Page 1434 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 14 May 2014
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project they were interested in.” To come here and say that this is our fault because we dropped the ball, because we have not developed it to a point, is simply incorrect. It is not what happened. It was not what I was asked.
I then went and met with the minister, Jamie Briggs, with a delegation of the Canberra business community with me. This again was raised as their top priority, which the government was happy to support.
That is the role that we have played in this. We have not taken ownership of the project. Nor do I believe we should. I do not believe that we as the government and the community, when we have other competing priorities and other hits occurring on our budget—and last night has only compounded them—can rank this one as ours, as the ACT government’s top priority. Yes, it is a key project for Canberra. Yes, we want to see it progressed. And yes, we believe it is a private sector investment opportunity to help deliver city to the lake.
They are the origins of the discussions that we have had with the commonwealth. I was asked at all of those meetings, “What is the next step for that project?” Not only was I asked; the Canberra business community members who were at that meeting were also asked. The universal ask was: “We would like some financial support to get it to the next stage. That is what we need.” So all this positioning and covering one’s back that is going on with Senator Seselja about it all being the ACT government’s fault is just not true. I was asked what the private sector’s main priority in Canberra was. This, of course, was after I was assured there would be no economic harm caused to the city through decisions taken by the federal government—which, as we can see after last night, is clearly not true either.
We are in a position now where we have to work closely with the business community to identify ways to keep moving this project forward within the constraints of our budget. We will do that. We have already had discussions with the Canberra Business Council, in particular, as the main proponent and supporter of this project. So yes; we will continue to do that. The parliamentary agreement included a commitment to progress the convention centre project to an investment-ready stage. We had hoped that we would get some commonwealth support for that, but, as it turns out, that is not coming.
In relation to the conspiracy, let me say that I like it when Mr Smyth focuses on the minutiae about the date of a letter sent to me! I have mentioned that a number of times. It was not picked up. That is not my problem. I have not made a secret of it. I am not surprised that you got a copy of the letter, because I was asked for it and I released a copy of the letter. I could see no reason not to release a copy of the letter. We have continued to work with all interested parties on this project, and we will continue to do so. It is an important one.
That is why the refusal from the commonwealth seems even meaner. Essentially even a rounding up in their budget has not been able to be provided to the Canberra community. As if they would have noticed $2 million, $3 million or $4 million when they are ripping hundreds of millions of dollars out of this economy through job cuts and other service cuts over the next couple of years. It makes it even harder when you
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