Page 2107 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 9 September 1992
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The article goes on to say that the boundaries may have to be redefined and that the land would not be a grant but may be released at commercial prices. Could the Minister inform the Assembly whether this is the same parcel of land which he, in the previous Assembly, said was not suitable for the development of a retirement village? Could he also indicate under what conditions the ACT Government would consider granting a lease for the RSL to build a retirement village on the shores of Lake Ginninderra?
MR WOOD: Madam Speaker, I do not believe that it is entirely the same parcel of land that was under consideration before. The RSL had claimed an area of land extending well down to the shoreline of the lake, and that was not acceptable. It was not acceptable to my leader when she was Minister for planning some years ago, and it was not acceptable to me. After negotiation with the RSL, instead of a rectangle stretching down to the lake, we discussed a rectangle stretching at right angles to the lake. Its distance from the shoreline of the lake would be something like 150 metres. That boundary is consistent, I might add, with the proposal that Mr Lamont has raised to protect the lake foreshores. That area is still under negotiation; nothing has been settled at this stage.
Ms Szuty asked a question about conditions. That is also a matter that we will be negotiating with the RSL. The pattern has tended to be that retirement villages are provided by the commercial sector in some circumstances or by community bodies in others. Nevertheless, they tend to supply the same market - that is, ordinary Canberra citizens. In this case they would be ex-diggers. But the fact that they are ex-diggers does not mean that they are necessarily poor ex-diggers. We have to look at the conditions on which we provide that land. It is certainly a prime piece of real estate in the ACT, and it is not one that we would necessarily give at a concessional rate for people who may well have substantial capital or some income. It is a matter that I have a considerable interest in. I can say no more than that we are beginning to negotiate with the RSL about those conditions. The overriding aim would be to provide appropriate housing but to protect the interests of the ACT.
Crane Drivers Dispute
MR WESTENDE: My question is directed to the Attorney-General, Mr Connolly. Can the Minister explain to the Assembly how a million dollars worth of cranes were allegedly appropriated by a union representative over a week ago and deposited without authority at the Mugga Lane tip? Can the Minister further advise what the Government's attitude is and how a site shed can be deposited on land leased by Canberra Cranes in Barrier Street, Fyshwick, without the lessee's permission? Would the Minister agree that it is totally undemocratic and repulsive to be threatened by union representatives in case action is taken by Canberra Cranes to have this obstacle removed? Does the Minister condone the union's scant regard for the law in this case?
MR CONNOLLY: Madam Speaker, that question throws up two very disturbing aspects of Liberal Party ideology. One is a tendency to union bash and the other, which I find much more disturbing, is a tendency to seek political interference in police operational matters. There has been a dispute between Canberra Cranes, a private company, and a trade union in the ACT which, as I understand it, revolves around the failure of the company to pay redundancy provisions
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