Dr LIM - 1999-02-16
The Northern Territory tenancy legislation has been under review for some time. As you know, I was given the task by the former Chief Minister to assist in the review of the legislation including assessing the Leader of the Opposition’s two related bills. Can the minister inform the House as to the current status of the review?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I can inform the House that I am very pleased with the progress of the Northern Territory government’s tenancy draft legislation. I congratulate the member for Greatorex for the work that he has done in bringing this forward.
The review has taken a very responsible and considered approach to this legislation to ensure that all of the community interests have been taken into account, but a long period of consultation has been ...
Ms Martin: Steve could tell you when ..
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: Can I say for the benefit of the member and members in the House that I am very confident that the work that has been done on this will result in very fair and very balanced legislation which will be tailored to the needs of Territorians. It has been a fairly long process ...
Mr Stirling: Long!
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: ... but it will be, at the end of the day, in the best interests of Territorians.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! It is becoming impossible to hear the minister’s response.
Mr BALDWIN: The establishment of a working party, which was made up by parliamentary members, the real estate industry people and government officers, has done a lot of work. They put out a discussion paper, they received many hundreds of submissions, which goes to show how much concern there is out there about the way any legislation is drafted for tenancy. It has taken quite some time to assess and make sure that we do get this legislation right and that the necessary amendments to the draft bill will be balanced and address the needs of competing interests.
As the member for Greatorex said, the former Chief Minister did appoint the member for Greatorex to look at this situation and Dr Lim, I can say, has consulted widely with my department and with the Attorney-General’s Department and has done a lot of hard work ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: ... to bring forward issues both to myself and to the Chief Minister. The Northern Territory government’s draft bill is currently being tested against national competition policy and principles, and amendments are being made in consultation with those key stakeholders that we have been working with all the way through. It’s very important that we do introduce legislation, updated and modernised legislation, that is properly balanced for the rights of both landlords and tenants. Some 50% of our home properties in the Northern Territory are rental properties. We don’t want to frighten off investor confidence on the one hand, but on the other hand we want to make sure that tenants’ interests are well looked after.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: There has been a lot of work done on this, it will be forthcoming in this year of parliament. I thank the work of everybody who has been involved in this piece of legislation, including Dr Richard Lim and former ministers.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I can inform the House that I am very pleased with the progress of the Northern Territory government’s tenancy draft legislation. I congratulate the member for Greatorex for the work that he has done in bringing this forward.
The review has taken a very responsible and considered approach to this legislation to ensure that all of the community interests have been taken into account, but a long period of consultation has been ...
Ms Martin: Steve could tell you when ..
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: Can I say for the benefit of the member and members in the House that I am very confident that the work that has been done on this will result in very fair and very balanced legislation which will be tailored to the needs of Territorians. It has been a fairly long process ...
Mr Stirling: Long!
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: ... but it will be, at the end of the day, in the best interests of Territorians.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! It is becoming impossible to hear the minister’s response.
Mr BALDWIN: The establishment of a working party, which was made up by parliamentary members, the real estate industry people and government officers, has done a lot of work. They put out a discussion paper, they received many hundreds of submissions, which goes to show how much concern there is out there about the way any legislation is drafted for tenancy. It has taken quite some time to assess and make sure that we do get this legislation right and that the necessary amendments to the draft bill will be balanced and address the needs of competing interests.
As the member for Greatorex said, the former Chief Minister did appoint the member for Greatorex to look at this situation and Dr Lim, I can say, has consulted widely with my department and with the Attorney-General’s Department and has done a lot of hard work ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: ... to bring forward issues both to myself and to the Chief Minister. The Northern Territory government’s draft bill is currently being tested against national competition policy and principles, and amendments are being made in consultation with those key stakeholders that we have been working with all the way through. It’s very important that we do introduce legislation, updated and modernised legislation, that is properly balanced for the rights of both landlords and tenants. Some 50% of our home properties in the Northern Territory are rental properties. We don’t want to frighten off investor confidence on the one hand, but on the other hand we want to make sure that tenants’ interests are well looked after.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: There has been a lot of work done on this, it will be forthcoming in this year of parliament. I thank the work of everybody who has been involved in this piece of legislation, including Dr Richard Lim and former ministers.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016