Page 715 - Week 03 - Thursday, 21 May 1992

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which had application or had some reference to both the Federal Government and the ACT Government, and planning and so on. The task force has met three times and it has made a great deal of progress, in my view; progress that I believe is significant in projects and in achieving, perhaps most importantly at this time, employment in construction and related industries.

Madam Speaker, one of the most recent achievements of that task force has been to find a suitable location for the new Bureau of Mineral Resources building. They have identified a site in Narrabundah for the relocation of BMR. I hope that that will lead to the Federal Government deciding to proceed with that building, because it is a significant project and one which would be of a great deal of benefit to our construction industry.

The task force also, as I mentioned in answer to Mr Moore's question, has done some work on the establishment of an international air freight centre in the ACT. It has also approved in principle the creation of a business park at Canberra Airport. That will be the first stage of such a development at the Canberra Airport. The task force has cleared the way for some significant building projects at Barton, to the tune of some $36m. It has also worked out a plan of action to assist with the development of the Chinatown proposal at Dickson, as well as the development on the old Easts rugby site at Griffith.

I believe, Madam Speaker, that the task force has been a very constructive way of progressing projects. As members know, we have two planning authorities that come into play very frequently on ACT projects, and this has been a way of coordinating the work of those two authorities and ensuring that there are not undue delays in projects which are to the benefit of the ACT economy.

Kangaroo Bars

MR STEVENSON: My question is to the Minister for Urban Services, Mr Connolly, and I ask it on behalf of a constituent who informed me that his car was hit by another vehicle which had kangaroo bars attached. Apparently, the kangaroo bars caused far more damage than would probably have been caused otherwise. I am reminded of concerns, particularly during the 1950s, about possible injury to a person if hit by a car fitted with an emblem projecting from its bonnet. I ask the Minister to indicate what regulations there are which govern the attachment of kangaroo bars or other objects which may project from the vehicle, either permanently or temporarily.

MR CONNOLLY: I will just look under K for kangaroo and, sure enough, there is an answer. I thank Mr Stevenson for the courtesy, again, of letting me know that he was interested in kangaroo bars, because I must confess that, off the top of my head, I would not have been able to give a discourse on kangaroo bars.

Mr De Domenico: You would have caught him on the hop, Dennis.

MR CONNOLLY: I would indeed have been caught on the hop, Mr De Domenico. Kangaroo bars can be legally fitted in every State and Territory, although Australian design rules do specify design standards for motor vehicle safety, including guidelines for external fittings which include such matters. The technical operations section at the Motor Vehicle Registry have produced an automotive information kit which provides guidelines for fitting


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