Gillman Land Sale

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:29): Yes, if I may, to the Attorney-General as Minister for Urban Development. Has the government had any discussion with ACP in respect of any alternate development that they propose on the site, given the depressed circumstances of the resources industry?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform) (14:29): I will do my best to answer that question. To the best of my knowledge, there have been no discussions that I am aware of where the government has said, 'ACP, we want you to change from your oil and gas vision and do something else.' What we are interested in is them fulfilling—I want to make this very clear, and I will say this very slowly because it important—

The Hon. P. Caica: So they can understand it.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes; I want to be really clear. What we are interested in seeing now is—ACP approached us in order to purchase some land. They agreed to pay a certain price for that land, which we judged to be good value for the state.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Anything out of order from the leader and the deputy leader, they will be leaving us for the remainder of question time. The member for Kavel is warned and so is the member for Stuart. The member for Mount Gambier is warned for the second and final time. I think the Deputy Premier is being vindicated about Kavel.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Thank you; he is relatively quiet in some respects, but he stirs them all up, Mr Speaker.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Lethal.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: He is lethal; we have noticed it from here. The point I was trying to make was this: we secured an agreement with them, which was that we would enter into an arrangement whereby they would have an exclusive option to purchase at an agreed price. There were milestones along the way. The first few of those milestones were government milestones; they have now been completed.

The next set of milestones are milestones for ACP to complete, and it is my expectation that they will get on with it and complete them. When they have completed them, at that point the preconditions for the settlement upon the first parcel of land will be met, and it is my expectation that we will receive a cheque and there will be a settlement. What they then do, in terms of how they manage that property and how they make some business proposition out of that property, is their responsibility, not the government's responsibility.

Mr Pederick: I think it has run out of gas!

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond laughs at his own jokes; he is called to order. Supplementary, deputy leader.