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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2210 ..

Debate resumed.

MR OSBORNE (4.09): Mr Speaker, I must admit that I have learnt a little bit on this issue. When fees at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve were announced, I was quite disappointed. Looking back on the issue, I think I was disappointed because we had a budget presented which spoke of no new taxes and no new fees, yet very soon after that budget the Minister, Mr Humphries - - -

Mr Humphries: Vote against it, Mr Osborne. Go on, be a man!

MR OSBORNE: Mr Speaker, I would like to remind Mr Humphries that I am walking a very fine line here at the moment. It will not take a lot to push me one way or the other.

MR SPEAKER: There is an even finer line for the Chair, Mr Osborne.

MR OSBORNE: Mr Speaker, my initial reaction to this whole issue was one of disappointment. Some of the fees proposed were, in my opinion, a little high, given that the vast majority of people who use the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve are Canberrans. I sympathise with Mr Corbell on this issue. However, Mr Humphries and his department have come up with some very interesting arguments. Mr Speaker, I find it interesting that the Government have changed their tack on this issue of all money raised going into Consolidated Revenue. I agree with Mr Humphries when he says that all money collected at Tidbinbilla will remain at Tidbinbilla. I had a meeting with the Minister at lunchtime and I think we moved some ground on this issue. I believe that he is going to stand up in a little while and make a couple of announcements in regard to the fees to be charged.

I do not particularly want to go back into the history books, but the issue of fees for certain areas of Canberra is not a new issue. I am led to believe that the previous Labor Government had it in mind to introduce fees not only at Tidbinbilla but also at Pine Island in my electorate. They were looking at charging a fee of about $4 to visit Pine Island and $8 a car for people going into Tidbinbilla, so it is not a new issue. It is not one that the Labor Party has always been opposed to.

The one thing that concerned me was the $20 fee to be placed on families for a 12-month pass. I think that is perhaps a little too high. As I said, the only people who would use Tidbinbilla more than once would be residents of the ACT. I think Mr Humphries has agreed to a compromise on that one. The people most likely to buy that annual pass are people who live in the Territory. Mr Humphries is going to talk about that. I hope he is also going to talk about some sort of incentive for children to join a Tidbinbilla nature club or something like that. I think that would be a tremendous move on the part of the Government.

I hope that Mr Humphries will stand up and allay my fears on this. He cannot move anything today. However, if he gives us his word that he will do that in the future, I am prepared to go with them on this. As I said, I do not think it achieves anything if we stand up here and yell and carry on, one side does not move and the other side

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