Page 1090 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 29 May 2007
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MR STANHOPE: There is, of course, some interest within the Liberal Party about non-recognition of prior interest in projects and I notice there is a certain degree of knots in knickers, expressed most gracelessly by the shadow Treasurer, about the glassworks and whose idea it was and who invested in it.
Opposition members interjecting—
MR STANHOPE: At the end of the day the issue is: who made the investment?
Opposition members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order! Come back to the subject matter of the question, please.
MR STANHOPE: The question is investing in tourism infrastructure and I, of course will—
MR SPEAKER: The question was about the arboretum.
MR STANHOPE: I will conclude on this remark, Mr Speaker: I will willingly acknowledge the prior involvement of the Liberal Party in the glassworks if the Liberal Party will acknowledge its prior support for the prison. Here they are willingly grasping ownership of the glassworks and rejecting absolutely the fact that they supported and initiated construction of the prison.
MR STEFANIAK: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. Chief Minister, why are you still planting trees on this site, when the chief executive of Actew is forecasting that we will move to level 4 restrictions by the beginning of July?
MR STANHOPE: As I indicated—and as I have mentioned on a number of occasions—the trees were purchased I think two years ago. I will confirm that today, if I can do it today. They have been maintained and cared for in pots since that time as a result of the drought and as we awaited the passing of the drought—something that has not yet occurred. We are utilising grey water from the lower Molonglo to water the trees.
Advice I have is that the prospect of being able to keep the plants alive in their pots for another year represents some challenge. They will become pot-bound. They will potentially wilt and suffer with the prospect of another year in pots. We now face the situation of either leaving them in pots and losing them in any event, or planting them and seeking to maintain them with grey water—just as we are seeking, throughout and across the whole of the ACT, to maintain other trees that we have planted and to keep them alive.
In the context of any discussion about the arboretum, it needs to be understood that over the last five years—I believe it is over the last five years—the government has planted in excess of 4½ million trees. We propose to plant 6,000 in the arboretum. To date this government has planted more than 4½ million trees. I wonder whether you, Mr Stefaniak, are interested in some advice about the dates on which we ordered those 4½ million trees and steps we take in relation to keeping those 4½ million trees alive.
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