Page 844 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 20 April 2021
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dedicated police station would be built. Eleven years on, they are still waiting. The fact that Yerrabi is the only electorate without a Labor-Greens minister means that, as usual, local needs are neglected. The Canberra Times, last August, quoted your spokesman as saying:
This feasibility work is underway for Gungahlin and Belconnen police stations, which will inform the government’s next steps.
Minister, what does the feasibility work entail and when will it be finished?
MR GENTLEMAN: We are continuing to work with ACT Policing in relation to current and future accommodation needs to ensure that our workforce is best equipped to serve the ACT community now and into the future. The government undertook a feasibility study last year to relocate the traffic operations centre from its current site at Belconnen to a fit-for-purpose facility which will better meet the business and operational needs of ACT policing. We will move the traffic operations centre, and the budget will provide the funding for this. Once this site has been settled, I will be able to provide some more details on the particular site.
Feasibility work is also underway for the Gungahlin and Winchester stations in Belconnen. These studies will inform the plans to improve the stations as well as the government’s next steps.
MR MILLIGAN: Minister, what feasibility study have you done specifically for the Gungahlin police station?
MR GENTLEMAN: I do not do that; I ask experts to do those feasibility studies. Those experts will report back to ACT Policing and through that to me.
MR HANSON: Minister, what is the impact on delivering police services in Gungahlin as a result of their unsatisfactory facilities?
MR GENTLEMAN: Again, I do not agree with Mr Hanson on the statement regarding the facilities. We know there are challenges at Gungahlin as a joint services position and that is why we are doing that extra work to ensure that we can provide the best accommodation for them. If you look at the work ACT Policing has been doing you will see the reduction in crime and the amount of effort they have been putting in. I thank them once again for the work they do.
Budget—health funding
DR PATERSON: My question is to the Minister for Health: ACT Labor made a commitment at the last election to continue delivering health care when and where people need it. What key investments does the 2020-21 budget include to help realise this aim?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Dr Paterson for the question and for highlighting the comprehensive plan that we took to the last election to deliver health services for Canberrans when and where they need it. We know that delivering care closer to
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