Page 2441 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 6 August 1991
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There are about 140 companies involved in Aidex and it gives them the opportunity to bid for defence contracts. He reiterated that figure of $40 billion. He said:
... all of that and all the goodwill that is generated by bringing people here together ... will be terminated on some extreme left-wing whim ... Now that is of the highest order of irresponsibility if that happened.
Sir William went on to say that his feeling is that "strict ideology has outweighed common sense and logic". He stated:
I think we are seeing an exercise in emotion here which has got no relation to real facts and real life at all.
... ... ...
My message to the ACT Government is please look at Canberra as the future venue for conferences of all kinds, not just defence ... It means employment, it means business opportunities for small business.
He said that Canberra was "the best place to host the exhibition because the headquarters of the Australian Defence Force were located here and visited by all overseas military leaders who came to Australia".
Natex has been told - I think by the previous Government, and I am certain by this Government - to make itself pay for itself. I know that a number of groups have already had problems with that. I was involved with the harness racing people who were having a great deal of difficulty renegotiating contracts and sorting out problems in relation to some stables there. The excuse given to them was that Natex has to pay for itself. Yet here we have this Government about to forgo $10m in revenue coming into the Territory.
Let us face it, Canberra's major industry is tourism, and part of tourism is conferences, conventions and exhibitions. Here we have a big one. It affects not only Aidex; it will affect Natex's ability to hold other exhibitions as well. I am sure my colleague Mr Humphries will be speaking on that matter as well.
In the latter half of my speech, let us look at the moral issue. Let us look at human nature, for starters. If this Government cancels any future Aidex exhibitions - which it obviously intends to do because of this direction - South Australia and Victoria would snap it up; so would New South Wales; so would all your comrades, Mr Connolly, in any Labor State.
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