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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 5 Hansard (8 May) . . Page.. 1712 ..

MR WOOD: I'm coming back to you later on, after question time, with a response to Mr Cornwell's question yesterday about roads. As you get into the more detailed design, you get the real costs. There are many circumstances where what is put into the budget is a statement of intent and, as decisions are made and the situation becomes much clearer, the real costs emerge. That is the case with the police station.

Five million dollars is a very nice round figure, but I will tell you something. It was an indicative cost and it was never expected to be that cost. Now that the careful examination is complete, we have a clear cost of $7.332 million, I think. That tells you that we are now down to the precise stage of the budget.

MR PRATT: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. Nevertheless, why will you spend so much to achieve so little?

MR WOOD: We are achieving a great deal. A further point which emerges is that I believe the original staffing thought for Woden was less than the staffing that is now going to be incorporated in the new building, to adjust to changed police boundaries, if you like. So we are going to spend $7.332 million on a lot, Mr Pratt-not on a small product.

Land-east O'Malley

MS TUCKER

: My question is to Mr Corbell as Minister for Planning and relates to the government's proposed sale of land at east O'Malley. Do the proposed sale documents imply any guarantee that buyers or developers actually will be able to develop the land, given the requirement for it to be referred for assessment under the Commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act?

MR CORBELL: There is, of course, a requirement potentially for any land sale in the ACT to be referred to the Commonwealth under the Commonwealth's EPBC legislation. That is a standard process that could happen with any parcel of land in the ACT. Obviously, the key requirement that the Commonwealth must be satisfied with is that the territory has properly taken account of and responded appropriately to any ecological or environmental issues on the site. We believe that the territory has and, as such, we believe that it is appropriate to proceed with the auction.

MS TUCKER: I have a supplementary question. Minister, could you explain to the Assembly now or take on notice what work has been done by government or anyone else to satisfy the requirements for clearance under the EPBC Act in terms of the presence or otherwise of endangered species listed under the act?

MR CORBELL: A very detailed analysis has occurred, including a preliminary assessment under the land act and two rounds of examination in accordance with the ACT's relevant strategies for, first of all, yellow box/red gum grassy woodland and, as it is now called, the lowland woodland strategy. The assessment has been detailed in relation to understanding what is on the site and in understanding the impact of any development on the site. So it has been a significant assessment and one that we believe meets fully our requirements to assess the issues at east O'Malley comprehensively before making a development decision.

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