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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 9 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 3291 ..


MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

keep the spotlight off me."Mr Smyth, you are like a rabbit in the headlights. One of these days, a drag car is going to come along and kill you out.

Mr Smyth: Not under your government!

MR HARGREAVES: You are a pseudologist, Mr Smyth.

Mr Smyth: A what?

MR HARGREAVES: You are a pseudologist. Go and get the dictionary.

Mr Smyth: Go on-spell it.

MR HARGREAVES: I do not need to spell it-I can pronounce it. I can pronounce it, but you cannot. You don't even know it!

MR SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, direct your comments through the chair. Members of the opposition will come to order!

MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, I reject all the things Mr Smyth has had to say about me. This government has been talking to people in the Majura Valley/Pialligo area in good faith. We have been doing that despite the opposition from this lot over here-despite the obstacles put in our way by people over here. We will get the dragway for these people, in some form or another, at some time or another, despite what they are doing.

MS DUNDAS (4.46): I will speak on both the amendment and the substantive, to get it all out of the way at once. This has become another heated debate in this place. Nevertheless, there seem to be a number of things upon which the majority of the Assembly agrees-support for a motor sport facility of some kind, and that it should be in the Majura Valley-or that the Majura Valley is the best place for that, as it is out of the urban area.

How we word this Assembly's support for that understanding is where we hit the complications. Should the government fund such a facility-pay for it to be built and have it as part of the ongoing budget process, so it is continually supported through government funding, or should it be privately owned and just supported by the government, in essence, in allowing the thing to be put there? To me, these seem to be the main debates we are having here. There is debate on the pros and cons of a motor sport facility, but most of it seems to be on how a motor sport facility is supported.

This has been the subject of great community debate, especially since the old Tralee speedway closed. I have not received a satisfactory answer about why the old dragway was closed, and why it has yet to pick up again. It was a great facility. I went there only a couple of times but, each time I went, I had an enjoyable time. It is important to note that Canberra has a large population of motor sport enthusiasts, yet Canberra continues to be Australia's largest city without a motor sport facility of this type.

We have briefly discussed what happened at the Tuggeranong Community Council meeting-attended by about 400 people just a few weeks ago. I understand a large group


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