Page 1542 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 12 August 1992
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the backburner. He does not want to discuss it just now. I do not know what he has got going, with whom, about what. He is the chairman of the Planning Committee, as he made the point a minute ago. But in the Planning Committee Mr Lamont does not want to discuss the Kingston foreshores. Why?
Let us talk about urban renewal; but let us talk about it in the areas where it is needed, not this airy-fairy conceptual stuff about knocking whole suburbs down and rebuilding them. That is not what we need and it would add nothing. If Mr Lamont implies that, because the demographics have changed in suburbs and there are not as many people living there now, we are going to tell elderly people, "Get on your bikes and move because we are going to knock all these houses down", the Government has another think coming. That has already happened. There has been a specific case in Kingston, which we can review, of a lady that was told to move out because they were going to knock the house down.
Mr Cornwell: That is right - while she was on holidays.
MR KAINE: Exactly. If that is the attitude of this Government and if that is what they mean by urban renewal, it is not going to happen, because nobody in this Assembly, other than they, would support it. The community certainly is not going to. So let us have some facts, Madam Speaker. Let us hear this Government tell us what their strategy is, over what timescale they intend to put it into effect, how they intend to put it into effect, what the elements of their program are, how the Civic, Belconnen, Woden, Tuggeranong and perhaps Gungahlin centres fit into the scheme of things? How are they going to force things to happen? Are they going to do a Ros Kelly and tell 800 public servants to pack up and get out of Civic and go some place else just because it is a good electoral ploy? Is that the way they are going to play it?
Mr Connolly: You are against more employment in Tuggeranong, are you?
MR KAINE: No, I am not; but, when a Federal Minister uses her position to arbitrarily direct 800 public servants to move, I am against that. People have to go there because they want to go there. If you regard planning as government directing people how to live their lives and where to live them, and where they are going to work and how they are going to get to work, and what they are going to do when they get there, then you are on the wrong tram, Mr Connolly. If we are really concerned about public transport, let us hear about your plans for a public transport system other than buses. We do not need this theoretical talk; we need a positive indication from this Government of what they intend to do.
MADAM SPEAKER: Your time has expired, Mr Kaine.
MR WOOD (Minister for Education and Training, Minister for the Arts and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning) (11.05): I think I have the answer to Mr Kaine's problems. The answer is that he does not pay attention, and he does not follow the debate. Five minutes ago he spoke about the building better cities program and asked what we were going to do. I answered that question yesterday.
Mr Kaine: No, you did not. You avoided the question yesterday.
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