Page 198 - Week 01 - Thursday, 18 February 1993
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Your petitioners therefore request the Assembly to:
Create Landlord/Tenant legislation that addresses fair rent, lease agreements and security of tenure.
Petition received.
PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE -
STANDING COMMITTEE
Report on Casino Premium
Debate resumed from 10 December 1992, on motion by Mr Lamont:
That the report be noted.
MR HUMPHRIES (10.32): In making some brief comments about this report I should probably congratulate the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee for having waded through the many submissions made to it on the use of that casino premium. With $19m to distribute and a total of nearly $178m on ask, I think that the committee would have formed many more enemies than friends by deciding which of those particular requests were to be met and which were to be refused. In meeting the requests of some groups, I suppose, some would consider themselves to be more eligible than others. That would be based on the history of this issue and, in particular, on the concept of a cultural precinct around section 19 which was, of course, the original community object of the casino. I think it goes back to the days of Mr Brown, the then Federal Minister for the Territories, who at that very early stage linked the idea of a casino with the establishment of a cultural precinct that should be in the city area, if not on section 19 itself.
Governments subsequent to the Federal Government have reaffirmed the connection between the casino premium and the construction of community or cultural facilities. Back in May 1991 the then Chief Minister, Mr Kaine, stated that the casino premium "will, consistent with previous undertakings, be used for the construction of community facilities". The following comment was subsequently made by Ms Follett when she became Chief Minister. In December of the same year she said, "I can confirm that it will be spent on community facilities". She then went on to observe that the commitment to cultural facilities on section 19 was "given in the context of a casino on section 19 and ... does not necessarily apply in the current circumstances"; that is, the commitment does not apply to the current circumstances.
Nonetheless, this report focuses very heavily on cultural facilities and, by extension, community facilities. For that reason I think it would win the broad support of those who are anxious to see a number of much needed, even urgent, cultural needs in this community met from that money. Even though it was a previous government some time ago that made this connection, I think it is incumbent on us to maintain that link and that commitment to the community that this controversially generated money - in many respects - should be put to the very best use of the community. I think enhancing its cultural dimensions is one very good way of doing that.
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