Page 929 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 26 July 1989
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Civic area. I came to that opinion purely on the evidence put before the committee.
To those who still have misgivings and fears about a casino for Canberra, I can convey only my impression of the change that has occurred in the communities of Adelaide and Hobart following the introduction of casinos there. Although there was strong initial opposition from the local communities in both those cases, today the casinos there are non-issues. The fears and dire predictions about the casinos simply did not materialise, and I hope I can say with confidence that the same things will occur here. Mr Speaker, I commend the report to the Assembly.
MR JENSEN (10.47): I rise to speak on this report submitted to the Assembly by the Select Committee on the Establishment of a Casino, of which I was a member, a report you have no doubt gathered I do not totally agree with and to which I have added a dissenting report. I will comment on some of the key factors from my dissenting report during the time available to me this morning.
However, before I go too far into my comments, let me echo the reference by the committee chairman, Mr Humphries, to the staff support we had during this particular project. I have no doubt that other committee members will also support me in these comments. The committee secretary, John Cummins, and staff member Cameron Kent, throughout the committee deliberations were very strong in their support. The experience of Mr Cummins was very important and useful to us as we struggled with our task on a time scale that I felt was far too short. His advice on procedures and assistance during a short fact-finding visit to Adelaide, Hobart and Melbourne was much appreciated.
As with the select committee on police powers, the committee staff's best friend, the computer, decided to be difficult. I know that the support of the secretarial staff from the Assembly, who were burdened by their own work, helped us to ensure that this important report would be available to you this morning. I thank all the staff who helped us produce our report.
Mr Speaker, at this stage I believe it appropriate to say that, while I have submitted a dissenting report, I fully participated in preparing the main report. While not accepting all the conclusions and recommendations, I believe it was the best we could do in the time made available to us by the Assembly.
Members are no doubt aware that it was not the wish of the Rally, to ensure that the report be prepared, to restrict our deliberations to the 60 days we were allowed. However, as my colleague Mr Collaery said yesterday when referring to Mr Stefaniak and his move-on powers Bill, we in the Rally also know where the numbers are on issues like this. It is unfortunate, however, that I was not able to convince one of the other four members to support me in debunking
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