Page 1270 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 23 August 1989
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address the problems that exist, at the conclusion of this debate.
MR MOORE (4.47): I would like to start by taking up a couple of points that Mr Kaine has raised. One of his concerns is, of course, that there is $200m worth of development proposals in abeyance because of this decision. To start off with, his figure of $200m, I presume, is being bandied about from the same source from which I have heard those figures, and that is from the lobbyists for Concrete Constructions. So I question those figures in the initial instance. Secondly, the Canberra Times site decision by Justice Kelly was about the Canberra Times site; it was not about all the sites in Civic. They can be handled in different ways. That lease purpose change can be made in a series of ways.
Let me start by saying that what we are talking about here is not about development but about office block development, and we need to keep very much in mind that the office block development and the peak-hour traffic that it generates and other environmental factors are absolutely critical here. This problem would never have come about in the first place if those people who were in power and had the ability to keep planning on the rails had done so.
There is a plan that goes well past the year 2000. Here it is in my hand, the Y plan. It deals with planning for Canberra until there are 400,000 people in Canberra. Some people simply do not like the plan; but there is a plan, and, until we have a better plan, we should be sticking to the plan, and that is where the problem arises. The Civic centre plan is subservient to that plan, and that is where misunderstanding occurred on the part of the principals of Concrete Constructions when they purchased the Canberra Times site. I will get to that a little later.
More important is the political incompetence of the Labor Party that has been in power in Canberra for over six years, its adviser, Paul Whalan, and its member for Canberra, Ros Kelly, who have been looking after their development mates.
Ms Follett: Mr Speaker, I object. I must ask that Mr Moore withdraw those words immediately.
MR MOORE: I withdraw that, Mr Speaker.
Mr Berry: You should have moved a censure motion.
MR MOORE: Yes; at least I withdrew it.
They have been coldly taking advantage of the unions whose members are unfortunate to be in the position, thanks to the cessation of work on Parliament House, of losing jobs. It was always the case, and it was always understood to be the case, and any reasonable person within Canberra would understand, that those people who came to work on
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