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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 14 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 4838 ..

Ms McRae: It is really sad how dumb I am, is it not?

MR MOORE: It is a very sad case when somebody has a little bit of knowledge but no understanding. Mr Speaker, what we have is a situation - - -

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I think those comments were very patronising, if not out of order.

MR MOORE: Yes, quite deliberately so.

Mr Humphries: I would ask Mr Moore to consider withdrawing them, not so much in terms of the standing orders, but in terms of good taste.

MR SPEAKER: I cannot rule on that point of order, but I do take the point you are making.

MR MOORE: You certainly cannot, Mr Speaker. Three options came out as a consequence of the analysis. The first one of those is for Mr Humphries to talk about a staged process. Mr Speaker, I must say that, if the process is going to occur at all, then that is the appropriate way to go. But it is very important for us to step back from this - in the same way as you stood back, in one sense, from Manuka, although that still has a long way to go - and say, "What are we going to do about the sites? Are we going to allow an individual" - in the case of Manuka, it was Woolworths - "to have this site?". The overwhelming community opinion is that they should not have an automatic right to the site. That is what I am talking about. It is exactly the same thing.

The Minister should make it clear to Lend Lease, so that they do not spend more huge amounts of money, that they do not have an automatic right to that site. It would be just as bad to say that they have no right to that site. If, indeed, it is appropriate that we consider that it be developed, then they should have a right to bid, along with other people, for that site or to put up a series of proposals, through expressions of interest, in which case their proposal may well outrun a series of others. That may well be a better way to do it and may be a more effective way to get the best possible option for the Territory. So, Minister, in approving the process, I think there are other issues that need to be taken into account which, as you correctly pointed out earlier, parallel what you have done here. But they cannot be ignored at the same time.

Mr Speaker, I have taken the opportunity to respond at this time because we are not going to be sitting for another six or eight weeks and things may well have progressed beyond this. So, I think it is appropriate that I take the opportunity to speak on these things at this stage to make it clear where I stand and to encourage the Government to use, at the very least, the sort of process they would use in Manuka. Even though I object to the expansion of retail space, I am accepting that and saying, "Now let us go through an appropriate process. Do not give people the impression that they are likely to have access to a particular lease that is not theirs to be used for this particular purpose".

Debate (on motion by Ms McRae) adjourned.

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