Landscape Architects Biennial public lecture.

In the lecture and in an interview at the weekend he said planning in Canberra was based more on property boundary lines than sound urban-design policies. Planners were saying that provided your building was set back from the boundary a given distance you could build what you liked. This took little or no account of neighbours, public spaces, orientation, aspect and other local conditions.

“”It is administratively convenient, but a poor way to create a good urban environment,” he said. “”Canberra could have done better. It is a poor way to get a good urban environment with one dwelling per block and much worse with two or more.”
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Leader ex CRISPIN HULLThe Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group called on the Federal Government yesterday to specifically over-rule Tasmania’s laws against homosexual conduct, rather than just pass a privacy law which would be a defence to a prosecution under those laws. They argue that it would be unacceptable for a person to have to go through the pain and trouble of being prosecuted and raising the federal law as a defence. They say it would be better to have the Tasmanian law over-ruled so there could be no prosecution in the first place.

That argument has merit, but it is more appropriately directed at the Tasmanian Government which is in the best position to directly repeal the repugnant law. The Federal Government is not in than position. It may not have the constitutional power to do so.

To date the Federal Attorney-General, Michael Lavarch, has handled the issue with a certain amount of common sense, some legal dexterity and some political cleverness.
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The ACT Government announced last night that it would introduce legislation for quarterly assessment of land tax and an appeal committee to prevent anomalies.Under present law land tax is payable on all residences not used as the principal residence of the owner, and assessed at July 1 for the whole year.

The law was designed to tax landlords receiving rent.

however, for two years the Landlords Association, the Canberra Rates Association, the Opposition and taxpayers have pointed to injustices. They arose in many cases where owners did not live in a house but were not landlords receiving rent: people allowing dependant relatives to live in houses, life tenants and people holding under wills, trusts or companies and other arrangements.
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The Seven Spirit Wilderness, Northern Territory, with landscape design by EcoSystems, left, which won the Award in Landscape Excellence at the fifth biennial national awards of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects presented in Canberra last night (saty 11 sept). The judges said the award was given in recognition of sensitive creativity resulting in a magical, cultural and natural experience. At right is the Belconnen Skate Park, with landscape design by ACT Landscape, which won a merit award in the Government section. The judges said: “”This intensive hard landscape was developed in conjunction with strong community involvement. The result is a fun place for both formal competition use or informal play”.
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The truth. The elusive truth. Everything else and the truth.

What is the truth, asks Nicholas Hasluck in his latest novel A Grain of Truth. A plaything of the legal system, perhaps.

This is Hasluck’s third novel set in the fictional west coast city of Blosseville. For Blosseville, read Perth.

As he wrote the game plan changed.
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Sydney town planner David Hain was appointed yesterday by Robert Landsdown to assist in the review he is conducting into residential redevelopment.

Submission to the review are due on Friday. Mr Landsdown said yesterday that he hoped to engage in some sort of public process as soon as posisble after submissions close and to report before the end of next month.
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The ACT has a new housing supremo.

Former first assistant secretary in the Department of Land, Environment and Planning Peter Guild started in the new job as general-manager of ACT Housing yesterday.

He said his main aim is to carry out the Hilmer report recommendation to separate the asset management of public housing from the social objectives of the Government.

Mr Guild had been head of land management at DELP since 1989. Moiya Haynes is now acting in that position and John Thwaites, from Parks and Conservation, is acting her position in lease administration.
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The move by Gareth Evans from the House of Unrepresentative Swill to the House of Representatives shows one of the defects in the federal single-member electoral system _ the seatless Minister.

It is a defect the Germans and Americans have overcome and the New Zealanders imagine they might overcome.

The seatless-Minister defect arises because each member of the Ministry in the House of Representatives has to win a seat which is based locally not nationally _ a constituency seat if you like.
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The results of the Canberra Times Datacol poll during the week show us that we will have to get used to minority governments in the ACT and a higher-than-average level support for independents than elsewhere in Australia.

This need be no bad thing. Indeed, looking back over the three years there have been some major pluses with minority government. In a word, it has meant a clear separation between the legislative function of government and the executive function and it has meant the executive has had to be genuinely accountable to the Parliament.

This has been evidenced in several ways. Numerous small changes to government legislation, often for the better, have been passed that would otherwise have been squashed by a government rubber-stamp treatment of the Assembly. A range of non-government legislation that would otherwise have been lost causes have at least been discussed if not passed. And one minister has been held accountable to the Assembly in a true Westminster way that Federal and other-state experience suggests would not have happened otherwise. Wayne Berry was held accountable for his misstatements to the Assembly over Vitab.
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No-one mentioned yesterday the glorious Canberra spring day or the cloudless blue sky normally essential ingredients to the opening of Floriade. It would have been impolite in the face of the drought ravaging an already Canberra-detesting bushfolk.

The Chief Minister, Rosemary Follett, opened Floriade saying it had attracted more than half a million visitors and $30 million worth of business last year and would attract more this year. There will be approximately one bulb per person. This year 581,300 bulbs have been planted and 215,000 annuals. This year Floriade is contaminated by a native-plants section with subtle Australian flora competing with the gaudy European imports 286,000 tulips, 103,000 daffodils, 100,000 Ipheion/Tritelia, and 27,000 Hyacinths. The major sponsor of the four-week event is the Advance Bank. Ms Follett said the bank’s support and that of 13 other public and private-sector sponsors had enabled the event to remain free.