Page 2528 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 13 August 2014
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acknowledgement for the work of Moira Lye. The reason for that is that Moira was a departmental liaison officer in my office when I was the Minister for Health many years ago now, but I always recall Moira’s great humour and sense of fun, the energy that she brought to the office and the very fond memories that I and my staff at that time have of her.
I want to express my condolences to her family and friends on her very sad passing and acknowledge the very significant contribution she has made to our community.
Adjournment
Planning—concessional leases
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Capital Metro) (6.40): I move:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Tonight I wish to make some brief comments about the administration of leasehold in the ACT. The administration of leasehold in the ACT has been a matter of significant public interest before and since self-government. The latest manifestation of this debate has been in relation to the process of deconcessionalisation of leases granted for less than market value to not-for-profit organisations such as sporting clubs.
Today in the Canberra Times Mr Jack Waterford was critical of my decision last year to agree that it was in the public interest for the Planning and Land Authority to consider deconcessionalisation of the lease for the Canberra District Rugby League Football Club adjacent to Northbourne Oval in Braddon. The Planning and Land Authority approved the deconcessionalisation last year, and this decision was upheld on independent review by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal in July this year.
Mr Waterford is dead wrong if he considers that I am unable to determine or understand the notion of public interest in relation to the administration of concessional leases. Given his self-professed knowledge of the history of the administration of leasehold and of the Braddon site in particular, I was disturbed to learn that he was unaware until my staff pointed out to him this week that Northbourne Oval itself was not subject to any redevelopment proposal.
During my previous tenure as planning minister during the years 2002 and 2003, I acted on a number of occasions to seek to reject proposals to redevelop concessional leases for private development. In 2003 I recommended to the government that the controversy surrounding the future of the defunct Hungarian-Australian club in Narrabundah be resolved by facilitating the club’s surrender of the site to the territory. This was in the context of the club having entered into an arrangement with a private developer to redevelop the site for a private housing development. Regrettably, I was unsuccessful on this occasion in convincing my cabinet colleagues of my recommendation and, instead, the proposal was allowed to proceed. These matters are now a matter of public record, with the relevant cabinet submissions and decisions now released under the ACT’s 10-year rule.
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