❓ Hon. Neil Thomson questions the precedent of land acquisition without compensation for the inner-city primary school. The Minister's response defends the project, citing delays and other examples of land contributions.
AnsweredQoN 964Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
INNER-CITY
PRIMARY SCHOOL — LAND
964. Hon NEIL THOMSON to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Education:
(1) With the
exception of the example presented in the proposed land acquisition under the
Queens Gardens Car Park (Inner City School) Bill 2024, is there any precedent in
which freehold land has been forcibly acquired by the state by an act of
Parliament without paying compensation for the land value?
(2) If yes to
(1), what are those precedents?
(3) Why have
negotiations broken down with the City of Perth?
PRIMARY SCHOOL — LAND
964. Hon NEIL THOMSON to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Education:
(1) With the
exception of the example presented in the proposed land acquisition under the
Queens Gardens Car Park (Inner City School) Bill 2024, is there any precedent in
which freehold land has been forcibly acquired by the state by an act of
Parliament without paying compensation for the land value?
(2) If yes to
(1), what are those precedents?
(3) Why have
negotiations broken down with the City of Perth?
AnswerView source ↗
I wish I was
providing the answer to the third question.
I thank the
honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(3)
This is a great result for families living in our inner city. The new East
Perth primary school will be the single biggest
investment in a public primary school in our state's history. Over
several decades, the City of Perth
has requested successive governments to repeal the Chevron–Hilton Hotel
Agreement Act 1960 and terminate the state agreement, none of which have
progressed until now. Since May 2023, the government has been in discussions
with the City of Perth to acquire a portion of the Queens Gardens car park. In
March 2024, the city's council resolved not to enter into a major land
transaction under section 3.59 of the Local Government Act 1995 on the portion
of the Queens Gardens car park. Unless the city agrees to progress a major land transaction and publicly
advertises its business plan, it cannot enter into an agreement to
dispose of the site.
There are a number of examples of
local governments working with the state government to identify land for
significant state projects. For example, the former Liberal–National
government did not give any compensation to the City of Perth for land for the
state's Elizabeth Quay development or to the City of Joondalup for
contributing 11 hectares of its freehold land to the state government,
acknowledging the state's investment to deliver the world-class Ocean
Reef marina.
Given
the extensive delays to date, the state has been required to take immediate
action to support delivery of the East Perth primary school and mitigate
the risk of further delays and uncertainty. Our priority is to ensure that
young people and their families have access to a great public education close
to home. This new primary school will offer that for people in our capital
city. The Cook Labor government is getting on with transformative projects that
encourage people to live in our city—the Edith Cowan University city
campus, redevelopment of the WACA, the Pier Street affordable housing
development and a state-of-the-art inner-city primary school.
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order! Thank you, honourable members. I
was going to point out the boundaries around standing order 105, and remind all
members that questions and answers are to be concise.
providing the answer to the third question.
I thank the
honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(3)
This is a great result for families living in our inner city. The new East
Perth primary school will be the single biggest
investment in a public primary school in our state's history. Over
several decades, the City of Perth
has requested successive governments to repeal the Chevron–Hilton Hotel
Agreement Act 1960 and terminate the state agreement, none of which have
progressed until now. Since May 2023, the government has been in discussions
with the City of Perth to acquire a portion of the Queens Gardens car park. In
March 2024, the city's council resolved not to enter into a major land
transaction under section 3.59 of the Local Government Act 1995 on the portion
of the Queens Gardens car park. Unless the city agrees to progress a major land transaction and publicly
advertises its business plan, it cannot enter into an agreement to
dispose of the site.
There are a number of examples of
local governments working with the state government to identify land for
significant state projects. For example, the former Liberal–National
government did not give any compensation to the City of Perth for land for the
state's Elizabeth Quay development or to the City of Joondalup for
contributing 11 hectares of its freehold land to the state government,
acknowledging the state's investment to deliver the world-class Ocean
Reef marina.
Given
the extensive delays to date, the state has been required to take immediate
action to support delivery of the East Perth primary school and mitigate
the risk of further delays and uncertainty. Our priority is to ensure that
young people and their families have access to a great public education close
to home. This new primary school will offer that for people in our capital
city. The Cook Labor government is getting on with transformative projects that
encourage people to live in our city—the Edith Cowan University city
campus, redevelopment of the WACA, the Pier Street affordable housing
development and a state-of-the-art inner-city primary school.
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order! Thank you, honourable members. I
was going to point out the boundaries around standing order 105, and remind all
members that questions and answers are to be concise.
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