Page 4782 - Week 15 - Thursday, 8 December 1994
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The committee considers that the idea of returning the flowers to the people who have paid for them is a commendable one. However, the end result of the give-away was that, by the advertised starting time of 8.30 am on the day of the give-away, the gardens were already stripped bare by eager Canberrans, who filled their cars, trailers, wheelbarrows and garden bins with bulbs, leaving many others who turned up at the designated time empty-handed. Since the ACT Government is, in effect, a tenant of Commonwealth Park for the purposes of Floriade, the committee considers that there can be no guarantee that circumstances in the future would not once again require another quick exit from the park. For this reason, and to avoid the chaotic scenes of the 1994 give-away, the committee would like to put on record its views on how any future give-away should be conducted. As I said, Mr Deputy Speaker, we consider the concept to be a laudable one.
The committee believes that providing the general public with access to the Floriade bulbs should be as equitable as possible and provide the maximum benefit to all people living in Canberra. To achieve this, the committee proposes that, at the closure of Floriade, those community groups that earlier applied for access to the site should be given a plot of land within the Floriade area to sell bulbs from that plot to the general public. In this way the community groups would be responsible for the orderly and efficient removal of the bulbs from the ground and for the sale of them to the general public, who would be permitted access to the grounds after the bulbs had been removed.
This method of distribution of the flower bulbs would, for a number of reasons, provide a more beneficial system of giving them away than that which was witnessed this year. Firstly, this system would obviously avoid the mayhem that occurred at the 1994 bulb give-away. It is disappointing that the overeagerness of some people spoilt the occasion for all those Canberrans who wished to take advantage of the Government's offer. Secondly, allowing interested community groups initial access to the Floriade site would provide those organisations with the opportunity to gain an additional source of raising funds. The committee considers that many of these groups would more than welcome the chance to raise additional funds in a way that would require very little effort. Thirdly, the committee considers that the end result would still be the same as for the 1994 give-away, in that the bulbs would end up in Canberra gardens, where they belong.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Floriade is a special event in the calendar of events in the ACT. It should not be marred by a quick grab by the general public for whatever it can gain free. The committee considers that its proposal in this statement will both avoid a repetition of the negative aspects of the 1994 give-away and assist community organisations within the ACT with fundraising. As such, the committee hopes that its proposal will be given due consideration by the Government in any future give-away.
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