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Mr DAVID BARR (Manly) [6.02 p.m.]: On 9 March I spoke in this House about the draft management plan for North Head. At that time I referred to the ongoing negotiations on the lease for the Quarantine Station and I said there were whispers about serious complications. It has now come to pass that there are, indeed, serious complications, and that fact has now been reported in the media. The Quarantine Station Environment Officer wrote recently to the Quarantine Station Community Committee, of which I am a member, and stated:
DEC have been informed that Mawland has parted ways with its financial partner—
Its financial partner was Babcock and Brown—
It is a matter for Mawland to arrange their financing. DEC needs to be satisfied that the financial arrangements are robust.
Mawland is in a flurry of activity to attract a new venture partner or partners. However, it is unacceptable that a heritage site of this importance is being held hostage to the possibility of a private hotel operator being able to cobble together a robust proposal to present to the Government. Everyone is in the dark as to what is going on, and commercial in confidence is no excuse. The Government should tell us decisively what is going on. A number of things are happening in relation to the Quarantine Station and North Head. This is a golden opportunity for the Government to take significant action by pulling back from the 45-year lease. The proposal has been on foot for more than 10 years, yet Mawland is still rushing around to find someone to underwrite its proposal. That is totally unsatisfactory.
The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust has presented a draft plan of management for North Head and is willing to contribute up to $20 million to the conservation of the site. After five years the site will be handed over to the State. At that time buildings could be leased, thus providing a revenue stream. In October 2001 the then Minister said that the Quarantine Station was running at a loss of $750,000 per annum. I suggest that revenue from the old School of Artillery site and from the Quarantine Station—in addition to the subleasing of restaurants and kiosks, the conference centre and tours—provides plenty of scope for a viable, self-funded heritage site at North Head that will become a sanctuary and green entry point to our beautiful harbour. The Government should walk away from the proposal and devise a much more constructive proposal for the site, instead of entering into a 45-year lease with a private hotel operator.
The site comprising all of North Head south of Park Hill gates has been nominated for national heritage listing. It is believed that the Australian Heritage Council ticked that off in December. The Federal Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Ian Campbell, was due to make a determination by 28 February. The site is currently on the national register but if it is placed on the national heritage list the Federal Government will have certain powers and, indeed, obligations to protect North Head. That may involve more Federal Government intervention in the matter.
The Opposition has resurrected its Quarantine Station Preservation Trust Bill, which it last presented to the House in May 2004. At that time I made the point that a trust merely for the Quarantine Station had already been overtaken by the sanctuary concept, and I will move an amendment to that effect. A foundation or trust to cover the whole of North Head, including the old School of Artillery site, is needed. I am surprised that the Opposition has not done something more imaginative than dust off this tired old bill. Again I call on the Government to call it a day on the lease proposal. This constellation of events provides a wonderful opportunity for the Government to do something special on the site, and it should do it right now.