Issues related to Policing, Emergency Services and other legislative related issues.

Put land leases in spotlight

When Canberra gets its equivalent of an Independent Commission Against Corruption, almost the last of the state and territorial government systems to do so, the body should be as focused on exposing incompetence, mismanagement and failure to secure the public interest as it is on corruption. A good place to start would be investigating the public benefit from 25 years of political and administrative dealings between ACT politicians and officials, and the top levels of the four major football codes. As a priority, this could compete against mismanagement and corruption of the functions of ACT planning, and the problems created for …

Tribunal criticises planning minister’s ‘formulaic’ approval of lease changes for clubs

The government’s treatment of the steady stream of clubs wanting to change their concessional leases to allow development has drawn criticism from the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which accuses authorities of not properly considering the public interest. The planning minister is supposed to ensure the public interest is protected when community groups change their leases, but the tribunal said in a July judgment that all 13 leases “deconcessionalised” since late 2010 had been approved. None had been rejected in the public interest, and planning authorities appeared to have “adopted a formulaic approach, since all the minister’s reasons were couched …

Submision on Assembly Size

The NCCC has responded the Review into the size of the ACT Legislative Assembly being overviewed by the Expert Reference Group, ACT Elections. The committee has recommended that: The Expert Reference Group should suggest an increase in size to 25 members; the number of electorates should be five; individual electorate boundaries should be decided by the ACT Electoral Commission; the electoral boundaries should be broadly based on community-of-interest ideals. Prior to the 2012 Assembly election, boundary redistribution issues were a major source of community divisiveness.

Input sought on proposed 40km/h speed limit precincts

Interested Canberrans are invited by the ACT Government to provide input into the proposed boundaries for the 40 kilometre per hour (km/h) speed limit precincts in Belconnen, Civic and Tuggeranong. Following its successful introduction in Gungahlin and Woden earlier this year, the ACT Government is now introducing the reduced 40 km/h speed limit in Belconnen, Civic and Tuggeranong town centres to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.

Assessment of the Performance of the Three Branches of Government in ACT against Latimer House Principles

On 15 March 2012, NCCC sent a submission to the Standing Committee on Administration and Procedure in regard to an Inquiry into the ACT Self Government Act. A number of recommendations have been made in response to the assessment of the performance of the three branches of government in the ACT, including that the number of MLAs should be increased, and the ACT Auditor General and Ombudsman should be made Officers of Parliament. The Standing Committee is considering holding public hearings in April to discuss matters raised in the submissions.

Final changes to ACT Legislative Assembly electoral boundaries announced

The final make-up of the ACT Legislative Assembly electoral boundaries for the 2012 election has been announced today by the ACT Electoral Commissioner, Mr Phillip Green. “The Augmented ACT Electoral Commission has decided to alter the existing electoral boundaries by adopting the Redistribution Committee’s proposal to transfer the Gungahlin suburbs of Crace and Palmerston from the electorate of Molonglo to the electorate of Ginninderra. This change has been made to ensure that each of the ACT’s three electorates will be within 5% of the enrolment quota at the time of the 2012 election. The electorate of Brindabella has not been …

Call for referendum to break ACT deadlock

Should the NCCC lend support for a referendum to break the ACT deadlock in regard to ongoing electoral boundary contentions and adequate political representation? The ACT Electoral Commissioner has told the territory’s politicians that if they cannot reach agreement on the right size and composition of the Legislative Assembly, the choice should be put to the people.

ACT Govt subpoenas community groups’ details

The ACT Government has issued a subpoena against two Flynn community groups, ordering them to hand over private membership lists and three years of bank records.  The ACT Government solicitor has also written to the groups, demanding a $40,000 security bond to cover potential legal costs that could be awarded against the groups if they lose a Supreme Court appeal against the ACT Heritage Council.