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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 9 Hansard (1 September) . . Page.. 2748 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

various meetings and venues in which we are all involved. They are all very different because, obviously, we all have different contacts. It is certainly going to be hard for Canberra to achieve those ends; but, given the benefits that just Hazelton moving to Canberra would bring, it has to be worth giving it our best shot. There would be an increase in the number of overnight stays in Canberra. As Mr Quinlan said, the prospect of people from areas right round New South Wales using Canberra for their doctor, lawyer, shopping or whatever is very real.

The number of people who go from, say, Wagga to Brisbane via Sydney is ridiculous. They could easily go via Canberra if they could fly to Canberra, which has never been terribly easy to do in regional New South Wales. It is these sorts of things that we need to get behind. We are very lucky in Canberra that, as part of the sale process for airports round Australia, a local consortium has bought our airport and is, I am sure we would all agree, absolutely committed to making this whole approach work. I am sure that members would agree with me that if these things happened - Bankstown Airport, fast train, Canberra Airport, Bishop Austrans, regional hub - we would change this city forever in terms of the opportunities, the jobs and the future of the city.

Mr Berry laughs, but I think that there are some things that we in this place have to share. Probably not Ms Tucker, it appears; but, for the rest of us, let us make sure that we all give it every chance and push it at every opportunity. We all have the capacity to do that. I am, I suppose, urging those from the Labor Party to use whatever opportunities they have to push the New South Wales Government to see Canberra and the region as a very important part of their ongoing strategy for regional jobs, for country jobs and for the Sydney sprawl.

Mr Berry: It would be easier if we were in government. If you were prepared to hand over the reins, we would do that.

MS CARNELL: Mr Quinlan and, by interjection, Mr Berry have made some pretty unfortunate comments about the approach the Government has taken. We have done everything possible, including putting dollars on the table, to ensure that the fast train proposal has a chance.

When you think about it, at the beginning neither the Federal Government nor the New South Wales Government was all that keen on it. It was the ACT Government that established the working party that set up the office for the very fast train bid. We have put in one-third of the money - the same amount as New South Wales and the Federal Government - to keep the process moving. We put in money when nobody else did, to keep the process moving. That, I think, is exactly what you would expect us to do.

This motion is not just about the media or whatever. It is about urging everyone in this Assembly to get behind the Capital Airport Group - Terry Snow and his people - and get behind this whole proposal by taking every opportunity we have to convince the Federal Government that Badgerys Creek is not a goer, but the fast train-Bankstown Airport-Canberra Airport proposal is a goer.

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