Page 1869 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 5 May 2009
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Exhibition Park in Canberra, or EPIC, and it is located, as we all know, in north Canberra. The EPC has a board of management established under the Financial Management Act of 1996 with staff employed under the Public Sector Management Act of 1994.
In order to facilitate the integration of the EPIC site into TAMS, it is necessary to dissolve the EPC and to repeal the Exhibition Park Corporation Act of 1976. The bill inserts provisions into the Financial Management Act 1996 that will facilitate the transfer of assets and liabilities from the EPC back to the territory. EPC permanent staff are already public servants and will continue to be so after 1 July 2009.
The November change to administrative arrangements provided an excellent opportunity to merge the administration of EPIC with the other territory venues operated by TAMS to achieve efficiency in administration, coordination of events and some savings as a result of abolishing EPIC’s board of management. TAMS has been undertaking due diligence process of EPIC’s operations to ensure that there is proper understanding of the possible liabilities that the territory will incur. EPIC’s operations will continue and benefit by coming under TAMS.
There are many similarities between the nature of EPIC facilities, operations and business objectives and that of the other venues in the ACT currently being administered directly by TAMS, such as Canberra Stadium, Manuka Oval and the Stromlo Forest Park. The similarities include facilities that provide a focal point for a diversity of local and national sporting and community events; operational imperatives relevant to the nature of these events, such as partnerships with business and community sectors, flexibility and responsiveness to meet access and use needs, security and safety issues, neighbourhood issues such as traffic management and noise; and business objectives that balance maximising income with affordable use as well as minimising operational dependence on recurrent government funding.
Incorporating the EPIC venue within TAMS can capitalise on the expertise available within both existing organisations, particularly in relation to management issues such as event planning, contract management, asset management, security and insurance. In the longer term it can provide an array of opportunities such as consistency in policy application and regulatory compliance; common contractual arrangements such as catering; potential efficiencies in finance and administrative processes and systems; a review of marketing approach and event attraction strategies; and an alignment of the current master plan processes being undertaken.
Abolishing the EPIC board will result in annual savings to the territory in relation to board sitting fees, secretariat costs and reporting overheads. By dissolving the board we are simply bringing EPIC into line with all ACT government venues and providing savings for the ACT community.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Planning and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation) (10.49), in reply: In closing the debate, I thank members for their contributions. As members would be aware, the bill seeks to repeal the Exhibition Park Corporation Act 1976 to transfer the roles and responsibilities of the corporation to the Department of Territory and Municipal Services.
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