Page 656 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 30 March 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Commemorating important and historic events in all of our cultures is an important way of maintaining connections to where we have all come from. Respecting and participating in these celebrations allows the broader Canberra community to come to understand and know their neighbours even better, and it helps us to build a respectful and multicultural community.
Over the years, as a member for Yerrabi, it has always been an absolute pleasure to attend events and celebrations organised by the Bangladeshi community. I always look forward to attending these events. It is truly a privilege to represent every member of the Yerrabi electorate, and everyone who has come to call it their home.
Business—Chisholm Family Tavern
MR DAVIS (Brindabella) (5.37): I rise today to outline for the house the sad and sorry saga of yet another small family business railroaded by the greed of multinational corporations and property developers. The Chisholm Family Tavern in my electorate of Brindabella is a well-known and well-loved staple in the community; a small family business where, year after year, a tidy profit is turned over not by relying on revenue from poker machines or other forms of gambling, but instead, Jenny and Gumby have sustained their business for years on the power of good meals, good beer and good company.
Members may be aware that for some time the owners of the Chisholm shopping centre have been steadfast in their one-eyed commitment to pursue development approval for a McDonald’s restaurant on the site where the Chisholm Family Tavern now sits. Two development applications were rejected, citing a range of concerns, including, but not limited to, pressures on parking, which I might add is already a concern for many at Chisholm, and the drive-through access points, particularly as it relates to the adjoining fire station.
Throughout the period when both development applications were being considered, thousands in my community rallied behind Jenny, Gumby and the Chisholm Family Tavern, some in passionate support of the tavern, others in staunch opposition to yet another multinational conglomerate buying up our suburbs. I thank you, Madam Speaker, for your efforts to represent our shared constituency, not once but twice, in the form of petitions in this place against both of those development applications. On both occasions the will of the people was respected, their concerns noted and the development applications rejected.
In January, the owners of the Chisholm shopping centre presented a third development application to government for the exact same fast-food outlet on the exact same site: proof that the concerns raised by the community were not taken on board and that other options had not been considered. Instead, a brazen attempt to disregard the views of the community would see this developer continue to prosecute the case until they got their way.
On the third development application, approval was granted on the condition that the government commit to the sale of the adjacent public toilet block. In February,
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video