Page 2290 - Week 06 - Friday, 27 June 2008
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cover us for emergencies. But isn’t it amazing that we suddenly find that it is not necessary for 1610 Tuggeranong, and that it is actually not viable at 1610 Tuggeranong? In an amazingly quick process, we can find, identify, start planning and start the purchase process on a site in Williamsdale, the evening before—
Mr Seselja: Exclusively; my goodness!
MR SMYTH: Exclusively delivered to wind, the day before the Chief—
Mr Seselja: What are the odds?
MR SMYTH: What are the odds? That is a good question, Mr Seselja: what are the odds? And this is the problem with planning in the ACT. Your position, Mr Barr, has been undermined by the arrogance of the Chief Minister, and you will wear the backlash, not the Chief Minister, in your electorate. Part of this is in your electorate. The people of south Woden, in Farrer, are very interested in this.
Mr Barr: I think my electorate is more worried about your motor sports facility in the Majura Valley.
MR SMYTH: I am worried about motor sports as well. If you want to go to that, we could go back to your planning process on motor sports, because again it will not cover you in glory. You are left with picking up all the trash that the Chief Minister discards from his portfolio when he has well and truly stuffed it. You can see project after project where the Chief Minister says: “I need to make an important announcement. I’ll take this one. Let me do this. I can fix this; I’ve got a special projects unit.” There is Jon, the Chief Minister, making announcements and it is just great—until it goes pear-shaped. Suddenly, Mr Barr is there, picking it up. He picked it up on schools, the cuts to tourism and the cuts to sport and rec. He has got the dragway now. He is going to have delivered to himself shortly the mess that is the Chief Minister’s process, and there will be expectations there.
This whole thing is a debacle that has cast no credit on anyone in the government. We had some proponents with a fabulous proposal for the ACT. It is the sort of thing that should be in the ACT. It is the sort of thing that can be accommodated in several sections of the ACT. It does not have to be next to a residential community. I suspect it is not even compliant with broadacre. Yes, you can put a utility and a communications centre in broadacre, but it cannot affect the environmental or the visual amenity. It cannot affect the rural look. Even in the government’s documents—the few pages that we have got out of the 3,000—there are references to the fact that Mugga Lane is a country road and that the country road aspect must be maintained.
Mr Corbell: Have you seen what is on the other side of the road?
MR SMYTH: Yes, it is called a tip.
Mr Corbell: The landfill, and it is massive.
MR SMYTH: It is being nicely covered over, it is being grassed and it will be treed.
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