Bills

State Development Coordination and Facilitation Bill

Final Stages

Consideration in committee of message No. 237 from the House of Assembly.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: I move:

That the council does not insist on its amendment No. 4 and agrees to the alternative amendment made by the House of Assembly in lieu thereof.

Clause 38 in this bill is a standard provision authorising the Coordinator-General's office to temporarily enter onto land to perform its functions under this bill. Examples include surveying, assessing the presence of native vegetation, or testing soil conditions. Similar provisions are common in other acts such as the Planning Act, Urban Renewal Act, Highways Act and others. I understand the amendment to clause 38 of the bill, as was made in this place, sought to better support landowners in navigating the existing compensation scheme for situations where temporary access to their land has caused any loss or damages.

While that was a worthy cause, as we will recall the amendment was put to this place at very short notice and, accordingly, several members stated that they would agree to the amendment with the understandable caveat that it be considered between the houses in case of any unintended and unforeseen consequences.

After the amendment was agreed to in this place, some such unintended consequences were identified. Specifically, the amendment inadvertently gave rise to legal risk and uncertainty about how the onus of proof would be applied and what that would mean for the rights, liabilities and legal position of all parties involved, to the extent that the provision might not be able to be used effectively. This would make it challenging for the Coordinator-General to perform its statutory functions.

The amendment that has been proposed by the other place proposes an alternative way to achieve a similar outcome to what we understand the original amendment intended. It does so by better supporting landowners' access to the compensation regime by providing them with an entitlement to have reasonable costs reimbursed by the state for the purposes of seeking an assessment of any loss or damages by a qualified valuer, or obtaining legal advice for the purposes of making a claim for compensation under this section.

This approach would provide greater supports to landowners but without creating additional legal risk and uncertainty. We believe this represents a balanced and pragmatic solution within the context of the bill, and I commend it to the council.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: The opposition will not be opposing this amendment. Whilst we did prefer the amendment that passed in this place last sitting week, we do understand the reasons that the government has made these further changes and accept that this will form part of the final adjustment to this bill.

Motion carried.