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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 8 Hansard (24 August) . . Page.. 2264 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

five years, over the June long weekend. The event will attract extensive national and international television and print media coverage, providing a positive image of Australia's national capital.

The total cumulative benefits to the Territory are expected to be in the order of $52m over the five years. The spectator attendance for year one is expected to be around 50,000 people, with over half being visitors to the Territory. Given the labour-intensive nature of staging the event and the high degree of interstate visitation, it is expected that new jobs, in the order of 150 full- and part-time equivalents, will be created by the event. The event will assist the Territory in filling a particular accommodation trough period during the June long weekend.

The $4.5m capital injection will be used for capital works required to stage the event - works such as concrete barriers, road works, safety fencing and pit lane construction. Government payments for outputs of $2.5m will be appropriated to purchase the ongoing management of the event from the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation. Appropriation for this event was not provided for in the 1999-2000 budget, as the opportunity did not exist at the time the budget was formulated.

The appropriation to the Department of Health and Community Care provides $3m capital injection to move the ACT Hospice from its current site on Acton Peninsula. This funding was not included in the 1999-2000 budget, as the ACT was awaiting the outcome of negotiations with the Commonwealth on the tenure of the hospice on Acton. The ACT has recently reached agreement with the Commonwealth that the hospice will be moved from its present site by 30 June 2000, with a six-month extension to 31 December 2000 being available, provided the ACT has substantially implemented plans to move the facility. This agreement follows protracted negotiation with the Commonwealth throughout which the ACT sought to obtain a longer tenure on Action Peninsula.

To meet the relocation timetable, it is necessary to commence planning and construction to provide a new hospice as soon as possible. The $3m capital injection will provide the required capital works funding to commence construction, which is scheduled to be completed by December 2000. These appropriations have a combined effect of increasing the general government sector's operating loss by $3.415m in 1999-2000. This takes the general government sector operating loss, after taking into consideration the effect of the revised superannuation expense, to $9.081m.

Mr Speaker, the Assembly clearly indicated through the debate on the Bruce Stadium development that, where large financial commitments are required during financial years, issues such as these should be dealt with through a second appropriation Act. I am not entirely sure that this is consistent with the view of the Assembly when the second appropriation Bill for the Department of Health was debated in 1996. Nonetheless, the Government has introduced a second appropriation Bill to ensure full accountability and transparency to the Assembly and the ACT community. We believe that this is the most effective way to involve the Assembly in the decision-making process to provide appropriations to fund two largely capital projects.

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