Page 628 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 23 March 1993
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MR CONNOLLY: I thank Mr Stevenson for notice of his question in relation to the child-care facility at Pearce. The Yurrambannaylinga child-care service was a tenant at the Pearce Community Centre from January 1992 to August 1992 through a licence agreement with the Territory. The agreement was between the service and the Territory, rather than with the community centre, as would be the usual situation, because when it was being prepared we were still setting up the Pearce Community Centre as an entity. Under the terms of the agreement, the licence fee was $22,875 per annum, payable to the Pearce Community Centre. The Pearce Community Centre has advised that the total rent received by the centre from the Children's Service was $12,056. That represents the full amount of rent for the period that they occupied the premises. They, I understand, were funded by the Commonwealth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission program. They were a tenant, but they are no longer a tenant. They paid the full amount of the rent that was owed to the community centre during the period of the tenancy, and they have now severed the relationship, with no money owing.
In relation to the telephone books in the basement, I can assure Mr Stevenson that they will be recycled, yet again showing the way that this Government has recycling and environmentally aware programs to the fore, but it will not involve the sort of recycling that the Liberal Party tends to be favouring at a Federal and territorial level, and there will not be politicians in the big bins.
Canberry Fair Site
MR WESTENDE: My question without notice is directed to the Chief Minister in her capacity as Minister responsible for tourism. Has the Government given any consideration to the future use of the Canberry Fair site, bearing in mind the significance of the ghost town image as the first thing that tourists see when they enter Canberra from the north? Would the Government consider, for instance, operating it as a training centre for the hospitality and tourism industry? Alternatively, could the National Museum use it as a gateway promotion and maybe as an annex of the museum? Surely it should not be left as it is.
MS FOLLETT: I thank Mr Westende for the question. Madam Speaker, may I say to Mr Westende that I will get a full reply to him. I obviously need to consult with others of my Ministers on this matter. I agree with Mr Westende that it is a pity to see the Canberry Fair site derelict, apparently mouldering away. I am aware that there have been attempts made to sell it - successive attempts - but it does seem that a suitable purchaser has not come forward. I think that the difficulties that that business has had over the years probably do keep investors away from it. It has been a difficult site over many years. Madam Speaker, Mr Westende has made a range of suggestions as to possible uses for the site. I will investigate those uses that he has come up with. As I say, I need to consult, particularly with Mr Wood, as Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning, to ascertain exactly what are the conditions on that site at the moment, and I will do so.
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