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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 1 Hansard (8 December) . . Page.. 4045 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

Mr Speaker, it is deplorable that all the opportunities for job creation, in a large scale, are being promoted away from the Tuggeranong Valley. There appear to be three reasons for this, possibly more. Firstly, the shape of the valley contributes to the land allocation difficulties. It is a long, thin valley, not an open, wide one like Belconnen is and therefore there are difficulties; secondly, the over-allocation, over time, of suitable land for residential purposes instead of industrial parks, TAFE annexes, sporting complexes and hospitals; thirdly, the lack of vision of this Government, and lately the Minister, in extending the largess of the Government in creating alternative job creation scenarios. The Tuggeranong business lobby group has agreed with all of this. Mr Speaker, no wonder Tuggeranong feels neglected by this Government. The residents are right.

This Government accuses the Opposition and me personally of lack of vision. They have had 41/2 years to correct the imbalance of job opportunities affecting Tuggeranong. They have assisted Civic, Belconnen and Phillip, but have neglected Tuggeranong, so I wonder for the future of Gungahlin. They have assisted Civic, as I said, and they have exploited the land down in Tuggeranong for residential development.

The Minister for Urban Services and the Chief Minister have attempted to take the credit for some movement in Tuggeranong to which they are not entitled. They have no vision for Tuggeranong. They should be ashamed, particularly the Minister. He has failed in his role as a member for Brindabella.

The Chief Minister, instead of pontificating about how wonderful things are going on in Tuggeranong, ought to wake up and realise just how Civic centric she is. She ought to realise that, unless they change the whole governmental attitude to planning in the Tuggeranong Valley, there will not be a square inch of land left so as to be able to do something large in that valley, such as put a university annex out there, or have CSIRO activity, a TAFE annex or a hospital out there. I dare say we are even running out of land to put a cemetery there, so even the dead have to go out of the valley. At the moment the whole of the valley is a dormitory suburb and people work outside it. I fear for its future while ever this regime is in power.

MR CORBELL (6.17): Mr Speaker, earlier today in the Assembly when the Chief Minister was tabling copies of executive contracts she made a comment that she was grateful that the Assembly, until recently - I think she said in the last couple of days - had respected the confidentiality of those contracts. I assume that that comment related to some comments that I have made, both in this place and in the media, relating to the appropriateness of the payment of temporary accommodation allowances.

Mr Speaker, I want to put on the record here and now that I am absolutely confident that the comments I have made in relation to temporary accommodation allowance and the appropriateness of those payments have been entirely in the public interest. I want to refute the comment of the Chief Minister that the privilege extended to this Assembly in relation to the details of the contracts has been abused, because it has not, Mr Speaker.

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