Page 384 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 December 2008
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currently on exhibition. The proponents in that propose an operating power supply of 28 megawatts.
The advice I have—and it would certainly be my expectation and my hope—is that that position does not change, does not vary. I have no reason to believe that it will. I would stand, at this juncture, in relation to the history of this debate, with those—including obviously those in this place—that would not wish to see that position change. That is the position which the government is prepared to share with other members of the Assembly having regard to the history of this matter.
Having said that, I need to reiterate that I cannot go around directing that proponents not seek, at some future time, to change, but that is my understanding. Certainly, I have sympathy with the view—
Mrs Dunne: Then they can go through the—
MR STANHOPE: Yes, it would have to go through a process. All I am saying is that I have no information available to me, nor does the head of my department, to suggest that the proponents intend anything other than what has been represented in the development application. I thank members for their contributions to the debate and look forward to the detail stage.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Detail stage
Clauses 1 to 8, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 9.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (5.24): The opposition will be opposing clause 9. I have flagged the reasons for this, and the Chief Minister touched on them in his closing. It is worth just mentioning the Auditor-General’s report on this at page 26:
Audit noted that at this stage, the possibility the data centre was a communication facility was not envisaged by ACTPLA.
It is fair to say that that is conflicting advice. CPR received counsel’s advice prior to the election saying that the communications facility would not include a data centre and gas-fired power station. There is a concern in the community if this clause were to go ahead that this would set a precedent, particularly in broadacre. The concern is not industrial, because we have seen data centres with some cogeneration capacity, I understand, approved in Fyshwick, in Hume, and in Mitchell. So in industrial areas these projects have gone ahead. They presumably have been under warehouse. We asked for some clarification about whether any had been approved as communications facilities, but to date, to the best of my knowledge, we have not received any information giving out a list of those.
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