Page 4986 - Week 13 - Thursday, 12 November 2009
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aware of some of the issues that have been raised around the design of that building. I am one of those inclined to accept that the NCA generally does get it right in relation to design, design approvals and parameters. I am perhaps prepared to be slightly more generous about the design of the new ASIO building than some others have been.
The issue in relation to the new headquarters of ASIO on Constitution Avenue that does give me some concern is some of the traffic implications and some of the road implications. That anxiety is heightened by the decision that was taken by the commonwealth not to honour an arrangement to fund the upgrade of Constitution Avenue—a matter of enormous regret to me but an issue which I continue to raise and agitate for in discussions with the commonwealth, and I hope that the commonwealth will do so.
My discussions, whilst not producing an outcome, have generally been positive at one level, in that the commonwealth—most particularly the minister for finance, Lindsay Tanner—have acknowledged that there is a commonwealth obligation which they have not honoured but which they are prepared to accept is a commitment that was made. We continue to hold out the prospect that the commonwealth will meet their obligations in relation to Constitution Avenue.
It is an issue that we have allowed to run. It is an issue that will need to be resolved at some time. It is not an issue on which we can simply turn our back forever and pretend that it does not exist. It is a genuine issue that needs to be addressed and to be resolved, consistent with the undertakings, agreements, decisions and, indeed, the transfer of land by the ACT government to the commonwealth which underpin the commonwealth’s commitment.
The construction and completion of the ASIO headquarters will raise, in time, a significant issue in relation most particularly to Constitution Avenue. I refer to the implications of those thousands of additional people who will be working on Constitution Avenue—those thousands of extra cars per day that will be utilising Constitution Avenue—as a result of their workplace shifting to the site of that new building.
Mr Coe just now went to this issue—and it is relevant, of course, to roads and to transport—of pay parking. One of the current issues being discussed or negotiated between the ACT and the commonwealth, and it has been for some time now, has been the vexed and difficult issue of pay parking. Mr Coe has just made the point that, of course, those who currently work in the triangle are very happy that they park for free. Mr Coe acknowledged that there is an equity issue in relation to that as against all of those workers—commonwealth, ACT and private sector workers—that do not have the advantage of that pay parking holiday.
I believe it is an issue for a whole range of reasons—not just around equity but also around sustainable transport and the signals that each of us, and particularly governments, needs to send, around driving behaviour, modal shift and the need for those issues to be addressed in the instance of people using their cars to travel. The signal needs to be sent that parking should bear a cost, and that travel by car does bear a cost.
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