Page 455 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 22 March 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
forming quite a habit. Indeed, what started as an interest for me at the beginning of this term has become a deep obsession, and I have an almost one-eyed, dogged commitment to improving the water quality and the lakeside amenity at Lake Tuggeranong for my constituents in Brindabella.
As you know, Mr Deputy Speaker, the government committed $4.5 million in the 2021-22 ACT budget for revitalisation of the Lake Tuggeranong foreshore. This is the culmination of investments that have been made in the Tuggeranong town centre over recent years, including the Anketell Street redevelopment and, recently, the laneways to the lake project. You might recall it from all of the construction that we experienced during those pre-poll weeks in the ACT election in 2020.
The revitalisation works are underway now that that money has been allocated and, as a local member, I took it upon myself to survey my constituents. I want to thank all 433 of them who took the time to complete the survey. What I think is really incredible and what I give a lot of credit to my constituents, the good people of Tuggeranong, for having done is that, in completing the survey, it was not a tick and flick, yes or no, I like or I do not like. People took the time to go in-depth in the free-form text box and give me some really explicit, really detailed proposals on how that $4.5 million allocated in the budget can be spent in a way that best serves the people of Tuggeranong.
You heard me speak before about Mikey in Greenway, who has some very specific ideas on the type of bins the government should procure to stop birds from getting in and picking out the fast food. We have heard some really interesting proposals about innovative ways to filter the water through air, particularly on the northern edge, and these keep coming. I have completed the listening report and lodged it with the Minister for Transport and City Services, Minister Steel.
I have also provided the report to Minister Rattenbury, in his capacity as the Minister for Water, and his department officials because, unsurprisingly, Madam Speaker, from one member for Brindabella to another, water quality was something that many in my community wanted to speak to me about when it came to Lake Tuggeranong. As one of my constituents put it so aptly in responding to my survey, “What is the point of $4.5 million in investment on a foreshore upgrade? Nobody will want to enjoy sitting next to stinky water.” I think that does sum it up. It impresses upon me why, as a local member, I have a real responsibility to make sure that I am speaking not just with Minister Steel but with Minister Rattenbury, making sure that the works that they are doing in Lake Tuggeranong complement one another and ensure the continued liveability of that beautiful amenity in Tuggeranong.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank friends from the Tuggeranong Community Council, the Tuggeranong Lake Carers group and the Lake Tuggeranong Sea Scouts, who recently hosted the Clean Up Australia Day event on the Lake Tuggeranong foreshore.
In particular, I want to give a shout-out to Laura from my office. Many in this chamber know her fondly for some pretty impressive acrobatics that she managed to perform at the western edge of Lake Tuggeranong, getting an awful lot of plastics out
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video