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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 2 Hansard (21 May) . . Page.. 478 ..

MR STEFANIAK: Any policy in relation to changes in the operation of Bruce Stadium?

Mr Quinlan: Yes.

MR STEFANIAK: The Bruce Stadium rebuilding project is a matter for you, Chief Minister, is it not?

Ms Carnell: I will take it.

MR STEFANIAK: Yes, I think that is something the Chief Minister is looking after in terms of the redevelopment.

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, as members would be aware, the Chief Minister's Department has been handling the Bruce Stadium redevelopment project.

MR SPEAKER: Not on Executive policy, Chief Minister.

MS CARNELL: No, it will not be on Executive policy; I can guarantee it.

MR SPEAKER: Thank you. The Clerk has just drawn my attention to that.

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, negotiations are under way with the ASC - I do not know whether that is what Mr Quinlan is talking about - regarding the existing leasing arrangements. Is that what you are talking about?

Mr Quinlan: I heard some stories on the street.

MS CARNELL: Great! With regard to possible ownership arrangements for the stadium, a number of options are available to the ACT Government. As members would know, we currently have a lease arrangement with the ASC through to December 2009. The ACT Government and the ASC board have been negotiating for quite a long time with regard to extension of that lease, possible revision of the existing sublease and ultimate transfer of the asset to the ACT. Obviously, from the perspective of the ACT Government, as we are spending quite significant dollars on Bruce Stadium, we believe that it is very important to ensure that we have a lease for as long as possible; but our preferred position, of course, is to have the transfer of the asset to the ACT. Those negotiations are progressing. They are progressing, I have to say, very well. I am not in a position at this stage to predict the outcome of those negotiations, but I can state categorically that the ACT Government will accept only a result that allows the ACT community to benefit from a significantly enhanced facility for many years to come.

MR QUINLAN: Just to follow up on that, for information: Are contracts such as for catering and administration associated with those changes and subject to change now or in the near future?

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I think that Mr Quinlan might be getting very confused on this. Maybe what we need to do is to give Mr Quinlan a full briefing on the whole way in which the Bruce Stadium project is operating, certainly with regard to the ownership and leasing of the whole Bruce Stadium operations. Obviously, on top of that,

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