Page 3473 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 19 September 1990
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Mr Wood: Well, that is a very good question.
MR KAINE: I know what your answer is. Your answer is that the Canberra Girls Grammar primary school is a resource rich school. That is a matter of subjective judgment if ever I heard it. I do not know what the position of that school is, but I suppose that you do. It is a value judgment and I am surprised that you, of all people, Mr Wood, would make it. I would very much like to see Mr Wood go to the Catholic Education Office and to the Marist school and say, "We are going to advocate that you not get this piece of ground for your sports oval free". I know he would not do it, because he knows what sort of response he would get.
I am amazed that a member with Mr Wood's political experience would take such a short-sighted position and stumble into a state aid debate for schools - because that is what he is doing. He is really into the question of state aid for private schools. Mr Wood has advocated - and he has done it publicly now - that this piece of land should be made available by public tender and, if this school can afford it, it can have it. Well, the first question, I think, is: What is the land really worth? He has put a valuation on it of between $300,000 and $500,000. Mr Wood and other members ought to be aware that planning authorities have indicated that the land cannot be used for commercial purposes because of the traffic and other impacts that it would cause to Grey Street and the school. To start with, there is no parking capability there whatsoever. The land can be used only for community purposes. Which community group does Mr Wood know that is going to pay $300,000 to $500,000 for the land? What Mr Wood is essentially saying is that we should invite public tenders for a block of land which has to be used for an open space community facility, and I doubt that there would be a long queue of bidders in the line.
The argument that we have somehow forgone revenue by giving the site to the school is totally spurious, because the land cannot be sold for any commercial purpose. Indeed, the sale of the land for its former approved use as a diplomatic site would also not necessarily derive any revenue for the Government. It is quite common for the Commonwealth to arrange to provide diplomatic sites in Canberra on a reciprocal basis with other countries, in which case it is not paid for.
Mr Wood: A totally different matter.
MR KAINE: In any case, Mr Speaker, and Mr Wood, a number of diplomatic missions have indeed inspected that site and considered it to be unsuitable because of its size and location. It cannot be sold as a diplomatic site and it cannot be sold as a commercial site, so your valuation, again, is a matter of subjective judgment, Mr Wood.
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