Page 209 - Week 01 - Thursday, 18 February 1993
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So I come back to where I began, Madam Speaker; I do not know why the investigation was conducted. It gives no comfort to anybody. I imagine that the Minders of Tuggeranong Homestead, who held high hopes when Mr Moore said that he was going to go down there and fix this problem are now left high and dry. In fact, I suspect that they are now even more concerned about the homestead than they were before Mr Moore blundered down there. What good his inquiry did, whose interests it served other than his own and what the Government is now going to do on this issue, I have not the faintest idea. I do not think the Government knows either and I am positive that Mr Moore does not. So all I can say is that I hope that Mr Wood and members of the Government take note of the fact that all Mr Moore is saying is, "The Government had better do something about it and for heaven's sake do something about it quickly because there is real concern, particularly amongst people in the Tuggeranong Valley".
But the concern is not confined to people who live down there. There are people elsewhere in Canberra who are concerned about heritage aspects of our city and they are watching this exercise with great interest. They would have been much more satisfied, I think, if Mr Moore's report had generated something of value but I am afraid that for me it does not. I do not think there is anybody out there in the community who would say that that report adds anything to the debate. It does nothing for anybody's position in connection with what should be happening down there. So, Chief Minister and members of the Government, it is over to you.
Motion (by Ms Szuty) agreed to:
That the time for the discussion of Assembly business be extended by 30 minutes.
MS SZUTY (11.16): Madam Speaker, like Mr Kaine, I rise to issue a note of caution in totally accepting the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Conservation, Heritage and Environment with regard to the cultural and heritage significance of the Tuggeranong Homestead and its site. While I feel that there is a lot of sense in the recommendations which deal only with the buildings on the site, I believe that there must be a more measured approach to those recommendations which would result in the carving up of the totality of the present site.
I accept that the current site boundaries bear little resemblance to the original property configuration; however, we need to look at what functions the homestead fulfilled. Is it sufficient just to preserve buildings without any relationship to a surrounding area? What I am talking about is the integrity of an historic site. The functions that are represented by the buildings are only part of the overall picture that heritage preservation seeks to convey. I note that the National Trust was not listed as presenting a submission nor as appearing before the committee, although I understand that that had been the trust's intention. I would hope that, after recommending that the Government work with the Federal Government on the development of a memorial to Charles Bean, the National Trust would be invited to put forward its views on the site.
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