Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2214 ..

Mr Humphries: What?

MS HORODNY: That is true, Mr Humphries.

Mr Humphries: Most of them get booked. They get parking tickets.

MS HORODNY: No, they do not necessarily get booked at all. It depends on whether a parking inspector happens to chance on their car. You have a great concern for people cheating, but I believe that that would be a minority of people. I would like to put on the record that we are concerned that there will now be fewer people using that park. They are the people who want to walk through the park or picnic there. You are now excluding those people. Our position is that, instead of excluding them, you should let them go through the park and not pay.

MR CORBELL (4.29), in reply: Mr Speaker, the ALP's commitment on this issue is clear and it always has been. We have never, in government or opposition, accepted the implementation of entrance fees for Canberra's nature parks and reserves and national parks, and we will not do so now. I want to respond to a few issues that were raised by Ms Horodny in the debate. Ms Horodny suggested that I had taken her quote in relation to the Greens' position on fees out of context. I say I have not. I will read her complete quote to you:

The Greens do not support the introduction of entry fees to Namadgi and Tidbinbilla or any other nature reserves in the ACT. While entry fees may be appropriate for some national parks which have high visitor rates and high management costs, we do not believe that there are sufficient grounds for imposing user fees in the ACT.

That is from Hansard of 20 June last year. I have to ask Ms Horodny and the Greens: What has changed? Are there sufficient grounds now just over a year later? I simply want to put that on the record. Nevertheless, I am pleased that they have been convinced, somewhat reluctantly perhaps, to support Labor's position on this issue and effectively to endorse their original view of 20 June, and we of course welcome that.

What I particularly want to address in closing the debate today is a claim made by the Minister, who threatened members in this place earlier today when he said that if the fee did not proceed the Federal Government's funding for the construction of the visitor information centre could very well be withdrawn.

Mr Humphries: That is true.

MR CORBELL: The Minister says that it is true. Minister, I have checked with the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Tourism and they have provided me with some advice on this matter. The department is responsible for providing the ACT Government with the grant. A condition of the grant is that the ACT Government match fifty-fifty the funding of $200,000 from the Commonwealth. In the ACT Government's

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .