Page 3382 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 14 November 2007
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the provision of suitable land catering for all of the society’s needs, should it be necessary for the society to be relocated. Once again, the government is pleased to respond to that suggestion by Mr Gentleman. It is appropriate, in the Assembly, for the government to respond publicly and very openly about this. In the event that the Railway Historical Society’s tenure at Kingston is terminated or that it is determined as a result of other decisions the government may take—I repeat, may take—because of the master planning that is currently being undertaken, this imposes an obligation on the government to ensure that the historical society is appropriately housed elsewhere.
On that basis, the government would not be supportive of the proposed amendment—namely, that those two paragraphs be removed and replaced by a bald requirement on the government to ensure that the Australian Railway Historical Society remains at its current site. The ACT government is currently engaged in an extensive master planning exercise for the precinct. That is underway. It is reasonable, appropriate and responsible that the ACT government investigate future options for this site. For the government, through the parliament, essentially to be asked to terminate that quite reasonable planning process would be quite unreasonable.
The government will not support Dr Foskey’s proposal that we simply shelve any consideration of a future better or higher priority use of this very significant precinct. Let us at least have the investigation. Let us not turn our backs on it and say that the tenure and purpose of the Australian Railway Historical Society are so important that the government should not even give consideration to alternative uses for a significant area of land in the heart of the city. The government is not minded simply to abandon the master plan or the planning work that is currently underway, and we will not support the amendment.
MR MULCAHY (Molonglo) (4.18): I am very happy to speak to Mr Gentleman’s motion today. In particular, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the first two points made in the motion and to discuss some of the fine work that is undertaken by the Australian Railway Historical Society in the ACT.
Railways have a great deal of heritage and historical significance in Canberra, and the historical society is to be commended for their work in preserving this history. The historical society, as I think members know, is staffed entirely by volunteers. The array of tasks that these volunteers perform is quite extraordinary and they are to be commended for their fine work.
I have conducted some research in preparation for this motion today, in my capacity as shadow minister for heritage. I understand that the society maintains some 25 carriages, 15 display vehicles, two rail motors and six locomotives, and that is an impressive collection by any measure. Some of their engines deserve special mention. The 1210 locomotive, for example, is 129 years old. At just 64½ tonnes, I am reliably informed that the 1210 is a baby of a locomotive. Having made its first run into Canberra in 1914, it is a link with the formation of our city and there is increased significance as we move towards the centenary celebrations. The 60/29 Garret locomotive, in contrast, is a monster, weighing some 265 tonnes. Built in 1953, the locomotive in Canberra is one of just a few in the entire country.
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