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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 1 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 144 ..

MR WOOD: Nothing much has changed. We will leave the bill with you if you want to pay it.

ACTTAB

MS TUCKER: My question is directed to the Treasurer, Mr Quinlan, and relates to his responsibility for the operations of ACTTAB. As you know, ACTTAB has proposed to move its headquarters from Dickson to a purpose built building in Bruce. Before the election Mr Corbell told Bruce residents that he shared their concerns about the impact of this 24-hour facility on residential amenity. He also said it was ALP policy to relocate the ACTTAB headquarters to Gungahlin rather than Bruce, subject to meeting ACTTAB's operational requirements. However, in last week's Chronicle Mr Corbell was quoted as saying that the government would not force ACTTAB to move to Gungahlin.

As the minister responsible for ACTTAB, could you clarify for the Assembly what investigations are occurring on the feasibility of relocating ACTTAB to Gungahlin and how serious you are about overcoming any technical problems in moving to Gungahlin?

MR QUINLAN: Thanks for the question. I guess the direct answer is no, I cannot. There certainly has been some adverse reaction from the residents of Fern Hill to the location of the ACTTAB headquarters, and I understand that negotiations in relation to the lease of the site are unresolved. At this point there is nothing certain about the Bruce site. Gungahlin is our preferred location. We have to look at the additional costs that might be involved in that.

ACTTAB needs a 100 per cent redundancy in its electronic connections so that if there is a failure in the email or telephonic processes it can be immediately overcome. I have been given a rough estimate that there would be a requirement of an extra $1 million in order to install that level of redundancy at Gungahlin. We have not reached the stage of evaluating that and being able to say that that is a worthwhile investment of taxpayers' funds versus all the other priorities. It remains up in the air, I am sorry.

MS TUCKER: I ask a supplementary question. Thank you for that answer. I think you alluded to the fact that you are also trying to understand the arrangements between Bruce-

MR SPEAKER: Ms Tucker-

MS TUCKER: No preamble, okay. Does any commercial agreement exist-I think you partially answered this-between ACTTAB and the owner of the block in Bruce, the Hindmarsh Group, that commits ACTTAB to taking up the building once it is constructed? If so, could you tell us the terms of this agreement and whether it can be broken?

MR QUINLAN: As I understand it, there is no absolute commitment, but I will have that checked so that I am not at risk of misleading you. Although a lot of people have spent a lot of money, there is no absolute or binding commitment on ACTTAB, as far as I know, but I will have that checked and I will let you know.

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