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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 222 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

They put out a tender advertisement saying, "We want people to tender to provide certain facilities in Gungahlin, including an enclosed oval". Two tenders or expressions of interest - I am not sure what they were - arrived at their desk concerning that advertisement. In a sense, neither tender complied with the requirements of the process.

Mr Berry: That is not the question I asked.

MR HUMPHRIES: It is the answer to your question, Mr Berry. One did not show any oval at all. The other showed an oval, but only in exchange for a massive increase in the development rights which were sought to warrant the building of that oval - in fact, enormous development rights. Mr Speaker, in that sense, neither of the tenders that were received complied with the tender process; but the board decided, as was its right, to proceed, nonetheless, to make a decision on which of those two tenders would be accepted. It is the prerogative, under tender procedures which operated under that Government when they were in power, as much as it is under this Government, for tender approval bodies or tender processing bodies like the Gungahlin Development Authority to modify the processes of the tender as they go through; it is their right to do so.

Mr Berry, when you ask why the board did not do certain things in respect of requesting an enclosed oval, go back and look at your own procedures in government and you will see that it is entirely within the rights of the Gungahlin Development Authority to have modified that proposal.

Mr Berry: I did not ask that question. Are you attempting to mislead this place, Gary?

MR HUMPHRIES: I will ignore that interjection. The Gungahlin Development Authority consists of about 12 people. They include a resident of Gungahlin who is familiar with the diversity of interests of residents of Gungahlin, being a person nominated by the Gungahlin Community Council Inc.; a resident of Gungahlin who is familiar with the diversity of interests of residents of the Territory; a person with expertise in the retail trade industry; a person with expertise in the finance industry; a person with expertise in urban planning and design; a person with expertise in environmental protection; and a person with expertise in the provision of community facilities. Incidentally, it has two executive officers plus the chief executive of the authority.

But in respect of all that expertise, Mr Wood said, when the Gungahlin Development Authority Bill came before this place:

Another one of the aspects that came through very strongly from these meetings that I attended and from the briefings that I saw on others was that the community wanted a say not just in how it was going to be but in the continuing development of that town centre; they wanted their stake in planning to continue ... In general terms - and I use the term "in general", not specifically in every case perhaps - this Bill seems to me to be providing the way that that can be done. That is why the Opposition is supporting it.

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