Page 493 - Week 02 - Thursday, 11 February 2021
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While these items are specifically COVID-related, in many ways one of the strengths of this budget, and something that is certainly part of our governing philosophy, is that it cannot be compartmentalised so neatly. We know that investment in local jobs will help our COVID recovery. The Greens’ election commitments to “build a better normal” alone outlined the creation of 4,500 jobs—jobs that helped our climate; helped our environment and our wildlife; and also, importantly, helped our community recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic.
Our action on climate makes Canberra a healthier and better place to live—our schools cooler and more comfortable; our streetscapes cleaner, greener and shadier; our transport systems more efficient. This budget will ensure that there will be winners across the board, not just in this term of the Assembly and not just related to climate action or COVID but stretching much further into the future and offering side benefits that may not be clearly evident yet. In fact, we can look back and see how this process has worked before.
For example, it is now some years since the Greens first ran on a platform of creating healthier waterways, with the conversion of the Sullivans Creek catchment’s concrete-bound stream-beds into the Lyneham, Dickson and O’Connor wetlands. At the time, we did not fully envisage the extent to which those wetlands would one day be used as selling points in real estate advertising, or that the residents of Gungahlin and Woden would be clamouring for wetlands in their own creek catchments. This budget responds to that clamouring with further investment in healthy waterways.
It is similar with light rail, which is one of the most obvious and proud examples of Greens’ policies becoming reality. This has gone from being something the Canberra Liberals vowed to expensively scuttle at stage 1 to a vastly popular feature of Canberra, our modern city. Stage 2 is already part of the positive advertising strategy for various development proposals across the city. And in this new term we are working towards stage 2 extending potentially as far as Mawson, and stage 3 stretching beyond Belconnen to Kippax.
The climate change initiatives in this budget, and hopefully in future budgets, build on the solid decade of climate action championed by the Greens in the balance of power. They will be seen in the same way as light rail and the wetlands in years from now, by everyone from the kids whose futures we are trying to protect to the small businesses who have carved out an innovative niche in the circular economy, the low-income families enjoying their more energy efficient homes and the real estate agents selling proximity to light rail stage 4 in Tuggeranong. There are wins all around. Some of them are unexpected, but we can see and plan for some of them now and make the investment in some of them now.
Last year showed Canberrans not only that we had to pull together as a community to deal with COVID and the fires but that, when it came to the crunch, we actually could. Going forward, we must take this lesson to heart, because we are going to need it again. The climate emergency is not going away.
The budget allocation of $150 million for the sustainable household scheme, $5 million for the building energy efficiency upgrade fund and $50 million for a
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