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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 1 Hansard (16 February) . . Page.. 149 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

I do not suppose any of us expect these recommendations to be implemented overnight. It would require a significant contribution in money and time to get them up and running. We need some long-term planning to overcome the problems that have occurred with the relocation of CHOGM. That is what the ACT Government, Margaret Reid and other representatives of the region are attempting to do.

I think it is really important to restate that I, and I think everyone who has been part of this whole situation, believes strongly that Canberra was and is quite capable of hosting an event such as CHOGM. The accommodation strategy that we put on the table after significant work was accepted by the task force. We believe that the approach we put together with regard to the Convention Centre was appropriate and was sustainable.

The Prime Minister and his advisers - I am aware that the Prime Minister acted on advice - believed that after some of the problems that occurred in Durban it was not worth, as I suppose he would say, taking the risk of having CHOGM in a city which would have its facilities stretched quite significantly. We believe that it could have been done and would have been the best CHOGM that has ever occurred. When the ACT does something, we do it well. That is history, and Mr Stanhope has run through a lot of the history involved.

Mr Stanhope missed one thing when he was trying to suggest that this was all a political decision made overnight with regard to the ACT election. He neglected to state that I put forward a bid to host CHOGM 2001 in 1997. The process started about the same time as Edinburgh 1997. When it was determined that CHOGM would come to Australia, I put forward a proposal at that stage for it to come to Canberra. That was a significant period of time prior to the Prime Minister announcing that Canberra would be the host city, subject to suitable accommodation arrangements being found. So much for it being a decision taken overnight with regard to an election.

Mr Stanhope made other mistakes with regard to the sequence of events, but I would like to finish by making the point again that what we have to do now is certainly condemn the Prime Minister - no doubt about that - for moving CHOGM. It could have been here, and it would have been a great CHOGM. Now we have to get on with supporting the submission that is being put forward to the Prime Minister and to Senator Ian Macdonald and supporting the upgrading of Canberra's facilities so that no government in the future has an opportunity to take this sort of approach again.

We are the national capital. We should have an international airport. We should have international standard conference facilities. We should be the preferred destination for Commonwealth government conferences. The list goes on. They are all on the table. Let us produce some positives out of what has been a very negative decision, and let us hope that everyone supports my amendment, because it does take a very negative and maybe even counterproductive motion through to something that can produce benefits for Canberra.

MR SPEAKER: We have a number of amendments coming forward. The amendment Mr Kaine has circulated is contrary to the amendment just moved by the Chief Minister. You may speak, Mr Kaine, but you cannot move your amendment yet. You can foreshadow it.

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