What’s happening to property rights in NSW?

According to the Sydney Morning Herald,

[NSW] Homeowners will not lose their property to developers under proposed compulsory acquisition laws, unless an urban renewal project is in the works, NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor says.

Governments can already compulsorarily acquire land for roads and railways. This is generally accepted. However, being also able to compulsorarily acquire land for an urban renewal project is going too far.

Some more ideas for the 2020 summit

1. local (and other) governments doing genuine community consultation (the City of Sydney needs to learn this), including releasing completed commissioned reports (any confidential material can be withheld)

2. services run by governments being properly responsive to users’ needs. Governments are often extremely unresponsive to users’ actual needs, e.g. in providing bus services in inner-Sydney. This includes  education, health, public transport, community and public transport services.

3. removing unnecessary transaction costs and ensuring consistency in policy across jurisdictions where appropriate

4. public policy experiments to inform education policy – the focus must be on the outcomes rather than the processes 

5. having civil union registers in all states and territories that are recognised in other states and territories. Ensuring that couples in “civil unions” are treated by governments and under law/policy the same as those who are married. Also changing the definition of marriage to extend to same-sex couples.

6. local businesses “adopting” local areas (I saw this in Manhattan)

“My idea” for the 2020 summit

Well, many people’s idea - but I’d put it forward as it’s one of the most important ones:

Experiments in public policy including in education, health, research and governance.

And of course, implementing as well.

Short update

I’ve been quite busy with work and the 2011 Residents’ Association in the last few weeks, including drafting objections to DAs and letters/submissions along with letters to the editor. It’s surprising how long these activities can take.

I’ll try to write and publish something more interesting shortly!