Page 4980 - Week 13 - Thursday, 12 November 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
that there are going to be developments in the west, through Molonglo. We know that there is scope for industrial development in the east and indeed at the airport with the expansion around there. So that east-west corridor is where pressures will emerge, and I think the NCA and the commonwealth government—I believe this was announced under the former Howard government—showed some great foresight in tackling this issue. It will be, of course, during the construction phase, a little bit inconvenient. But that government showed great foresight for the future of the ACT.
The other thing we should say about development in the parliamentary triangle is what an amazing contribution it makes to our economy. There can be arguments about the design of the ASIO building. There can be arguments about whether it should have been a little bit lower and the like, but there can be no argument that the construction of the ASIO building is of massive importance to the ACT economy. We are talking about a half-billion dollar project. That construction phase for the ASIO building, plus the ongoing benefits to the ACT economy of having ASIO and all the staff working there, is significant, as will be other developments in the parliamentary triangle and undertaken by the commonwealth government. They will continue to play a very important role in our economy.
At times when we have challenges and slowdowns in our economy, these kinds of large infrastructure projects and large building projects from the commonwealth do make a very big difference to our economy. There can be a legitimate concern over issues around consultation from time to time. There can always be differences of opinion over design issues. But, if we take the ASIO building as an example, there is no doubt that it will play a significant role over the next couple of years in the strength of the ACT economy and indeed in the strength of our construction sector.
I will probably leave it there but just conclude where I started. The gutting of the NCA has been unfortunate. It is something that I would urge the commonwealth government to reconsider because it is not just important for the people of Canberra, though of course the work of the NCA is very important to us in a number of ways—not just the planning aspects but in a lot of the events management and a lot of the promotion of Canberra. But it is important to us as a nation to take some pride in our capital city, and the NCA has played a part in that. I, as a proud Canberran, not only care about Canberrans having pride in their city; I want the rest of Australia to have pride in Canberra as the nation’s capital. That is something that I think we should all be striving for, and it is something that organisations like the NCA have contributed to over the years. Hopefully, as we go forward, they will be given the kind of resources to be able to do that job again and to do it with the necessary resources that I believe have been lacking over the last couple of years.
I commend Ms Le Couteur for bringing this forward. It raises all sorts of wonderful interesting issues and we could, I am sure, have a much longer discussion about it. It is an issue worthy of debate and it is an important issue for the ACT, for our economy and indeed for how we feel as a city and the amenity of our city going forward.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Planning, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Gaming and Racing) (3.28): I thank Ms Le Couteur for bringing this matter forward this afternoon.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video