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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Wednesday, 31 March 2004) . . Page.. 1427 ..

addressed in the studies underpinning your much anticipated announcement of the future of planning consultation in the territory?

MR CORBELL: I think it is similar to the discussion we were having yesterday during the matter of public importance—confusing outcomes with process. I can appreciate that residents of that particular neighbourhood—that street—are concerned about redevelopment in their street. I can appreciate that. That is part of the master planning process—to put in place a framework that guides that redevelopment. But I think, fundamentally, the residents’ objection is to the redevelopment that is occurring. That is a policy setting that is not new. Redevelopment of that part of Lyneham has been a policy setting of successive territory governments since the early 1990s.

If we are serious about supporting sustainable transport, Ms Dundas—I frequently get asked questions and I get prompts from you about improving public transport in this city—we have to look at it in the context of land planning. Integrated transport land planning is fundamental to improving public transport in our city. One of the key elements of that is high density development closer to identified public transport corridors. Fox Place is one of those corridors.

Knowledge fund

MS MacDONALD: My question is to the Minister for Economic Development, Mr Quinlan. Minister, I ask whether you can update the house on the progress of the government’s knowledge fund program.

MR QUINLAN: Since its inception, the knowledge fund has proved itself to be a highly successful program and has been embraced by the business community in assisting Canberra companies and the knowledge industries to grow and to prosper.

This was part of the government’s overall strategy of strengthening and diversifying the ACT economy. We identified this as a major issue prior to the last election—something that the opposition is only now picking up. I am very flattered to hear my own words coming back in terms of broadening the base of the economy and the need for diversity. Imitation is of course the sincerest form of flattery.

Our economic white paper outlines the big task that confronts government to further develop the ACT economy. By virtue of the knowledge fund, this government, on coming to office, immediately started to put our strategy in place. We set up the knowledge fund, which consists of five complementary components.

They are proof of concept grants, which provide funding to prove the commercial application of a particular concept; commercialisation grants, which provide funding to assist companies to use knowledge to commercialise goods and services; industry development grants, which fund projects aimed at building the ACT economy’s overall capacity to create, to use and diffuse knowledge; management of high technology start ups, to provide assistance to companies to develop their businesses and financial skill to better commercialise their high technology goods and services; and equity investment provides companies with the patient capital needed to rapidly grow knowledge based companies.

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