ACT cabinet files: The push for planning control in Canberra

Then chief minister Jon Stanhope wrote to then shadow finance minister Lindsay Tanner in September 2007, ahead of Labor's election victory in November that year, to advocate for one system of planning in Canberra, ACT cabinet documents released under the 10-year rule show.

Mr Stanhope wrote that should Labor win the federal election, they should re-examine the role of the authority, which then had control over large parts of the ACT.

He said the ACT could not alter a sign on its own assembly building without approval from the authority, and there was a need to remove duplication in the system.

"Confusion is caused in the community because in some areas the Commonwealth has planning jurisdiction but the ACT has the land administration function," Mr Stanhope wrote.

"While further analysis would, in my view, be required to develop an appropriate model, there should be only one planning ordinance for the ACT (i.e. a single planning system), administered by the NCA where it has jurisdiction and·by the [ACT Planning and Land Authority] in the remainder."

Mr Stanhope said the dual planning system led to situations where both the National Capital Plan and the Territory Plan had to be amended to allow mobile homes in an area where caravan parks were already permitted.

Long studies for the new residential development of Molonglo and parallel amendments had delayed the release of housing in Molonglo to address housing shortages, he wrote.

Labor had long accused the authority of using its planning powers to run interference for the benefit of the ACT and federal Liberal parties.

The party went to the 2001 ACT election and won on the promise that it would build the Gungahlin Drive extension to the west of the Australian Institute of Sport. But this policy was overturned by the authority, which supported the Liberal Party position of having the road to the east of the institute.

However the agency strenuously rejected the claim in an interview with The Canberra Times in January 2008, saying history would prove they made the right decision on the Gungahlin Drive extension.

Former ACT Labor senator Kate Lundy had revived calls for one planning agency in March 2007.

Ms Lundy, who was federal shadow local government minister at the time, said the ACT was mature enough to take on a wider role, instead of having duplication planning on territory land. This would avoid planning stoushes which have raged on issues such as the Gungahlin Drive Extension and the amount of housing for Pierces Creek, she said.

Bob McMullan and Annette Ellis had also called for the erosion of the agency's power in the decade leading up to 2008.

The ACT government also made a submission to a federal parliamentary inquiry in 2004 to advocate for a "one plan" system, responsibility for which would largely reside with the territory, documents from 2008 marked cabinet-in-confidence show.

However the ACT stressed there would still be a role for the authority in promoting Canberra as Australia's capital city.

"It is not proposed that there be any reduction in funding for the events/promotions aspects of the NCA- more that enhanced cooperation between the NCA and ACT Government on these events/promotions be highlighted as an appropriate way forward. It should be noted that the NCA has not had significant funding to achieve this goal and that this lack of resources can limit the NCA's ability to promote its message outside of Canberra," the 2004 submission said.

However in February 2008 the federal government cut $46 million from the authority, leaving it with 40 per cent fewer staff and forcing it to shelve projects such as the duplication of Constitution Avenue that were well into the planning stages.

A review of the dual planning system was announced December 2008.

The National Capital Authority ultimately ceded control of large parts of Canberra to the ACT government in 2016, although it has retained jurisdiction over the Parliamentary Triangle and approach routes like the Barton Highway and main avenues such as Northbourne Avenue.

The federal Coalition government signed off on a proposal to scrap the authority's control over the Molonglo and Murrumbidgee River corridors, Namadgi National Park and the Tuggeranong Valley, a barrow pushed by ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja, who wanted residential development to the west of the Tuggeranong town centre, across the Murrumbidgee River.

Mr Stanhope said on Wednesday he still believes the National Capital Authority is "appallingly under-funded" although it had lifted its game in recent years when it came to maintenance along the Lake Burley Griffin foreshore.

He also said it was appropriate for the Commonwealth to retain some control over the ACT as it would "force them to accept responsibility for and appropriately fund the national capital".