Page 1651 - Week 05 - Thursday, 5 May 2016
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I move:
After paragraph (1)(f), insert:
“(g) notes that new ideas and opportunities can arise out of unsolicited proposals;
(h) the Manuka Green proposal has included some ideas about how to improve the facilities at Manuka Oval for Canberra’s benefit;
(i) the Manuka Green proposal has elements which have been welcomed and others which have been controversial;
(j) the unsolicited proposals process requires an assessment by a government with integrity;
(k) the current ACT Labor Government is embroiled in a number of probity and integrity issues; and
(l) there is a lack of confidence that this Government will be able to fairly adjudicate any unsolicited proposal.”.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Tourism and Events and Minister for Urban Renewal) (4.57): The government will not be supporting Mr Coe’s amendment. Having said that, I can say that there are some points in his amendment that I can agree with. Had he moved the first three points and resisted the temptation for yet another tedious politically motivated attack, he might have found agreement for his amendment. I think it would be fair to say that this Assembly would agree with the principle that new ideas and opportunities can arise out of unsolicited proposals. The Manuka green proposal has included some ideas about how to improve facilities at Manuka Oval for Canberra’s benefit, and it has elements which have been welcomed and others which have been controversial. I would not disagree with those three points.
The suggestion, however, that the government lacks integrity is something that I simply cannot support. The assertions, including the assertions in question time today, that have been made by the opposition are very disappointing. As things will transpire, they will show an appalling character assassination of an individual who happens to share a name with someone who happens to be an associate professor at the University of Canberra. There can be more than one person who shares a name; there is more than one Paul Kelly in the world. It would appear that in a gratuitous overreach, those opposite have slandered someone who happens to share a name with someone else; an own goal if ever you have seen one, but there we go.
Let me go to the issues of substance this afternoon. I support Minister Rattenbury’s motion. I think it contains a sensible path forward should the government agree to proceed to the next stage of this unsolicited proposal. That, I need to stress, is “should”; the government has not yet made a decision in relation to these matters.
What I can do this afternoon is give the Assembly some background on the master plan work that has occurred at Manuka Oval going back to 2009.
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