Page 2729 - Week 08 - Thursday, 24 August 2006

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Secondly, shopping centres have large components of food retailing—for example, food courts and so on. These are also explicitly excluded from this site. So the comparison with a shopping centre is a false one, a misleading one.

No, it is not, because the DA, which had been approved in principle by the LDA before it had gone to ACTPLA, has a food court. Once again, it is a discrepancy; it is a discrepancy between what was said by Mr Corbell and what the facts bear out. Then we have had it said in the community, through the media. On ABC news on 9 August, Mr Corbell said:

The issue, nevertheless, is unchanged in that the builders were clearly advised that retail uses were permitted uses.

Mr Corbell said in estimates on 21 June:

They knew what they were buying and it was clear to all parties what the potential uses were for the site.

It clearly was not clear. We had Austexx asking on five separate occasions what were the permitted uses on the site. It was not clear to the parties by any means, and anyone who claims that, having looked at the documentation, is clearly wrong. It was not clear.

Mr Corbell: Have you not ever heard of due diligence?

MR SESELJA: I have heard of it. It was not clear. Why did they have to ask five times if it was so clear? ING wrote:

We formally request that you please confirm whether or not discount outlet retailing is to be a permitted use under the territory plan.

That is another example. On 16 August I asked the minister:

Minister, did the CEO or any senior representative of ACTPLA write to the CEO … of the LDA prior to the auction expressing concern over any aspects of the pre-auction process?

Mr Corbell replied:

Not that I am aware of ...

The next day, 17 August, I asked him:

Minister, yesterday you stated that you were not aware of a letter from ACTPLA to the LDA regarding potential pre-auction issues ... Minister, have you investigated the existence of the letter? If not, will you investigate if such correspondence exists and table it in the Assembly? If not, why not?

Mr Corbell responded:


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