Page 2052 - Week 07 - Thursday, 16 June 1994
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TOURISM AND A.C.T. PROMOTION - STANDING COMMITTEE
Report on an International Airport in the ACT
MR WESTENDE (12.09): Madam Speaker, I present the report of the Standing Committee on Tourism and ACT Promotion concerning an international airport in the ACT, and I move:
That the report be noted.
Madam Speaker, it is with considerable pleasure that I stand before the Assembly to table the report of the Standing Committee on Tourism and ACT Promotion titled An International Airport in the ACT. It has been an honour and a privilege to chair this standing committee on a number of issues; but there has been no issue more important, in my view, than this one. This is an issue where Canberra, the nation's capital, has the opportunity to rightfully enter the international arena, to stand up and be counted, to assert itself as the capital of Australia. Madam Speaker, in my opinion, we need an international airport. We must have it.
Madam Speaker, there have been many discussions in this Assembly about how Canberra is perceived by the rest of the nation and about how we who live here perceive our city. The common thread has always been that we all love our city. We are very proud of it. Many have said that it is the best kept secret in Australia. You might as well say that it is the best kept secret in the world. We have from time to time been very defensive about our city and Territory when it has been the subject of ridicule on national television. In many ways we have had to get used to Canberra being a place that people love to hate.
Irrespective of its close identification as the home of politicians, we have all been embraced in the widespread derision of the city we love. We have been collectively grouped by our fellow Australians into a classification of a fortunate, lucky, privileged community. Nevertheless, our fellow Australians like to make the trek here to experience the so-called privileged lifestyle, and I believe that they change their views once here and they go away pleasantly surprised and proud of their national capital.
Madam Speaker, if we want our fellow Australians to respect our town, our home, we who live here have to appreciate that this is in fact the nation's capital, and we have to play a big part in projecting that image. We are, if you like, partly the custodians of the national capital. If we want to shake the shackles of the great white house on the hill, we have to stand up strongly as a community in our own right and promote our own image of the city. After all, this Assembly is testimony to our position in this regard.
We have to get out there and say to the rest of the country and the world, "This is what we are. We are not a place simply for politicians. We are the nation's capital, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, located in a region unequalled in its diversity and beauty not only in Australia but also possibly in the world". This is not just the rhetoric of one who may be biased; it is a fact. Let us not be apologists and wimps in expressing how we feel about this city. Let us shout this fact from the rooftops, from the hilltops. Let us take every opportunity to state our case.
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