Mr BURKE - 2002-10-08
Minister, in your interview with Fred McCue on ABC Radio on 1 October, you said:
In the end, the government is going to take the land and use it for other purposes.
You went on to say:
It could be a housing development, it could be an R1 or R2 development.
When Fred McCue said:
The future looks fairly limited.
You said:
Well, for this site, for this particular club, yes.
Minister, is a development proposed for the site and if so, can you tell us the details of that development? Also, will the government be subdividing land so that the units can be put up for sale? If so, why did the government refuse the Arafura Club a similar option to allow them to restructure their debt?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question and, yes, that is what I said on Fred McCue’s program. I have to say first that whatever is going to happen with that site, we will keep in our sight the future of sporting clubs in Darwin. What is going to happen to this site, the final outcome, is going to benefit community and sporting clubs in Darwin. On the other hand, we just paid $550 000 on the Valuer-General’s valuation to acquire that land. We cannot just throw the money away. We have to recover the money. It is not my money, it is not your money, it is Territorians’ money and somehow we have to recover it.
Whatever happens, we have to make sure that the community is going to benefit, and the community will benefit. Of course there is no development proposal for that site. There was one in April 2001. It was put to us by the club, but following advice I received from the Department of Justice, I did not proceed with this development not only because the club was not viable, but also there were problems with residents, the neighbours and certainly with the type of the site which wasprescribed property.
In the end, the government is going to take the land and use it for other purposes.
You went on to say:
It could be a housing development, it could be an R1 or R2 development.
When Fred McCue said:
The future looks fairly limited.
You said:
Well, for this site, for this particular club, yes.
Minister, is a development proposed for the site and if so, can you tell us the details of that development? Also, will the government be subdividing land so that the units can be put up for sale? If so, why did the government refuse the Arafura Club a similar option to allow them to restructure their debt?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question and, yes, that is what I said on Fred McCue’s program. I have to say first that whatever is going to happen with that site, we will keep in our sight the future of sporting clubs in Darwin. What is going to happen to this site, the final outcome, is going to benefit community and sporting clubs in Darwin. On the other hand, we just paid $550 000 on the Valuer-General’s valuation to acquire that land. We cannot just throw the money away. We have to recover the money. It is not my money, it is not your money, it is Territorians’ money and somehow we have to recover it.
Whatever happens, we have to make sure that the community is going to benefit, and the community will benefit. Of course there is no development proposal for that site. There was one in April 2001. It was put to us by the club, but following advice I received from the Department of Justice, I did not proceed with this development not only because the club was not viable, but also there were problems with residents, the neighbours and certainly with the type of the site which wasprescribed property.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016