Page 4023 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 30 October 2013
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MR HANSON: If the minister has dates that are different from those then let us hear them. The investment-ready plan is in the Greens-Labor parliamentary agreement. “Work with stakeholders to progress the Australia Forum initiative to ‘investment ready’ for consortium partners.” What is the date? What is the date by which we are going to get that investment-ready plan? If there is a date, let us know what that is but in the absence of it, why will Mr Barr not support the date that has been reasonably proposed?
We have used the government’s language. We have used the language that is in the Greens-Labor parliamentary agreement. We have acknowledged that that is in there. We have asked for a date to be provided. The date that has been put in there, 30 June 2015, is not reasonable because what we do not want to see is a plan on the eve of the next election. What we want to make sure is that there is a plan that is provided in sufficient time for that to be perhaps put into budgets and this started to be rolled out. So what we do not want to simply see is the government producing reams of paperwork, lots of glossy visuals but nothing happening, because that is the form of this government.
If Mr Barr is not going to support that date then I think, likewise, he could have quite reasonably said, “This is our date.” I find it odd in the extreme that this is a government that formed a parliamentary agreement with the Greens some 12 months ago to produce an investment-ready plan but it is unable to tell us when they will deliver us that investment-ready plan.
Mr Barr: Within the parliamentary term is the commitment.
MR HANSON: The answer is: within the parliamentary term. That is a cop-out. Why will they not give us that date? And the suspicion would be: as late as we possibly can.
Mr Barr: Technically, the final date will be by 15 October 2016.
MR HANSON: There you go. We will get it on election day, Mr Barr was saying. We are going to get it on election day in 2016.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Hanson, please do not acknowledge the conversation.
MR HANSON: That is going to be a lot of use to people. It really is an indication of this government’s lack of commitment when it comes to this. Why do you not support Mr Smyth’s date? I think that is reasonable. That would give everybody time to have a look at this plan and do the work to get us to the next stage, which is actually further progressing the convention centre.
I commend Mr Smyth for bringing this motion here today and I commend him for his ongoing enthusiasm, lobbying and understanding of this project. I express that the opposition remains committed to seeing a large convention centre in Canberra. What is not clear, though, is the detail of how that is going to be delivered, and it is very important that the investment-ready plan is provided so that the next stage can be delivered.
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