Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 11 Hansard (28 November) . . Page.. 3297 ..

MR RUGENDYKE (continuing):

the Channel 7 cameras. One of the identities in the crowds was Bill Gates, who needs no introduction to members. It has come to my attention that the minister with responsibility for business development was seeking a meeting with Mr Gates when he was in Australia. Could the minister please advise the Assembly whether a meeting was sought by either Mr Gates or the ACT government? If so, did the meeting go ahead? Who was in attendance? Where did it take place? What was the nature and outcome of the discussions?

MS CARNELL: No, a meeting did not take place, but we had dinner.

MR RUGENDYKE: I have a supplementary question. Have any further talks been planned between Mr Gates and the ACT government? Is there any indication that he is prepared to invest in the ACT? Who picked up the tab?

MS CARNELL: We are having ongoing discussions with the head of Microsoft in Australia, Mr Houghton. There are huge opportunities with regard to Microsoft using the ACT as a test site for a lot of its new software. The fact is that we have the highest usage of the Internet, not just in Australia but in the world, on recent survey statistics. Sixty-two per cent of Canberrans accessed the Internet last year, and that was the highest rate of Internet usage of any city in the world. I think that San Francisco came second at 61 per cent and Washington was at about 56 per cent. I think that we have something worth while to offer to Microsoft as a test site and we will continue to have discussions with them along those lines.

MR WOOD: My question is to Mr Smyth. I refer to documents obtained by my colleague Mr Corbell on the ACT land stock assessment. You were reported in the Valley View of 21 November as saying that the assessment was-you have got it there; that is good-"a land stock register ... to identify all the unleased land across the territory ... It is not a hit list of sites designated as Urban Open Space to be targeted for infill". If, as you say, the study was not a hit list of sites to be targeted for infill, can you explain why the study itself said that it aimed "to create a database for the Territory's unleased assets, the potential development and market opportunities for every single block"?

MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, yet again, the land release program document makes quite clear what is going on and what Labor ignores, as they always do, is the last paragraph. Mr Wood talks of the Valley View of 21 November.

Mr Corbell: Are you disowning the report?

MR SMYTH: I would rather quote from the Chronicle of 14 November-

Mr Corbell: You are avoiding that report. You don't want to know about it, do you?

MR SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Corbell: You just don't want to know about it.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .