Page 62 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 22 February 1994
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MR DE DOMENICO (8.41): Madam Speaker, all the eloquence has been used by Mr Lamont, Ms Ellis, Ms Szuty and Mr Kaine. That leaves me only one small thing to say. Once again, it proves the wonderful way in which committees work in this place when we have five people of different political persuasions coming to a unanimous decision. Even Ms Szuty had the luxury of changing her mind. Fantastic!
I will try to be a little pragmatic. I have lived very close to the homestead for 12 years now. I remember a couple of my kids riding to school on the bike path near it and saying, "What is that old ramshackle place we ride past, Dad?". I said, "That is the Tuggeranong Homestead site". The bottom line is this: What is the use of having something so historic and so magnificent if no-one can appreciate it? Unless there is some sort of blended housing development, albeit very innovative, there is no way that any community would have found enough resources to maintain the historical precinct of this site, in any way, shape or form. That is the reality of the situation.
I think this committee has come to a decision that no-one can criticise. There is no way that a community organisation could have found enough money to maintain those historical buildings in the way that they should be maintained.
Mr Lamont: And the entire site.
MR DE DOMENICO: The entire site; Mr Lamont is right. Over 30 hectares has to be maintained in a condition that could be utilised and enjoyed, not just by the people who live next-door to it but by the whole community of the ACT, and even by people from interstate and perhaps overseas. Ms Ellis made the very telling point that there is potential here for the people of the ACT to show the rest of the country how sensitive, intelligent development can be done, at the same time preserving historical precincts and buildings. Let it also be said that there is no way that organisations such as the Australian War Memorial would have been willing to spend the money to maintain these buildings. It is not untrue to say that it would not have been a very high priority of the War Memorial to spend any money at all on this site. Anyone who says differently is not looking at reality.
In summary, Madam Speaker, the pragmatic reality is that in this report we have come up with a solution that means that the people of the ACT have the potential to enjoy a unique way of having sensitive development while maintaining historical and community use, which is most important of all, and having input into the way community facilities are used here in the ACT. Obviously, not everybody is going to be 100 per cent happy; nor should they be. If any group comes out of this sort of situation being 100 per cent happy, it means that this committee has not done its work properly. I think in this report we have come up with a solution that should please everybody who stands in that little circle where sensible people meet - something you are going to hear me say a lot from now on. That is what any committee of this Assembly ought to try to maintain, and I think we have done it very well. I congratulate the committee for its deliberations and invite everybody to endorse this report.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
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