Senator Katy Gallagher has called for co-operation between the ACT government and CSIRO over the planned sale of a massive Ginninderra field station on Canberra's northern outskirts. On Wednesday, the research organisation announced it had asked the National Capital Authority to include the 701-hectare site for possible new development as part of amendments to the National Capital Plan, due to be released for public consultation next month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Proceeds from any sale of the underused land on the ACT-NSW border would be put towards new facilities for priority research. Any sale would allow for hundreds of new homes to be built in the area, in turn affecting the government's own land release timetable, which is tied to population demand.
Ms Gallagher, a member of the Federal Parliament's national capital cross-party committee and former chief minister, said the Abbott government had left CSIRO with little choice but to sell assets through more than $100 million in budget cuts to the organisation.
Any sale of the land could have years of ramifications for the ACT and Canberra's property sector.
"Without a doubt they're looking for access to cash because they're not getting it from the government," Senator Gallagher said.
"It also makes sense that they are looking at their assets and making sure their assets match up with their priorities and if they don't, working out what to do with them so I don't necessarily have an issue with the fact they are doing this."
The sale would have to be considered by the committee and by ACT government planning processes.
The Ginninderra field station was first established in 1960 and has been home to the development of a range of research projects including novel grains and agricultural systems.
"Whatever happens, we have to make sure they are doing it in co-ordination with the ACT government," Senator Gallagher said.
"The real problem would come if this is done in competition with the existing planning and land release arrangements of the ACT government. This is a longer piece of work, is my guess."
"I don't think there's been any work done on environment protection and biodiversity conservation or all of those planning documents that underpin a planning approval. For CSIRO, their need for cash has been accelerated by some of the cuts that they've had and that's forced them to have a hard look at what their assets are."
CSIRO business and infrastructure general manager Mark Wallis said on Wednesday government funding cuts had not played a role in the decision to sell, but rather ongoing reviews of the organisation's large property portfolio around Australia.
Fraser MP and shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh said this week CSIRO would not need to sell assets if the government had not cut about $115 million from its budget last year.
Senator Gallagher said maintaining research levels and staff employment would require asset sales by the CSIRO.
"The critical thing for me, having been chief minister, is as much as possible they need to work with the ACT government. If these processes didn't allow for co-ordination and co-operation... I think that would make this proposal much more problematic," Senator Gallagher said.
