Mr BURKE - 2003-08-12
Your government’s decision to build a convention centre at the Wharf Precinct away from the many small businesses that currently operate in Darwin CBD and are doing it tough, amounts to abandoning them. Why have you not listened to the Darwin City Business Association’s 300 members who want a convention centre in the very heart of Darwin, close to their businesses?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I do hope the Opposition Leader was listening to my previous answer. What we did regarding the economic analysis of where the convention and exhibition space should be, was very clearly and carefully done. What this project is about is building the economic capacity of our city, and that is very important. The convention centre is carefully placed within the CBD and, if you stand in the mall and go 600 m either side, you can find the new Holiday Inn on one side and the space for the convention centre on the other. This is within good distance of the mall, and it will bring significant benefits to our retailers and hotel owners there. I believe that what we hear from the opposition is a cloth-eared approach; it is not about building our economy. This is a project for our future, about bringing sustainable benefits to many businesses. For the next 10 to 15 years, we will see construction going ahead.
Again, I say to the opposition - anyone ask for a briefing? No, nobody has asked for a briefing. I have had not one letter to ask for a briefing, and so your comments are based on ignorance about where we should be putting this convention centre and how it will bring the greatest benefits for Darwin and the Territory. It is interesting that the Opposition Leader said there has been bagging from business.
I would like to quote from the CEO of the Territory Construction Association. You would never call him someone who was necessarily a Labor mate. I quote Michael Kilgariff:
What we are looking for is an integrated development that develops a life of its own, and that life of its own will also be integral
to what is happening in the CBD, not separate to what is happening in the CBD.
He goes on:
So, in fact there are going to be three multipliers really that come out of this city redevelopment. There is going to be the
direct investment in the project, there will be the incremental effect of the additional construction down on the precinct and,
of course, there will be the additional effect of the increased tourism driven by the convention centre. So, as far as we are
concerned, it is a win-win for everybody.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I do hope the Opposition Leader was listening to my previous answer. What we did regarding the economic analysis of where the convention and exhibition space should be, was very clearly and carefully done. What this project is about is building the economic capacity of our city, and that is very important. The convention centre is carefully placed within the CBD and, if you stand in the mall and go 600 m either side, you can find the new Holiday Inn on one side and the space for the convention centre on the other. This is within good distance of the mall, and it will bring significant benefits to our retailers and hotel owners there. I believe that what we hear from the opposition is a cloth-eared approach; it is not about building our economy. This is a project for our future, about bringing sustainable benefits to many businesses. For the next 10 to 15 years, we will see construction going ahead.
Again, I say to the opposition - anyone ask for a briefing? No, nobody has asked for a briefing. I have had not one letter to ask for a briefing, and so your comments are based on ignorance about where we should be putting this convention centre and how it will bring the greatest benefits for Darwin and the Territory. It is interesting that the Opposition Leader said there has been bagging from business.
I would like to quote from the CEO of the Territory Construction Association. You would never call him someone who was necessarily a Labor mate. I quote Michael Kilgariff:
What we are looking for is an integrated development that develops a life of its own, and that life of its own will also be integral
to what is happening in the CBD, not separate to what is happening in the CBD.
He goes on:
So, in fact there are going to be three multipliers really that come out of this city redevelopment. There is going to be the
direct investment in the project, there will be the incremental effect of the additional construction down on the precinct and,
of course, there will be the additional effect of the increased tourism driven by the convention centre. So, as far as we are
concerned, it is a win-win for everybody.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016