Page 3816 - Week 11 - Thursday, 24 November 2022
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brand new Office of Water to keep our lakes and waterways clean and to consider some of the innovative and new ways we can be a part of the solution as government and not contributing to the problem. We want to make sure that we are role-modelling best practice and best behaviour to our community. I want all of my constituents to be much more diligent with their grass clippings and their leaf litter. I want them disposing of them effectively rather than down our stormwater drains. But it must be a hard pill to swallow for my constituents in Brindabella when they are doing that, when they are listening to the Leaf Collective but seeing the government mower not necessarily meeting the same standards.
Our waterways are incredibly precious. We can put processes in place to treat our catchments with respect and foster an environment that is beautiful, welcoming and good for people and planet alike. This government is doing a lot to make Tuggeranong a better place and I am proud to be a small part of that, whether it is the investment in the Healthy Waterways Package, the $4.75 million for the Lake Tuggeranong investment or—should I get my way by complaining long enough!—maybe even a fancy new skate park. That is perhaps a debate for another day! There is a lot happening and I am really excited about it. So too are my constituents.
But I wonder if the fanfare will be there that we would hope for and whether the ribbon-cutting will be as celebrated as we might like it to be, when the brand new Lake Tuggeranong foreshore revitalisation project is ready to go if the lake is still dirty, if the air still stinks of blue-green algal blooms. I want to join the minister, I want to join everybody in government, I even want to join my Liberal members for Brindabella on the opposition benches to celebrate the awesome investment in Tuggeranong when the foreshore revitalisation is open, and I would like to be able to take a deep breath in and celebrate the lake. Thank you.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee—Minister for Skills, Minister for Transport and City Services and Special Minister of State) (3.32): I thank Mr Davis for bringing forward this motion today. Lake Tuggeranong is an important community asset, and the people of Tuggeranong rightly expect us to take good care of it. That is why our government is continuing to invest in upgrading Tuggeranong, including investing in the Lake Tuggeranong foreshore.
That was an important ACT Labor election commitment which we are now delivering in government, which will provide improved amenity, walking and cycling improvements, and upgraded town park, including a play space—and we have been consulting with the community on that. During that consultation on the foreshore upgrades, one of the biggest concerns from the community was about the cleanliness of the lake. Residents want the lake to be a valuable recreational asset where they can potentially swim, go for a kayak and enjoy the lakeside.
I remember fondly my days windsurfing on Lake Tuggeranong—something that you did in the early 1990s. You do not see so many of them around these days. Part of making Lake Tuggeranong, indeed all lakes, important recreational spaces for the community is keeping lakesides and waterways amenable, safe and tidy.
Canberrans share an expectation that the grassy banks of Lake Tuggeranong are mown. We are in the midst now of the third year of the La Nina phenomenon. It is
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