Page 2907 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 August 1991
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considerable subsidy by the ACT taxpayer of, at least, I would think, $1m. Let us bear that in mind. It was a free grant of land because they are a benevolent society. One point that has to be understood is that they were to make no profit. They could not return any surplus into their own pockets.
Because of the confidence that the community has in the RSL, as part of this process there was no questioning about how they were going to fund this. The planning agencies accepted their credentials; so there were no questions about that. Nor was there any need for a prior submission of any plans or any further details. That is the case with certain other bodies whose reputations also are not questioned, although I understand that in many circumstances other bodies choose to make known precisely how they intend to go about things. So, I cannot be precise on what the RSL was proposing to do on that site, how they were going to fund it and what was going to finish up there. Bear that in mind as I make these comments about the sort of plan that would have eventuated.
Unquestionably, I believe that the units, the homes, would have been sold off the plan, so to speak. That way the RSL would be assured of its finance and would not be on borrowed money for too long. That is a pretty typical arrangement. I understand that there is an arrangement that where these things happen some sort of price level of the market should be maintained - that is, they should not sell properties like this at a price considerably lower than prevails elsewhere for comparable properties.
Bearing in mind that they probably saved $1m - or on another block a lesser amount of money - obviously the houses could be sold a great deal more cheaply than elsewhere around Canberra. I say "sold"; the correct term may be "sublet", or whatever arrangements are developed. The digger would not have total ownership of the land or of the house and probably, if he passed on or decided to sell out later, would return the property to the RSL and receive perhaps most of his investment back with that transaction.
But, to ensure that there is some level of market value about this, often extra services are provided. For example, a bowling green, or a swimming pool, or something else such as an amenities hall, may have been provided as part of that facility. I think you would agree that this would be a good deal for the diggers. They would be buying into one of the best pieces of real estate, as it was planned, in the ACT and, while the price might be higher than the actual home was worth, they would have bought a lot of extra good facilities as part of the package. Let me repeat: I do not complain about that. (Quorum formed)
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