Page 1541 - Week 04 - Thursday, 25 March 2010
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some additional scoping, of potentiality of that site for a mosque. At this stage I do not believe I have any information beyond that to report, but I am more than happy, Ms Bresnan, to receive an up-to-date report on the state of negotiations between the government, led by LAPS, and the north Canberra Muslim community in relation to progress on considerations around the suitability of the land that has been identified at Gungahlin.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Bresnan, a supplementary question?
MS BRESNAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Chief Minister, what type of community consultation process will take place with the new identified site, and are all direct land grants subject to the same consultation process?
MR STANHOPE: I do not think I can respond that the consultation is the same or identical. Consultation depends at one level on the nature of the site, the location—the nature of it, closeness to residential et cetera. There is a different flavour to consultation, depending on the nature of the site. But the commitment to consult with the relevant community or communities of interest is exactly the same.
This particular site—as I think about it, one of the issues in relation to the site that is currently being investigated is that it is not as close to residential as the Nicholls site was. The Nicholls site was actually adjacent to a local centre, in the midst of a suburb. I have not visited the site at Gungahlin, but I understand that the site at the Gungahlin town centre does have a different aspect. That would at one level be relevant to the nature of the consultation that is pursued.
I would need to take some further advice on plans or proposals for consultation, but the consultation will be genuine. I do not know whether the heart of your question is a suggestion that the government would discriminate or distinguish depending on the proponent. The answer to that is no.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Hunter?
MS HUNTER: Chief Minister, what options is the ACT government considering for the future of the Nicholls site?
MR STANHOPE: I will take some further advice on that. I am not sure—
Mrs Dunne: She said Nicholls. Don’t you know where it is?
MR STANHOPE: I just want to be 100 per cent correct. I am not like you, Mrs Dunne; you say whatever comes into your mind, whether it is right or wrong. I am careful not to mislead, a carefulness that you do not actually share.
Before answering the question fully, I would want to be sure that no other community group has already made an application for the site or that no government agency has identified the site as a site for perhaps an ACT-facilitated or sponsored development. I do not know at this stage whether any other organisation or any ACT government agency has proposed a use.
In general terms—I will get information about whether there has been any other interest—the site remains available. The government would respond to any
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