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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (23 May) . . Page.. 1650 ..

Mr De Domenico: An exciting plan for the future.

MR WOOD: That is a nice change of tune by Mr De Domenico - an exciting plan for the future - but the future is some time into the next century, which is certainly not what you had in mind at the time. The fact is that this Assembly and the committee of this Assembly have done the Government and the ACT a good turn by bringing some sense into this debate.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning) (11.21): Mr Speaker, I suppose that we on this side of the chamber should have realised that, when we announced the Kingston foreshore proposal and put it up in lights before the last election as a major project that we were interested in to get development, investment and new opportunities going in the ACT, it would, at the same time, become a target for those opposite to make sure that what we had set ourselves as a major goal of the Government would not be achieved. We have seen, in the report handed down, an attempt to do just that. I think it is hard to imagine a proposal holding more possibility for the ACT than the one we have here. It is an exciting proposal, no matter from which angle you look at it.

I have looked through the report of this committee very carefully. I have tried, with the best will in the world, to work out a single strong argument for opposing this deal. I honestly cannot find one. Other debates in this chamber tend to revolve around an assessment of different arguments. There are arguments for a proposal; there are arguments against a proposal; and we balance them up. Different members give different weight to different arguments. Therefore, some say that we should say aye, and some say that we should say no. That is the way debates go. On this issue, I am at a loss to discover why we should not proceed with this proposal. From every angle from which you look at it, it stacks up as a very good deal for the ACT.

Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that Mr Wood is right and that every cent of the cost of the clean-up that has to take place on the Kingston foreshore site has to be borne by the ACT taxpayer. That is a highly hypothetical proposition, because I do not believe, in my wildest dreams, that the ACT will ever be in that position; neither, in his heart of hearts, does Mr Wood. But let us say, for argument's sake, that that is the case. We still have a proposal which is going to reap millions of dollars for the Territory and create hundreds of jobs, whichever way you look at it.

Mr Berry: It is a long way away.

MR HUMPHRIES: It has to happen that way. It might be a long way away. It certainly will be if reports like this keep coming down in the Assembly; it certainly will be a long way away if stalling in this Assembly keeps taking place. At the end of the day, it is an idea that stacks up very well, and it will produce a lot of money for the Territory.

This Government makes no bones about it: We are chasing every wagon which passes through this town and which has a bit of money on it, because we want to provide investment opportunities and jobs. When we came to office we said that we were serious about making a real difference to the economy of this town and generating development which provided jobs. We have not changed one iota from that position. We will pursue

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