Page 6229 - Week 19 - Tuesday, 17 December 1991
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democracy that is not matched in the world. I am not saying that these principles are applied. However, the principles are there. If they were applied they would make us a nation among few, if any, with comparable democratic values.
There could have been a competition among people in Canberra, or even around Australia, to involve the rest of Australians in their nation's capital. With the imposition of self-government in Canberra, unfortunately, to a degree, the involvement of Australians in their capital was cut off. We were told that it was no longer the responsibility of the Federal Government; that it was the responsibility of some self-government which has never been anything but a bogus self-government. So, if we created a situation where we highlighted democracy, where the original Parliament House was used to induce people to come to Canberra, I think that would be a far better thing. I think that would make a great deal more money. There is a great deal of money in tourism, but one has to act intelligently. We could have done it in Canberra; we could still do it in Canberra. The further away we get from a unique city, a unique capital city, the less opportunity we have to do that.
As for making money from a casino in Canberra, if Canberra had been the only place close by with a casino we may have had people coming from Sydney and from Melbourne. When Sydney and Melbourne get their own casinos I think we can largely rule that out. I think that one of the sorry things that will happen in Canberra is that the major amount of money made at the casino will not be made from visitors, and certainly not overseas visitors, but will be made from local people, particularly every second week.
MRS NOLAN (5.08): I am going to be very brief. This debate has gone on for quite some time. I think, though, that it is important that I place my position in relation to the casino on the record. Many years ago I was opposed to having a casino in Canberra. Some years have passed since that time. After all the work that has gone into it, after all the investigation that has gone forward, I do not see that it is going to be the big ogre that perhaps some people see it as.
I have to say that the tourism industry originally had some difficulty with the perception of a casino on section 19 with two hotels, which was the original proposal. I believe that that was because of the increased number of beds placed in this city at one time. That would have been difficult to sustain. I think that the market has determined that over a period. From the way that we have seen the process go, it really has not been a case of these people opposing it being on section 19, those people opposing it, or those people being in favour of it. I think the situation is that the market has determined that section 19 was not the appropriate place and that two hotels, or one hotel, would not have been viable at this time.
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