Page 181 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 26 February 2014

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MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Coe.

MR COE: Minister, will you take on notice the request to find out whether you have received any representations from Mr Rattenbury?

MR CORBELL: I am happy to take the question on notice.

Canberra—centenary

MR DOSZPOT: My question is to the Chief Minister. Chief Minister, in the half-yearly performance reports for the Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate it states that there was $822,000 expenditure on the centenary which has been rolled over from the previous year. What centenary of Canberra costings were required to be rolled forward and why?

MS GALLAGHER: I will be able to provide that detail to you on notice, but there will be the wrapping up of staffing arrangements. The centenary team unit is almost, from my understanding, completely wound down now, but there is some ongoing evaluation that is being done of the centenary that would flow into the next calendar year and probably the next financial year, if it is not completely finalised by then. But I am happy to provide that detail to you.

MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Mr Doszpot.

MR DOSZPOT: While you are checking those factors, Chief Minister, could you also check when you were made aware of the need to roll forward the $822,000?

MS GALLAGHER: Yes, I will.

MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Gentleman.

MR GENTLEMAN: Chief Minister, could you tell us about some of the benefits that have been brought to the territory from the expenditure on the centenary program?

Mr Coe: I thought that was the point of the evaluation.

MS GALLAGHER: There is the detailed evaluation that we are having, Mr Coe, and then there is the evaluation that we all do as citizens of this place, as people who have attended numerous centenary events. Indeed some of the statistics that the Deputy Chief Minister just informed the Assembly of in the previous answer, around the very strong year for tourism that the centenary was, show that for a relatively modest expenditure in a year of celebration the community got a good return on that investment. In the end it was about $24 million spread throughout the year over a number of different projects that provided us as local citizens with the opportunity to celebrate the centenary year and also, as the nation’s capital, to promote Canberra to the rest of the country and indeed beyond Australia. Some of the early evaluation has been very positive. The final evaluations will be completed, and I am happy to inform the Assembly when those are done.


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