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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 09 Hansard (Thursday, 19 August 2004) . . Page.. 3941 ..

which is what they want, or indeed a 10-year lease, which is something that’s been put up as well. I would certainly hope it would be a 20-year lease.

But Mr Quinlan, I understand, about a month ago in the Chronicle said it was virtually all sorted out and they’d actually have something in two weeks. This has been an ongoing saga for a number of years, certainly a couple of years at least in relation to this. With both ministers keen to see this sorted out, what is the hold-up? Is there someone in the department playing silly buggers in relation to this? I don’t accept issues such as: “You need a new development application”. They’re not developing anything; they merely want to continue the site they operate on now, the site they have operated on since 1986 with an expired lease. I would think the Mabo doctrine probably comes in here in terms of their longstanding use of that particular land and occupation of it. It’s not exactly as if it’s prime real estate or it’s going to be used for anything else.

They’ve been told that actually environment don’t have any problems; planning don’t have any problems; the lease is actually there to be signed; get on with it. I don’t accept the nonsense in relation to DAs. I think there was one done about four or five years ago, at any rate. But given that they’re not developing anything, they merely want to continue to use that site with long-term certainly, that should be done.

I’m also concerned to hear that the meeting they were going to have with the minister, the most recent rounds of meetings, has been put back now to a day or two before the caretaker period, and that worries me greatly.

We have had a number of champions come out of Fairbairn Park. Mark Webber, an absolute champion, a world champion, started in the karts there, as did Tim Monty, who’s one of the best in his class in Australia; and indeed in the hill climb young Tom Ballard is going great guns in his class in Australia. There have been some magnificent champions who have actually started their career at Fairbairn Park. Thousands of people like motor sport. A lot of people actually come to the territory even to use Fairbairn Park as it is, and I think this government needs to do a lot more than it is doing there rather than trying to put off decisions in relation to that.

I come to the dragway saga. The dragway of course, back in January 1999, effectively closed. Actually I’ve got a letter here where I made representations to the Minister for Defence asking him to grant a 10-year lease extension rather than the five that his department was offering. No luck there. It ended up in a court case which finished in 2001, unsatisfactorily to the dragway who took both the Commonwealth and the ACT governments to court.

In May 2001, whilst I was still minister, I commissioned a study, which ultimately cost about $77,000, in relation to the environment and a business impact study which quite clearly showed that there’d be significant economic impact—I think 126 jobs, $6.2 million regularly a year—from running a dragway and identified lot 52 Majura as the best site.

There were lots of promises by various members of the ALP in the lead-up to the election, a lot of support for the dragway. The dragway people and the motor sport community generally, I think, had great expectations that this government would deliver a new dragway. Indeed, I see Mr Quinlan shaking his head as to promises. Maybe it was

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