Parliamentary record : Part I debates (27 February 1985)
Debates for 4th Assembly 1983 - 1987; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 4th Assembly 1983 - 1987
1985-02-27
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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DEBATES - Wednesday 27 February 1985 with him and I learnt a great deal. Certainly, to me personally, and I believe to all the people in the communities in that area, his passing was a sad loss. Mr Deputy Speaker, time has run away with me. I wish to make further reference to people for whom not only I, personally, but I believe large numbers of people in central Australia had deep respect but I might leave those comments for some later hour. Mr PERRON (Fannie Bay): Mr Deputy Speaker, I will not keep the Assembly long. I was not intending to speak in the adjournment debate this afternoon but, after a glance at the front page and the editorial of the NT News today, I thought I should at least put my views on record about the question of the renaming of the casinos in Darwin and Alice Springs. I noted with some amazement that the views of the city council have been brought together formally and that this matter should rate fo~l debate by our esteemed city councillors in Darwin. I was also surprised that they unanimously, I think it was, passed a motion calling upon the company that is now operating the casinos in the Territory to change the name of the casinos from Diamond Beach, in the case of Darwin, to Mindil Beach as it was before. I think it amazing that the council should take it upon itself to place itself in a position of judgment in this regard as far as a commercial enterprise is concerned, a commercial enterprise to which its reputation and its promotional campaigns are very important. They are crucial to the success of the casino and the whole atmosphere of the promotion. The way in which it is done and the names that are selected are very important for its future. I am surprised that the council should say that it does not like the name that has been chosen and that it thinks it should be changed. I suppose it feels it speaks on behalf of its constituents. However, I wonder if the city council would like its wishes to prevail as to the colour of the stationery that the company might care to use or the colour of the carpets that the operators will refurbish the building with or perhaps the plants they select to extend the landscaping which unfortunately was not done by the previous owners. I think it is a nonsense for the council to become involved in this sort of project. In an editorial, the NT News has also chosen to support the council and express what it perceives as the wishes of the Darwin community in naming the casinos. I Just do not think the name of the casino has any particular relationship to the name of the beach alongside it. We should not feel that the name of Mindil Beach will be somehow stricken from all the maps of the Northern Territory or of Darwin. I presume it is the name formally adopted by the Place Names Committee and it is unlikely to change unless the Place Names Committee and the minister choose to change it in the future. The casino operators clearly and justifiably wanted to change the image of the casinos as they have operated in the Territory in the past, and well we know the need for a change. There have been many visitors to those casinos. Visitors to the Territory have passed through the casinos in Darwin and Alice Springs over the past several years and I would hope that some of their memories of their experiences in those casinos will fade and that the change of name might assist them to forget that the service provided was far less than satisfactory. I think that the decision as to what the casinos should be called is a commercial decision. I believe it should be left to the commercial operators. I think that, for organisations such as the city council and, indeed, the NT News, whilst they are obviously quite entitled to express their opinions, 87