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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2211 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

refuses to move. With a minority government, it is all about compromise. I am pleased that the Government has agreed to compromise on this issue and to lower the fees for Canberrans wanting to visit Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, which is their very own. Unfortunately for Mr Corbell, I will be voting against his motion and I will be supporting the Government, given that Mr Humphries has moved some ground and the people who will benefit from that are Canberrans.

MR MOORE (4.15): I put the following motion on the notice paper on 20 February 1996:

That this Assembly rejects any move by the Government to institute charges for entering Canberra nature parks or the Namadgi National Park.

At the time I worded that I was conscious that it did not cover Tidbinbilla. This issue of charging for entrance to Tidbinbilla has been on the agenda for such a long time, as Mr Osborne mentioned. When I take my family to the pictures, I know that it is going to cost me well over $30, probably $35. If I take them ice-skating, it is going to cost at least that much money. If I take them out to Tidbinbilla, it is certainly going to cost me more than $8 in petrol and wear and tear on the car by the time I get there and back. When I make decisions about where I take my family, I weigh up costs against what benefit there is for them or future generations.

I was originally very reluctant to support the Government's approach when Mr Humphries and his staff first mentioned it to me. However, slowly I came around to the way of thinking that, in fact, we could wind up with a much better Tidbinbilla and that it would be really worth the while of somebody like me taking the family there. I could say, "Yes, I will contribute $8 to this because I am going to get something much more than I get when I take my family out to Namadgi". We enjoy going out to Namadgi. We enjoy walking through that area. It is fantastic. I will reject any attempts to charge for entrance to that national park. That is why my motion is still sitting there on the notice paper waiting to be brought on, should it be necessary.

In the case of Tidbinbilla, though, I have gone very carefully through the processes that were being prepared. I am of the opinion that on a cost-benefit analysis - and that is what we do - we are better off charging in the way proposed. That is not to take away from what Mr Corbell is doing. I can see that effectively he has done the same sort of cost-benefit analysis as I did. In the end, his analysis came down on one side of the line and mine came down on the other side of the line. I do not think our positions are so far apart. However, the crunch comes, as it did with issues such as circuses. You have to come down on one side of the line, even if there are good arguments on both sides. That is the way votes go; that is the way decisions are made.

Mr Osborne has sought some compromise from the Government, and I understand that a compromise is being appropriately considered. I thought charging $8 for a family was very fair. It is very rare that you can go somewhere with a family and get a family price. In fact, it makes it much cheaper for somebody like me. Mr Osborne will be looking forward to an even bigger family than mine with his four children and who knows how many more to come. I think we really need to step back from this and ask whether it is

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