Mr. John Spain:

Certainly, it shifts the emphasis from individual decisions and challenges to those cases in the courts to greater participation in the plan-making and policymaking processes and also to deliver greater certainty. That certainly carries through because with greater clarity in the legislation there is less scope for it to be interpreted in different ways and, therefore, less scope for challenge. That is absolutely critical and I know it is one of the key objectives.

Without going into the detail today, we have made a submission already and will be very happy to make further detailed submissions to the Department on the detail of some of those mechanisms and how they can be improved. There is still scope for conflict to arise between emerging national policy and local policy. It is very difficult to square that circle. The mechanisms in the plan are a step forward in that regard and they are welcome in themselves.