Page 2378 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 28 June 2005
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derisory in its content, but it is exactly the same commitment that the Liberal Party made. I wonder how they rationalise that in their attacks on me and my government for that commitment of $8 million. I am not quite sure how a Liberal Party $8 million is any different from a Labor Party $8 million but that was the commitment we made: it is the commitment the Liberal Party made. I find it highly amusing that suddenly $8 million under Labor does not equal $8 million under Liberal. It really does bemuse me.
It is a good process that we have put in place. I have asked people like Geoff Cannock to be on the committee. I do not know what members of the opposition know of Mr Cannock, whether they know him personally, but I have no doubt that, as a person, they would hold him in very high regard. He has extensive experience in relation to motor sport, and is in fact one of the original shareholders in the original dragway that was constructed in the Majura Valley. He has a longstanding and deep interest in the dragway industry and fraternity. He is well known and highly respected. His knowledge of dragways is perhaps second to none but equalled perhaps by Geoff Develin, who is also a member of the committee. We have on this committee people of the standing and stature of Geoff Cannock, Geoff Develin, Ian Watt, from Fairbairn Park, and James Koundouris, a noted racing car driver and supporter of motor sport within the ACT and Australia. In addition to that, we have representatives of community groups from Hackett and Watson, as you would expect of communities that, potentially, will be affected. We also have a representative of the strategic implementation group and a noise or audio expect from ADFA.
It is a very fine committee of people with understanding and experience. Geoff Cannock, a devotee of dragway racing as a sport and somebody who brings real integrity, real understanding and knowledge to the discussion of the issues, will chair it. To suggest, as have my colleagues in the opposition, that this is some sort of front, some sort of device, does an enormous disservice to those very fine Canberrans who have agreed to serve on this committee—people like Geoff Cannock, people like Geoff Develin, people like Ian Watt and people like James Koundouris. These are not people who work for the Labor Party: none of these people is a member of the Labor Party. I am not sure that they even support my side of politics. They were appointed because of their knowledge and expertise in dragway and motor sport, and because I want good advice. I want good strong, knowledgeable, technical advice on the feasibility of that site and what we need to do to bring this project to fruition.
But it is asking a lot of a government to go ahead, identify a block of land, which we have done, and say, “Right, that’s it,” and plunk. Surely to goodness the opposition accepts, as any thinking person would accept, that you cannot just build or deliver a facility of this sort that generates extreme levels of noise without some understanding of what it is that you are foisting on the neighbours or on communities adjacent, and that is what we are doing. We are doing it through this committee and we are doing it through expert advice from Environment ACT and others. We will look at all the issues and there are some significant issues that will impact enormously on the neighbours.
Some of the neighbours will not be able to remain in their homes. It is quite likely that there is a range of issues in relation to relocation that we need to deliver. We need to show some understanding and sensitivity to some of these issues. The house on the neighbouring property will be 100 metres from the finish line of the dragway. These are difficult sensitive issues that we have to work our way through. Now, you do not just
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