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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (8 April) . . Page.. 706 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Again, the issue of consultation is a very interesting one. Many people have made the comment that somehow the consultation process was not appropriate. It is important for members to be aware that the concept of a peace park is not a new one. In fact, the consultation process undertaken for this issue was actually quite extensive. Members may recall that the idea of the peace park was first raised by me in this very chamber on 12 December 1995 as part of a ministerial statement on the 1995 ACT business delegation to Japan. I quote from that statement:

We will consider the establishment of a peace park in Canberra ... and house the large Japanese lantern -

it turned out to be two lanterns -

the mayor has indicated he will present during his visit early in 1996.

That, of course, became 1997. This issue has been in the public domain since then; that is, since late 1995. In fact, an article on the peace park appeared in the Canberra Times on 22 December 1996. The matter of the peace park was also brought before the Assembly's Planning and Environment Committee on 14 February 1996, at which time the committee was provided with a full briefing on the park. If anybody is interested in any of those documents, I have them available.

Any claims that somehow this issue was dreamt up overnight or was dreamt up without adequate consultation are blatantly untrue. In early July 1996 a meeting was held with NCA officials to discuss the establishment of a peace park. The minutes of the Canberra/Nara Sister City Committee meeting of 21 August 1996 record the informal discussions that occurred with Mr Ratcliffe, head of the NCA, on the issue. The NCA have continued to be involved in and supportive of the concept, as reflected by recent comments by Air Vice Marshal David Evans, the chairman of the authority. In fact, in a letter dated 12 November 1996, David Wright, the Director of Strategy Planning at the NCA, said:

I refer to our recent on-site discussions regarding the above proposal [Nara Peace Park at Lennox Gardens] and confirm that the Authority would consider favourably the use of any of the three sites considered at the end of the path leading down to the end of the peninsula at Lennox Gardens.

The issue of the peace park also should not have been a surprise to Ms Rees, who has been very vocal on this issue. On 7 February 1996, which is more than 12 months ago, I attended a meeting of the Interim Kingston Foreshore Development Authority at which Ms Rees was present, and we actually discussed the Government's position in relation to the concept of a peace park. It is all in the minutes of that meeting over 12 months ago. I certainly find the context of Ms Rees's eleventh hour protest, shall we say, somewhat baffling, if not maybe a touch opportunistic.

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