Page 3278 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 19 October 2022
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I look forward to the CRA working with other agencies, including the commonwealth agencies, on areas like Northbourne Avenue. We need to be looking at those spots to identify opportunities to make it more friendly for vulnerable road users, for people outside a car. We all know the lines. We all understand that if everyone is in a car everywhere they go, we will all be stuck in traffic. It just does not work, going forward. We say it a lot but we do not always do it. So I will keep pushing CRA to make sure that the heart of our city continues to be made more friendly for public and active transport.
The CRA also undertake land sales as part of their role, and it is really important we ensure that land sales for residential developments within the CRA include public and social housing as part of the conditions of land release. It is really important we ensure that we keep increasing our supply of public housing and that we do it all around Canberra, not just in some areas and not others. It is important for equity and for access to public and active transport, for access to all of the services, that we spread that across Canberra. So, including central Canberra is a good option. There are a lot of great services there and it will assist people greatly if we can have more affordable housing in places where people can walk or ride or catch the bus to get to where they need to go. The ACT Greens will support this appropriation.
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism) (10.39): I thank members for their contribution in relation to the City Renewal Authority. Once again I think we see coming from Mr Cain a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the agency and the difference between precinct development and asset management. The City Renewal Authority is not the asset owner in relation to all of the land and public realm within the precinct. So, Mr Cain, I think we have been through this at least six times in every estimates appearance, every time we debate the CRA budget in your time in this place. The Renewal Authority is not the asset owner. City Renewal Authority’s purpose is set out in legislation.
The engagement of the staff within the authority is consistent with the Public Sector Management Act. The salaries you read out include the superannuation entitlements of those staff, so the suggestion that people are on those income levels also includes superannuation. That, of course, inflates the per employee cost of every single employee once you add in their superannuation entitlements, which are going to increase their salary and their total remuneration package by at least nine per cent, if not 12 or 15.4, depending on the superannuation arrangements they have.
The City Renewal Authority is a referral agency for a variety of planning approvals. They have a role in design review in relation to their precinct. They also manage large scale infrastructure projects, and small scale ones, but then they hand the asset back to Transport Canberra and City Services. Yes, there is ageing infrastructure in the CBD. You are correct to point it out and that is one of the reasons why it is a particular priority at this time, because the CBD is the oldest town or group centre in Canberra. There are buildings and assets that are more than 100 years old. The works you complain about are seeking to address some of the ageing infrastructure and the challenges there. Particularly in the historic Sydney and Melbourne buildings and their laneways. Every time it rains, the storm water capacity is not sufficient so those buildings are further damaged. There is special enabling legislation in order to
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