Page 6037 - Week 18 - Thursday, 12 December 1991
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The point of Dr Kinloch's meanderings, of course, was to bag, yet again, the establishment of a casino in the ACT. He refers to it as a quick fix. I have never pretended that the casino was in any way the sole solution to the economic well-being of the ACT.
Mr Collaery: You are backing off now, too. The coalition backs off.
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Mr Collaery, would you please let the Chief Minister make her speech.
MS FOLLETT: Nevertheless, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is no doubt in my mind and in the minds of, I would say, 17 of the 17 members of this Assembly that the casino is an important project in the ACT's range of projects.
Mr Collaery: The left wing is squirming. They are squirming on this.
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Collaery, I have asked you once - and nicely. I would ask you to let the Chief Minister finish her speech, please.
MS FOLLETT: Dr Kinloch is able to brush off the $19m that will be provided for community facilities; he is able to brush off the 20 per cent casino tax that will come into the ACT's coffers, which will be $6m a year at the start and up to $11m after five years; he is able to brush off the 200-odd jobs that will be created in the construction phase.
Mr Collaery: And lost from the clubs.
MS FOLLETT: He is able to brush off in their entirety the 500 estimated jobs that will be provided in the casino and associated industries once they are established.
Mr Collaery: You are going to go down on this, and you know it. You are going to lose this debate. You have given us two seats. Thank you.
MS FOLLETT: Dr Kinloch has absolutely no interest in the realities of life. Finally, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would say that the continued interjections of Mr Collaery and others through this whole debate make it very clear that this is a political agenda. They have no real interest in the economic well-being of the Territory. Mr Collaery interjects that the casino project will cost my Government two seats. He made the same mistake with the Forrest bowling club. He has made the same mistake with the car park at Manuka. Mr Collaery and his party are against everything. They are totally opposed to anything in the way of real economic development. Instead, they prefer to settle for the empty rhetoric that we have heard from Dr Kinloch.
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