Page 4028 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 30 October 2013
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unambiguously says, “Let’s have a trust.” It calls on the members of this place to support this motion today. I will read the words:
Canberra Business Council hopes a motion being moved today by the ACT Liberals to establish a Trust to drive the Australia Forum project will be unanimously supported and help fast-track this important project.
Members, that is the request of the business community. Let me read the last line in relation to the project and the groups that support it, the groups the Canberra Business Council speaks for. The last line says:
Combined these groups represent over half of the employment base in the ACT.
This is your business community talking to you, speaking to you, asking you to act urgently, and to act today, to establish a trust to facilitate this project.
We had Mr Barr say, for instance, when Mr Hanson was speaking, that Melbourne did not have a trust. Melbourne does have a trust. The biggest convention centre in this country is run by a trust. Indeed, as the Business Council’s press release says:
Other states have set up bodies such as this to oversee their convention centres and it has worked well in those jurisdictions.
A Trust would be one way to do this and we welcome this additional push by the Liberals …
Ladies and gentlemen, members, through you, Mr Assistant Speaker, it is time this city had a body that is dedicated to delivering the sort of convention centre that this city deserves. Going to the Australia forum report again, it says that in order to fulfil its role as the nation’s capital, Canberra needs a convention venue of a scale, security, design and character that is appropriate for hosting major meetings of international and national importance. It is about time this happened.
There is a statement of support for the Australia forum which is also contained in Canberra: the meeting place of Australia, a document put out by the Canberra Convention Bureau, Think Canberra, and the Canberra Business Council. It is a statement of support. It says that we need this. The final line is this:
Canberra is Australia’s capital and it takes its role seriously. A 21st century events venue is needed urgently and it is appropriate that such a facility stand alongside the national and international institutions in Canberra.
It is needed urgently. What my motion sets out is a time frame that is a reasonable time frame but is also a time frame that ensures this happens quickly to meet that urgent need.
It would be great to see the government put aside the sort of money that is put aside for capital metro. How is it that capital metro gets $18 million in this year’s budget, yet any significant funding at all for the convention centre is yet to be put aside by the government.
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