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MR WOOD: Show a little bit of tolerance now; come on! Chief Minister, is the Commonwealth committed to clearing its part of the Kingston site, and will it be responsible for the decontamination of that area that it owns?

MRS CARNELL: That was a question yesterday, but I would be very happy to answer it again. No, the Commonwealth does not have a requirement to clear the Kingston site because at this stage, quite seriously, we do not need it cleared. We are very happy to pick up the rent on the printing works. Quite seriously, while the Australian Government Printer pays us rent as the landlord, I am extremely happy, because at this stage - - -

Mr Berry: Where are you going to put them?

MRS CARNELL: That is up to them, Mr Berry. Fascinatingly, it is not our responsibility - - - 

Mr Berry: Who is going to pay for the block of land?

MRS CARNELL: It is our block of land.

Mr Berry: No; the new block of land.

MRS CARNELL: They pay rent to us, and when they move that is their responsibility. In the meantime, we get rent.

Mr Berry: I do not think they think that.

MRS CARNELL: Yes, they know that very well.

Mr Berry: I doubt it.

MRS CARNELL: The facts of the matter here are that the Kingston foreshore will become the ACT Government's; therefore, Federal Government tenants on that site will pay rent to us. We do not need those sites cleared at this stage. We are going to have, hopefully, an international competition that will come up with a plan for a very big site; a site that is bigger than Darling Harbour and Circular Quay together; a plan that will take, I would assume, quite a number of years to put in place, stage by stage; a plan that has been welcomed by a very large number of people.

In fact, another letter of the many came from the Leichhardt Street Studios, a group that is on the Kingston foreshore right now. Leichhardt Street Studios, a principal art association, say that they would relish the opportunity of being actively involved in such an exciting project, one that they said will improve the cultural variety of Canberra. That is the sort of response that this group and other groups are giving. This group used to be - - -


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