Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 13 Hansard (5 December) . . Page.. 4465 ..

Ms Follett: We thought we had sold it; that Holding sold it.

MR HUMPHRIES: Anyway, I have had certain expressions of interest. Perhaps Mr Wood did not, but I certainly have had some. People have said that they would like to develop the brickworks site. Obviously, they are talking, for the most part, about being able to develop housing on that prestigious location. There will always be that kind of interest. It is one thing to say that that interest is there and expresses itself from time to time. It is another thing to say that there is active consideration of, or active planning towards, a particular proposal being adopted or developed. This Government remains prepared to discuss issues with anybody, but there is no likelihood of any particular proposal being developed in the near future.

I do not know whether it is appropriate for me to name to you the people who have come forward and said that they would like to talk about things that could happen at the brickworks. What they have done is, in a sense, made a commercial-in-confidence approach about what they would like to do. If we were going to contemplate such a development and put it on the table, we would do so publicly and you and your colleagues would have plenty of opportunity to look at it. I emphasise that anything that happens at the brickworks site has to happen in a way which respects the heritage issues in many of those old buildings, particularly, the buildings that were recently closed to public access. Nobody is going to have the right to develop the site by knocking down the brickworks or those parts of the brickworks which are heritage protected. That is out of the question. There is no need to state that, but I probably should anyway.

I emphasise again that the decision to close public access to that site very suddenly was a decision I did not enjoy having to take but I felt there was simply no alternative. We were told unequivocally by the Fire Commissioner that that site was dangerous; that access to that site could constitute a threat to public safety. We on this side of the chamber believe in occupational health and safety issues very firmly. I hope everybody in the chamber does. When the Fire Commissioner says to you, "This site is dangerous, Minister; close it", you have no alternative but to do so. I know that some people like to make capital out of that fact. Mr Berry would like to let people get access to sites which are dangerous. A brick on the head - - -

Mr Berry: No; you just like to close things. It does not matter what it is - schools, hospitals - - -

MR SPEAKER: Order! It is Ms Horodny's question. She is entitled to an answer that she can hear.

MR HUMPHRIES: A brick on the head is neither here nor there, as far as Mr Berry is concerned. Public safety comes a poor second to being able to score political points, as far as he is concerned. Mr Speaker, the fact is that we took that seriously. We have closed the site, but do not expect to see any signs and bulldozers there in the near future. I very much doubt that that is going to happen.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .