Hansard - Heritage listing of Currawong debate

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Suspension of Standing and Sessional Orders: Order of Business

Ms SYLVIA HALE [11.35 a.m.]: I move:

That standing and sessional orders be suspended to allow a motion to be moved forthwith that Private Members' Business item No. 131 outside the Order of Precedence, relating to the heritage listing of Currawong Beach, be called on forthwith.

I seek leave for this motion to be debated urgently because the new Minister for Planning informed us at a budget estimates hearing last week that she will make a decision soon about what to do with the Currawong site. One of the most contentious aspects of the Currawong proposal is the issue whether it should be heritage listed. The Minister has said that a panel set up by former Minister Frank Sartor is examining this issue, but given that so many heritage organisations have already called for Currawong to be heritage listed, we can only assume the purpose of the Sartor panel is to find some excuse not to heritage list the site.

If Pittwater Council, the National Trust, the Heritage Council of New South Wales and the Australian Institute of Architects have declared Currawong Beach and the historic buildings contained within its boundaries to be a heritage site, what is the purpose of the Sartor panel? It is urgent, therefore, that this House makes known its views about the heritage listing of Currawong.

Another reason for urgency for this House to express a view on this issue is the tortured financial and political deals that have surrounded the Currawong development project. Currawong is just the latest example of a significant Australian Labor Party donor lining up to ask for a special deal from the Australian Labor Party planning Minister. As noted by Elizabeth Farrelly in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald, the developers, Linz and Litver, with their impeccable connections to both Unions NSW and the New South Wales Australian Labor Party and their track record as major party donors, secured Currawong at about half the price of other bids, cheating the public of both access to Currawong and around $15 million.

The Currawong development saga is as bad as anything we saw from the corrupt developers' free-for-all that typified the discredited Askin Liberal Government of the 1970s. It is urgent therefore that this House takes steps to say that this deal stinks and that Currawong should not become the latest environmental and heritage jewel to be sold off—

The Hon. Greg Donnelly: Point of order: Ms Sylvia Hale knows full well that the purpose of her presentation is to persuade the House that this matter is urgent. What she is doing is straying into a tirade against the Government, using very colourful language. The member should be drawn back to what is a requirement of this part of her presentation: to persuade the House that this matter is urgent.

The PRESIDENT: Order! I uphold the point of order in accordance with the rulings by numerous presidents, including President Johnson, who ruled on 26 February 1987:

In debating a procedural motion, members should restrict their comments to the terms of the motion and not the substance of the matter".

The member should bear that ruling in mind as she proceeds.

Ms SYLVIA HALE: I believe I have outlined the reasons why the matter is urgent and I urge the House to support this motion.

The Hon. GREG DONNELLY [11.40 a.m.]: I speak against urgency on this matter. Ms Hale is asking the Government to take immediate steps to list Currawong Beach on the State Heritage Register and to protect it from inappropriate development. Ms Hale should keep up to date with the Government's progress on this matter, which she is clearly not doing.

The proposal was on exhibition until 23 May 2008 and more than 300 submissions were received. A ministerial review panel and an independent hearing and assessment panel were appointed by the former Minister for Planning under section 35 of the Heritage Act and under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 respectively. The ministerial review panel will fully investigate all heritage considerations on the site and the State Heritage Register nomination of the site. The independent hearing and assessment panel will thoroughly assess the major project environmental assessment.

Both panels consist of John Whitehouse, who is the chair; Martin Hill, a valuer and land economist; and Stephen Davies, a heritage consultant. Each panel will provide its own report. The independent hearing and assessment panel requested a review of the proponent's geotechnical and coastal processes information and preliminary information has been provided to the panel for comment. The panel can finalise its report and recommendations after this information has been completed. The proponent has provided a response to submissions in the form of a preferred project report. This cannot be assessed until the panel report on this project is received.

A decision regarding the heritage consideration and the redevelopment of the Currawong site can be made only once each panel has made its recommendations to the Minister and the Department of Planning has finalised its assessment report. The Government believes that there is no urgency with regard to this matter. A number of other items on the list of private members' business should be dealt with today in the proper order. The member's attempt to jump the queue is not acceptable and the Government will not support her proposal.

