Page 2287 - Week 06 - Friday, 27 June 2008
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the last five years, under both planning ministers, and certainly under the Chief Minister for the last seven years. In particular, with respect to the people of Macarthur and Fadden, on that block the government has tried to foist a prison, a dragway and now a power station and a data centre.
At the same time, we had the enormous debacle involving the Karralika refurbishment. The former planning minister put seven letters into letterboxes between the Christmas and new year break. That is the level of consultation from this government. You have learnt nothing from 2004. And that is the shame of this, because it should be easy. The government should follow their own consultation program, their own process, which they have ignored. They ignored it on Tharwa; they ignored it on the Griffith library; and they have ignored it on this wonderful project that should be going ahead, that could go ahead, in Hume, but for the arrogance of the Chief Minister, who refuses to admit that he got it wrong. That is the problem, Mr Speaker: the Chief Minister simply refuses to say that he got it wrong. And the problem—
Mr Corbell: Where is your preferred site?
MR SMYTH: Well, go with—
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR SMYTH: You have got access to it; we don’t.
Mr Corbell: Where is your preferred site?
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Corbell, cease interjecting.
Mr Seselja: You said there was an abundance of sites.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Seselja!
MR SMYTH: This is the problem with the process that the government has adopted, and this is why no-one in Tuggeranong or south Woden has any confidence. This is why people in west Belconnen are sceptical. This is why people across the territory are scratching their heads as to why such an important project has been jeopardised by the action of the Chief Minister.
The brief from one of the Chief Minister’s officials in July said, “You are the decision maker.” So it is a matter of telling TAMS and Mr Hargreaves to put aside the cemetery cab sub that is coming; and telling TAMS to ignore the direction that Mr Corbell rightly made in August 2005 that there be a five-year moratorium on this block. Tell them to ignore the work that we have done with GHD in the consultation process on developing a number of options for the development of Hume, which includes a power station site identified on block 7 of 21. Ignore that. Throw all that work out. Waste all of the taxpayers’ money that has been spent, because “I’ve got a different process”.
The brief to the Chief Minister says: “You are the decision maker. You, Chief Minister, will offer the proponent a block that you, Chief Minister, think is
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