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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 2 Hansard (21 May) . . Page.. 476 ..

MR STANHOPE: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Last night on Prime Television the developer, Derek Whitcombe, said, in relation to his failed Kinlyside proposal, that it fell in line with the Government's thinking on rural residential development. Can the Chief Minister say whether the Government has indicated to Mr Whitcombe the likely outcome of the PALM review or whether he will be given preferential treatment in the future?

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, again I make the point that there is no failed rural residential development at Hall. As I have said, we are going ahead, Mr Speaker. The only difference is that we are not going ahead exclusively with one particular developer. It is progressing exactly as it always was, Mr Speaker.

Mr Stanhope: It is no longer secret.

MS CARNELL: We still support exactly the secret deal, subject to public meetings and all the rest of it. Mr Speaker, I know that those opposite would be extraordinarily embarrassed by all of this; but we are not in any way moving away from rural residential development or, for that matter, from the Hall and Kinlyside rural residential development. The fact is that PALM is doing a study of how to go about rural residential development, not if, and Hall and Kinlyside are still regarded by the Government as very good sites for rural residential development, as, by the way, are a number of other sites around Canberra, both north and south of the lake.

MR OSBORNE: My question to the Minister for Education, Mr Stefaniak, is regarding the refurbishment of Bruce Stadium. It is a rugby union question, not a rugby league question, Mr Speaker, in case you were wondering. Minister, in attending football matches at the stadium over the course of this year it has become obvious to me that the building work on the opposite side is now way behind schedule. Will you inform the Assembly what undertakings you or members of your department gave the Australian Rugby Union in order to secure two test matches for Bruce Stadium later this year? Did you, for example, assure the Australian Rugby Union that the general seating in the inner bowl, the eastern stand seating and the new corporate facilities at Bruce Stadium will be completed by the time the tests are to be staged in September?

MR STEFANIAK: I thank Mr Osborne for the question. I had one meeting with the Rugby Union some time ago and we talked generally about what was proposed for Bruce Stadium, Mr Osborne. There were no timeframes given. They, in fact, did not give any timeframes for giving us test matches. In fact, that was the last meeting when I actually went to Sydney to talk to them. It was quite some time ago. I had had some earlier meetings, really going back to about 1990, in terms of rugby union test matches. Of course, in the past I have had meetings with the Rugby League, too, to see whether we could get rugby league test matches, dating back to 1990 as well.

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