The Hon. GREG PEARCE [11.43 a.m.]: The Coalition supports the motion before the House. We believe that it is important that this House send a message to the Government that this long drawn-out matter should be dealt with immediately. The new Minister for Planning was on ABC radio this morning telling the people of New South Wales that she is bringing new eyes and ears to planning issues. She has announced the Government's about-turn on Callan Park, although she has not announced that any funds will be available to maintain it in the future.

The Hon. Duncan Gay: Have you seen the Premier—Sir Fib-a-Lot?

The Hon. GREG PEARCE: The Premier does fib a lot. The Coalition believes this matter is urgent and that the House should immediately send a message to the Government that it must deal with this long overdue and particularly smelly matter as soon as possible. A great deal more should be revealed about the Labor Party's dealings in respect of Currawong and the developer. Resolving the heritage listing of the site will be a very important step and it should not be delayed by a ministerial review panel. The new Minister proudly proclaimed how she is acting to save one of her colleagues in the seat of Balmain by addressing an issue in that electorate. She should do as she said she would this morning. In fact, she specifically mentioned Currawong as one of the projects that will be examined with her new eyes and ears—and new accent, for that matter. I encourage the House to support the motion.

Question—That the motion be agreed to—put.

The House divided.

Ayes, 21

Noes, 16

Pair

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.

Order of Precedence

Motion by Ms Sylvia Hale agreed to:

That Private Member's Business Item No. 131 outside the Order of Precedence be called on forthwith.

CURRAWONG BEACH HERITAGE LISTING

Page: 8

Ms SYLVIA HALE [11.51 a.m.]: I move:

1. That this House notes:

(a) that Pittwater Council has declared Currawong Beach and the historic buildings contained within its boundaries to be a heritage site and that it should immediately be placed on the State Heritage Register and the National Heritage List in its entirety,

(b) that the National Trust of Australia (NSW Division) has declared Currawong Beach and the historic buildings contained within its boundaries to be a heritage site and that it should immediately be placed on the State Heritage Register and the National Heritage List in its entirety,

(c) that the Heritage Council of New South Wales has declared Currawong Beach and the historic buildings contained within its boundaries to be a heritage site and that it should be placed on the State Heritage Register in its entirety, and

(d) that the Australian Institute of Architects has stated that Currawong Beach is of enormous heritage significance and should be placed on the State Heritage Register in its entirety.

2. That this House calls on the Government:

(a) to take immediate steps to place Currawong Beach in its entirety on the State Heritage Register, and

(b) to ensure that Currawong Beach is protected from residential subdivision or other inappropriate development.

This motion requests this House to note that Pittwater Council, the National Trust, the Heritage Council of New South Wales and the Australian Institute of Architects have declared Currawong Beach and the historic buildings contained within its boundaries to be a heritage site and have called for it to be placed on the State's Heritage Register. The motion then calls on the Government to take immediate steps to place Currawong Beach in its entirety on the State's Heritage Register. Finally, it calls on the Government to protect Currawong from residential subdivision or other inappropriate development.

In relation to heritage listing it should be noted that under the nomination criteria for an item to be listed on the State's Heritage Register, a site must meet one of seven criteria for State significance. An item need meet only one criterion for nomination. Yet as even the State Heritage Office report states, Currawong meets an exceptionally high four out of seven of the criteria for significance. Currawong has heritage significance on many levels. It is a living natural history of the biodiversity of the area; it has indigenous links; it has a long association going back to the early days of colonial history; it has associations with the State's social history; and it contains significant pieces of Australia's history of technological innovation.

But the built and social heritage of Currawong cannot be properly interpreted or understood if it is seen in isolation from its natural setting. The escarpment, bush and beach between the built environment of Currawong and the surrounding national park form an important buffer and curtilage. To excise a portion will only undermine Currawong's significance. Currawong is surrounded by Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, which is recognised as an outstanding example of the area's biodiversity. Much of that natural vegetation has been retained. Important plant communities found at Currawong include red bloodwood, scribblygum and yellow bloodwood, and the site also provides habitat for many significant or endangered animals.

