Page 2470 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 August 2022
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The first is that the bulk of the speech was about the lack of government investment through this budget in the Hawker Tennis Centre. The Hawker Centre is privately owned. It has been privately owned for decades. That is well understood. Nothing has changed. It is not an ACT government asset. Secondly, there is an approved development application associated with the site right now. It was approved in 2020. This means that the private owner already has intentions with the site—to turn it into a childcare centre, actually. With an approval decision of August 2020, the private owner has until August 2023, a year from now, to begin development. It would be wholly unprecedented and absolutely inappropriate for the ACT government to have provided funding in this budget, and I was shocked that it was called for!
That was bad enough, but then Mr Cain asked about it in question time today. That probably did not seem like much, but Mr Cain actually asked about the same site in question time in April 2021, after Ms Berry had already advised him that there was an approved development application for the private owner, and this is reflected in the question he asked, and Minister Berry had stressed again that this was not an ACT government site. I do not know what Mr Cain’s intentions are, whether it is wilful ignorance or he wants to make a habit of recycling questions he knows the answer to, but it is wasting time—his own, his constituents’, this chamber’s and the government’s.
This was enough, but there is more. Mr Cain’s lament of the budget revealed that he seemingly had not opened the budget papers, this year’s or last year’s, nor paid attention to any recent announcements, including those in the last few weeks. He mentioned the need for the upgrade of Evatt shops; where was that? Well, the budget funding was appropriated in the last budget over the term of this government. It is on page 206 of the budget outlook. And the tender for the delivery of this went to market just a few months ago. It is on its way.
He mentioned the dry ovals in Holt, Macgregor and Florey, ignoring that Minister Steel has announced the work he is doing on urban open space land management plans, and ignoring that Minister Berry opened consultation on Florey oval just last Friday. He asked where the Charnwood shopping upgrades are. Well, Mr Cain, they are on page 195 of this year’s budget papers—over a million dollars’ worth. I hope that helps.
Literally, everything Mr Cain specifically lamented inaction in his speech is being done—and plenty more, too: funding for Calvary Public Hospital to increase beds and upgrade equipment; more nurse practitioners at walk-in centres, including Belconnen’s; more than $3 million to replace existing playing fields and fund detailed design for a community hub and skate park at Kippax; funding to relocate West Belconnen’s green waste drop off; increased operational funding for Belconnen Arts Centre; funding to replace three timber bridges at Umbagong District Park; turf replacement at GIO Stadium; ongoing funding for Roundabout Canberra; expanding the Belco Bikeway; and grants for initiatives to support vulnerable or disadvantaged children to participate in sport or recreation, including at Pegasus Riding School.
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