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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 5 Hansard (7 May) . . Page.. 1223 ..

MR QUINLAN: But what does she mean by the question?

MR SPEAKER: Order! The minister has indicated that he will take the question on notice. Mrs Cross has asked for some supplementary information, and I think the minister was asking her to repeat the question.

MR QUINLAN: Can you ask it in a way that I can understand?

Mrs Cross: There is a technique that is usually used to calculate these things, and you have used a different technique. I would like you to explain why you have used something different. I am new here. You obviously know more than I do and can perhaps explain to me why.

MR QUINLAN: Did Hansard get that? We will try to work out what you want and give you an answer.

Griffin Centre enhancement

MS DUNDAS: Mr Speaker, my question is to the minister for community services. Minister, in last year's budget, $1.7 million was earmarked for Griffin Centre enhancement. Has any of this money been spent on the Griffin Centre or community space in the inner north?

MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, I am not aware of the details of the allocation of that money. I will take the question on notice and get back to Ms Dundas.

Commonwealth land

MS GALLAGHER: My question is to the Minister for Planning. Given the federal government's recent actions in advertising excess Commonwealth land in the ACT for sale, can the minister inform the Assembly on the ACT government's position on this action?

MR CORBELL: I thank Ms Gallagher for the question. Unlike those opposite, this government considers this matter to be of some significance in orderly planning and the orderly release of land in the territory. It is also significant in protecting the community's land asset, whether that is in the public interest or in the interests of individual leaseholders. It was a fundamental principle at the time of self-government-and the territory's clear understanding-that the Commonwealth would return undeveloped land to the territory if that land was no longer required for a Commonwealth purpose.

In the final stages of the negotiations in the development of self-government, the Commonwealth retained certain undeveloped land parcels for its future use. These land parcels were designated national land under the relevant Commonwealth legislation. It was a very clear understanding that that land, if no longer required by the Commonwealth for its purposes, would be returned to the territory.

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