Campaign to save professional centre

By Nikki Ulasowski

BRISBANE -- Thirty people attended a rally on July 30 against the sale of Bardon Professional Development Centre. The centre is the latest victim in a range of cutbacks by the state Labor government.

Speakers included Cheryl Kernot, leader of the Australian Democrats; Phil Haywood, lecturer in planning at Queensland University of Technology; Drew Hutton, convener of the Queensland Greens, and Lou Gugenburger from the Watchdog Committee.

The Bardon centre has been operating for 17 years. It has supplied community groups, teachers and government departments with facilities for seminars in a secluded environment, away from the rush of the city. Bardon is a community-owned facility with a unique natural environment, providing a haven for wildlife in the region.

The Goss government has been planning for the past six months to bulldoze the entire 25 hectare estate and sell it to developers for a medium-to-high density town housing estate. The government justified this idea by stating that the centre runs at a loss of $250,000 per year. The parliament cafeteria loses $1 million per year.

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