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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 9 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 3299 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

that, which I note Mr Quinlan tried to do last year-to get that site reactivated for a 10-year lease. That is something we were both trying to do-in my case in 1999, and in his case in 2002-all to no avail.

Consequently, the carnival has moved on and we do not have a dragway. We have a government which made commitments in the last election to the people involved in the dragway. Certain members-you, Mr Speaker, and Mr Corbell-were quite vocal in relation to it, no doubt with heartfelt sympathy and goodwill towards the dragway, in wishing to see it occur, but it all changed once you became the government.

The only commitment you have given to date is to maybe help them in trying to find land. There has been no commitment to the building of the facility. They do not want a monetary commitment to run it-they have said that; that is simply not part of the equation-they just want a commitment to build it. That commitment has been reneged on and is not forthcoming.

My motion calls on this government to honour its promise. We are not the government, and we will come up with an election policy which will address this in great detail. In that, I will certainly be pushing for a dragway-and indeed for extra motor sport facilities. The fact is that we are not the government-you are. You made commitments which people voted on in the last election and they feel let down because nothing has happened.

I think my colleagues Mr Cornwell and Mrs Dunne are correct in saying that there are a significant number of people in this community who support motor sport and want to see a dragway facility and a motor sport complex.

You are correct, Mr Quinlan. There are several great tracks at Fairbairn Park, and there is no reason why they should be moved. There is a lot of potential for motor sport and the ancillary facilities and organisations which support it. Great potential can come from developing the Majura Valley. All it requires is commitment from government.

I close by urging members to support my motion in voting against Mr Quinlan's amendment. Mr Quinlan's amendment merely puts it off-fobs it off. It tells us the current state of play and nothing more. We want more than that. We want a commitment now from this government. It is something you are not going to weasel out of.

Question put:

The Assembly voted-

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