Page 1517 - Week 05 - Thursday, 13 May 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
of injuries to her face, her shoulder and her hand. It is quite serious and we actually need to take these matters a bit more seriously than we do.
Obviously the best solution would be for us to have better infrastructure. We need more separated bike paths and we need more shared paths so that we are providing more protection for our vulnerable road users so that they do not have to be on the roads mixing it up with fast cars. And we should be maintaining that properly and spending the money that we need to in order to maintain it and to build it and to fill in the missing links.
I am really pleased to say that when we covered this in estimates TCCS told us they did not actually have the equipment they needed to even check the condition of some of those paths, and they are now acquiring it. I will be following up to make sure they are setting proper targets on maintenance and filling in those networks.
I have said it before and I will say it again. If we want 20 per cent of Canberrans using our active travel then we should be spending 20 per cent of our roads budget maintaining that and building it. But we also need some proper penalties to protect our vulnerable road users. A $393 fine is frankly ridiculous. It is really not a penalty at all. It is a bit of a joke. So I will be looking forward to working further with the community to see what we can do to make an improvement to this.
Multicultural affairs—Eid al-Fitr events
COVID-19—Indian community
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra—Assistant Minister for Economic Development, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Business and Better Regulation, Minister for Human Rights and Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (5.50): I want to take this opportunity to wish the community a happy and joyous Eid al-Fitr. This past month has marked Ramadan, the holiest month for the Muslim community.
Ramadan is a sacred time of reflection and celebration and a time for charity and taking care of the weaker sections of our society. Ramadan celebrations include 30 days of fasting from before sunrise to after sunset, large family and community iftar meals after sunset, and an increase in spiritual activities such as prayer, giving to charity and strengthening family ties.
After a very different Ramadan in 2020, this year the ACT government was pleased to again host a community iftar last Thursday evening in concert with Mr Mohamed Ali and local imams. This included Imam Adam Konda who is the Chairman of the ACT Council of Imams; Imam Hamza Abujabu from the Gungahlin Mosque; Imam Moaazh Salah from the Gungahlin Mosque; Imam Mohammed Ali Saeed from the Molonglo Mosque; and Imam Ismael Jibah from the Spence Mosque.
It was a wonderful opportunity for us to come together at the Theo Notaras Centre. It was an opportunity to share faith and to build a greater understanding in the broader Canberra community of Islamic beliefs and values. And I was pleased to see many MLAs present too as we filled the centre in a COVID-safe way, forged connections and created new ones.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video