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and they actually touch the soil, et cetera, there are lots of things which will affect the parameters of that design competition. Do you intend to assess the levels of contamination before any of these other steps that you have outlined are taken?

MRS CARNELL: The ACT Government must be the entity that looks at where the contamination is. There is certainly some indication that at least some contamination is expected on the Kingston site; but there is nothing to suggest that it is overly severe, and there is nothing to suggest at this stage that there is any problem with run-off into the lake. It seems that the soil is quite stable. These sorts of things are looked at all the time.

As the previous Government would remember, quite substantial work was done because the previous Government gave a site on that particular bit of land to Burmah Fuels, which was found to be contaminated after the event, after they had signed the documentation. We will not get into history. I can guarantee that, where contamination is found, rehabilitation will occur, and it will occur to international standards.

Mr Wood: Who will pay for that?

MRS CARNELL: That would be part of the joint venture approach, obviously. You simply do not understand how this works. As I am sure Ms Tucker would be aware, the costs of rehabilitation are totally different if you are putting down a concrete slab rather than having a children's playground on a particular site. You are quite right. If you are putting a children's playground on a contaminated site, it will cost an absolute bomb to rehabilitate a very contaminated site; but, if you are putting down a sealed concrete slab, the issue is somewhat different in terms of what has to be done to rehabilitate the site. It will be done to international standards. It must be. The redevelopment of contaminated sites is not unique to the ACT. It is not unique to Acton or to Kingston. It happens everywhere in this country.

Mr De Domenico: Homebush Bay.

MRS CARNELL: Yes, Homebush Bay; wherever there is a redevelopment, particularly a major redevelopment. The issue of contaminated sites, as I know you know, is very much part of that whole approach. We are not unique here.

MS TUCKER: I have a supplementary question. Would you recognise that the assessment needs to occur first? Does that mean that you have put a hold on further development of the parameters of the international design competition until we have more information?

MRS CARNELL: The international design competition and what can be on particular sites would obviously be determined in some way by what the site looks like; in other words, levels of contamination and other things, like what is on them now and so on. The international competition obviously cannot go ahead in its final phase until we know what levels of contamination exist on the site. Let me restate: We expect some levels of contamination. There is no indication that those levels of contamination are abnormally


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