Apart from its natural history, Currawong has an indigenous association. It has long been associated with occupation and ownership by clans of the Guringai tribe. It also has significance from the earliest days of European settlement. The original land grant was to one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion, and the site contains an early farmhouse, which provides a continuing link with one of the earliest sites of agriculture in Australia. The Australian Constitution was drafted just next to Currawong, when the Lucinda moored at The Basin, while post-World War II Currawong became a recreational site for the use of ordinary working people of the State. So, both natural history and cultural heritage values are strongly represented here.

Given the overwhelming environmental, cultural and social grounds for heritage listing and the support of the local council, the National Trust, the Heritage Council of New South Wales and the Australian Institute of Architects for heritage listing, one has to ask why the former planning Minister, Frank Sartor, decided to set up yet another panel made up of his hand-picked appointees to make a recommendation on heritage. We will probably never know but the financial, political and personal connections between the proponents of the development of the site and prominent members of the New South Wales Australian Labor Party give rise to serious public concerns about why Currawong has not been listed.

As outlined by Elizabeth Farrelly in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald, there is a web of overlapping relationships between the developers, Allen Linz and Eduard Litver, ALP insider David Tanevski, the then head of Unions New South Wales and ALP MLC in waiting, John Robertson, Treasurer Eric Roozendaal, and ALP Senator Mark Arbib. Mr Linz co-owns KWC Capital, which donated $44,000 to the ALP in a key period in 2006 and 2007. The deal to sell Currawong to Linz and Litver's development company was concluded in February 2007. New South Wales Electoral Funding Authority returns reveal that Mr Linz's KWC Capital donated $15,000 to the New South Wales ALP on 12 February 2007 and a further $24,000 just two weeks later on 2 March 2007—money that was no doubt very handy for the ALP in the final weeks of its campaign for the 24 March 2007 State election. No doubt the Government will yet again claim that these exceptionally well-timed donations to the ALP were not accompanied by any commitments in relation to Currawong and that it is sheer coincidence that six months later—

The Hon. Duncan Gay: Just serendipity.

Ms SYLVIA HALE: Absolute serendipity, as the member suggests. No doubt the Government will say it is sheer coincidence that six months later Frank Sartor determined that Currawong was of such State significance that he should call it in under his notorious part 3A powers. This gives us the extraordinary proposition that Currawong is of such State significance that it should be removed from the control of Pittwater Council but its not significant enough to be given the protection of heritage listing. The Currawong deal was brokered for Unions New South Wales by Linz's business partner and then KWC director, David Tanevski. Unions New South Wales was then headed by John Robertson, elected yesterday to this Legislative Council to replace the unlamented Michael Costa. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that during these years a failed company, Kingsway Capital, had the outsourced contract for the vetting of contractors' capability for government works. Michael Costa, Eric Roozendaal and Mark Abib were on its board, next to Tanevski and Linz. As Elizabeth Farrelly put it so succinctly:

If that sounds like a sweaty old locker room to you, try this. Between them all, they secured Currawong for Linz and Litver at about half the price of other bids—cheating the public out of both access to it and $15 million-odd in recompense.

The question that arises from this sorry saga is just how stupid, how obtuse does the Government think the people of New South Wales are? People recognise a political fix when they see one and Currawong is one of the most red-hot political fixes we have seen in this State for decades. It is a disgraceful saga of backroom deals between party insiders and their mates with a big dollop of political donations to help the wheels go round. It is exactly the sort of deal that has led to this Government and this State's planning system being held in such disrepute. This motion is an opportunity for the House to tell the Government to stop this dirty political deal from proceeding further. I commend the motion to the House.

The Hon. GREG PEARCE [11.59 a.m.]: The Coalition supports the motion.

Ms SYLVIA HALE [11.59 a.m.], in reply: I thank members for their contributions.

Question—That the motion be agreed to—put.

The House divided.

Ayes, 22

Noes, 16

 Question resolved in the affirmative. Motion agreed to.