Page 1406 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 2012
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MR SPEAKER: Supplementary, Mr Seselja.
MR SESELJA: Minister, when will blocks be available in the suburb of Throsby and how many blocks will be released in total?
MR BARR: As this is a land release matter, we are, of course, awaiting clearance under the EPBC Act. So I am not in a position to advise the Assembly at this stage. When I am, I will.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary, Mr Doszpot.
MR DOSZPOT: Minister, why has this process taken so long, and to what extent has it been reduced in size?
MR BARR: There is of course a requirement to comply with commonwealth legislation. I do note that the EPBC Act was one enacted by the Howard government, so I am sure it has the fulsome support of those opposite.
Mr Seselja: They have said so publicly.
MR BARR: Good to hear, Mr Speaker. So there are requirements and assessments that have to be undertaken. Some of those are seasonal. That requires that environmental assessments be undertaken at certain times of the year. This can mean that there are delays whilst those assessments are undertaken. Nevertheless it is the government’s desire to see housing in Throsby, and we will be working collaboratively with the commonwealth and the stakeholders to ensure that that occurs.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary, Mr Doszpot.
MR DOSZPOT: Minister, what has been the cost to the community so far in planning development for the suburb of Throsby?
MR BARR: That will be a difficult question to answer as it would of course involve an assessment of the hours and minutes spent by officials over a period of time. Of course the initial planning for the Gungahlin district as a whole goes back to the mid-90s or earlier, as I understand it. So it would be difficult and perhaps not a particularly useful exercise of the time of the bureaucracy to go back to the 90s to attempt to estimate the hours and minutes spent by officials through the process of developing Throsby and other parts of Gungahlin. I certainly do not intend to be wasting the bureaucracy’s time on that matter. I think the most productive thing we can do is to continue our efforts on land release across multiple fronts in the city.
Construction industry—work safety
MS HUNTER: My question is to the Attorney-General and concerns contracting and safety at work sites. Minister, two separate construction sites operated by Kenoss Contractors were recently closed due to work safety concerns. The ACT government has often contracted Kenoss for major projects in Canberra. The CFMEU reportedly
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