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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 3 Hansard (24 March) . . Page.. 789 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

Let us not forget the affordability. There are fewer barriers to entry, and that is an important factor. You do not need a large deposit as you do for a house, and you do not have to face up to $600, $700, $800 or $1,000 a month in repayments.

Let me make clear one thing that has been brought to my attention by the residents in the gallery today. This is a long-stay caravan park. We might think that if residents have to go all they have to do is hitch up their caravan to the car and move next door or somewhere else. That is not the case. It would be in some circumstances. But for a very large number of these people their home is basically a fixture. It is not easily moved. It certainly cannot to be moved without considerable expense.

Debate interrupted.

ADJOURNMENT

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Hird): Order! It being 5.00 pm, I propose the question:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Mr Smyth: Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I require the question to be put forthwith without debate.

Question resolved in the negative.

NARRABUNDAH LONG-STAY CARAVAN PARK - SUGGESTED SALE

Debate resumed.

MR WOOD: People cannot just shift their van. If they could, if they were capable of easily and economically moving their van, there is nowhere else to go. The availability of other sites is strictly limited. The danger is that if this sale goes ahead and if, as is likely, the park is used for some other function, we will have a few hundred homeless people with nowhere to go.

And what of their investment? I heard the story of one of the residents who was all lined up to sell their van for $30,000. When this announcement came down, that sale fell through immediately, and why would it not? Effectively, the investment in this place has disappeared overnight.

There are a very large number of factors here that are pretty obvious, but not perhaps immediately on the surface, but that bureaucrats and others may have missed. We need to take a pause to work out the ramifications of all this, to protect the roof over the heads of hundreds of people. The Government, who owns this site, has a responsibility to do so. That is what this motion is about.

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