Page 146 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 May 1989
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MR MOORE: I therefore move:
(1) That a select committee be appointed to report generally on the proposal to establish a casino in Canberra and that, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the committee shall report on -
(a) the extent to which such a casino may be expected to contribute to Territory revenue having regard to revenue received by State and Territory governments from casinos established in the respective States and the Northern Territory;
(b) the practicability and desirability of locating any casino in Canberra at a site in Canberra other than on Section 19, Civic, and the revenue implications of so doing;
(c) an assessment of the environmental impact of such a development and an assessment of the findings of the Caldwell report; and
(d) such other implications from the operation of casinos in Australia as may be relevant to the desirability of a casino in Canberra.
(2) That the committee shall report within 60 days of the day of its appointment;
(3) That the committee shall consist of 5 Members;
(4) That a majority of members constitute a quorum of the committee;
(5) That the committee be provided with the necessary staff, facilities and resources; and
(6) That the foregoing provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.
Mr Speaker, this motion is not being presented as an anti-casino motion. Indeed, I personally have never spoken in public on a casino one way or the other, nor is it my intention to either speak for or against a casino now. The motion you have before you is about public participation in decision making. It is about open consultative government, the type of rhetoric that we have heard right through the election campaign and up till recent times. The motion that is before you does indeed provide the framework for Labor to put its promises into reality.
I have taken this action because of statements by the Deputy Chief Minister, the Minister for Industry, Employment and Education, indicating that the incumbent government is going to push ahead with the section 19 casino development as a matter of the utmost urgency. This hardly sounds like the move of a government which is interested in knowing all the relevant facts and in hearing the opinions of the public.
The casino has long been one of the significant issues of contention in Canberra and we have been bombarded by
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