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Canberra Times . . Page.. 1540 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (Minister for Urban Services) (11.31): I thank Ms Tucker for her kind comments at the end. One thing that I - in fact, probably all of us - have learnt in this place is that you never base motions on what you read in the Canberra Times or hear on the ABC.

Ms Follett: They will get you.

MR DE DOMENICO: I do not care. People often say to me, “It must be so, because it was in the Canberra Times” or “It must be so, because it was on the ABC”.

Mr Berry: This must be so because you said it on the ABC, perhaps.

MR DE DOMENICO: Exactly, yes. Mr Berry, of all people, should know all about that. Ms Tucker, I also read the story in the Canberra Times by Mr Clack. Whilst most of it was accurate and correct, I will quote one particular part which was not. He talked about the fact that we are going to widen Mouat Street. That is true. It has been no secret. But he went on to say:

The improvements -

the Mouat Street improvements -

are likely to signal the beginning of planning for another long-term major project, already recommended by the joint committee, for the building of the John Dedman Parkway to take traffic around the O'Connor side of Black Mountain and down to join Parkes Way.

That is Mr Clack's interpretation and nobody else's. Let us get that straight. Tonight I am going to launch the Lyneham, Turner and O'Connor traffic management study. One of the objectives of that study is to identify traffic calming measures for the residential areas which, in conjunction with improvements to public transport services, traffic management measures on Northbourne Avenue and additional arterial road connections to Gungahlin, will address the future transport needs of North Canberra while maintaining the amenity of the existing residential areas.

That is not something that this Government initiated. It was initiated by my predecessor, Mr Lamont, and is something that this side of the house supports, that everybody supports. Whilst we all talk about lack of public consultation, with this study we are going to go through an extensive public consultation process. This process commenced in August 1995 and will go through to March 1996. All residents in the area are going to be involved in a household survey for a start and all sorts of community consultation and what have you. When I read the story in the Canberra Times, I asked my department why I had not been told that we were about to drill holes through Black Mountain, put freeways through and do all sorts of things, only to be told once again that I should not believe everything I read in newspapers or hear on radio stations, which I do not.

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