Page 1341 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 16 April 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
that a removable security fence was an integral part of the original decision in 1986 to adopt Stage '88 as the ACT's major bicentennial project. Equally clear is the intention that such a fence should be a combination of demountable and permanent, and that it should be intended to enhance the use and enjoyment of Stage '88, and not restrict it.
This can best be achieved by the provision of fencing as originally intended - allowing for commercial use and special events such as alcohol-free concerts, as well as the major use for free community events. The Government has therefore decided to proceed with the construction of a combination of demountable and permanent security fencing in those areas agreed by the National Capital Planning Authority.
The Government will expend the remaining $177,000 of Commonwealth funds on the fence, and ancillary and associated works. The Government has also decided to maintain the arrangement with the Canberra Theatre Trust to manage the operation of Stage '88 for the people of Canberra.
MR MOORE (9.28): What we have heard in the Government response to this report by the Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Infrastructure is, "Thank you very much for your work. You have done a wonderful job. But we are just going to ignore what you had to say". One cannot help wondering what sort of compromises have been made or why it is that the Minister has decided to ignore it. Is it his bureaucracy that has decided that the work of the committee is to be ignored, or is it just that Mr Humphries, of course, knows better?
What we have here is an appalling situation where the Government feels that it can just go ahead, ride roughshod over a committee report like this and give it no credibility whatsoever. In spite of the words that Mr Humphries has mouthed about, "Yes, we appreciate the effort you have put in", he then ignored the basic recommendations. The basic recommendation is that there be no fence. The reasons set out there are recognised. Mr Humphries says that he recognises them, but he then goes ahead and provides for this temporary fence.
Many of us know about temporary things. In South Australia just after the war, temporary schools were built. I would not be surprised if Mr Connolly was taught in some of them. I was taught in some of them, and I also taught in some of them some 45 years later. We had a temporary Parliament House that was temporary for a long time. I hear that one of the latest words around is that we have a temporary Prime Minister's residence as well.
Mr Duby: We have a temporary Prime Minister.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .