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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 2373 ..


MR WOOD

(continuing):

Mr Cornwell began with a comment that is quite correct-I know that Mr Cornwell's correspondence to me over a period bears it out-when he said that, when it comes down to it, people are very interested in roads, bike paths, rubbish, shopping centres, parking and all the other local issues. Most of us at some time have trekked around the shopping centres and displayed ourselves there listening to comment and, almost universally, what I get and what I think other members get reflects those issues.

I would want to bring Mr Cornwell to task. He said that we had broken a promise about Deakin shops. I am not aware that there has ever been a promise about Deakin shops. It is certainly the case, as I think has been said, that, through the agencies of government, refurbishment of the Deakin shops and the surrounds has been ordered and given an appropriate priority, but it is another step then to go to the next level of actually finding the funds. I think that that is the story of the Deakin shops. Their turn may come.

As for the Duffy shops, we have all been out to them. Duffy has a nice little shopping centre. It is probably one of the smallest in Canberra and the government has done a reasonable amount of work since the bushfires. It has put in a new playground there. The service station must be down by now. We have done or are about to do some painting around the place to tidy it up. Maybe the owner could do something as well. But there has been a deal of work around the place. It certainly isn't a major refurbishment, not that the size of the place would ever suggest a major refurbishment. I think paving would be the main thing that the shops would be interested in, but there would be a few other things.

Since Mr Hargreaves has walked back into the chamber, I should revert to the subject of parking. Mr Hargreaves has been persistent in his representations on behalf of Lake Tuggeranong College students and teachers-don't forget the teachers-as we look for a way through that problem. Ms Gallagher has assisted in that respect and parking sites are to be put onto the college grounds, so there is some action under way. Whether it will totally satisfy the demand, I would not care to indicate. Time will tell with that.

Ms Dundas spoke about having to pay $25 for a shorter term registration. I understand that she is going to move a disallowance motion on that, so we will come to that in due course.

I am delighted to see Mr Stefaniak's half conversion-not quite the full road to Damascus stuff-in that he is now spokesman for the arts and is starting to talk about issues of the arts. I do not think he has stopped going to rugby matches, so we will have to wait for that full conversion. When he no longer goes out to Bruce Stadium for that strange game, he will be well and truly converted to the arts.

Mr Stefaniak asked an interesting question about the glassworks. There is a large amount of money there yet to be spent. It is a difficult proposition. It was a wonderful idea to install in the old Kingston powerhouse a glassworks to draw on the great quality of glassworks in the ACT, but it does need to be done carefully. It is a very expensive undertaking to which the Kingston Foreshore Authority are giving quite a substantial amount of money, as they should, because they are featuring it, they are making an advertising plus of having a glassworks there. But it is a very expensive


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