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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 1 Hansard (28 April) . . Page.. 22 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

that have seen infrastructure put in place - things like the police station which was long promised but which occurred under the previous Government. I acknowledge the good work done in the last Carnell Government by my predecessor, Trevor Kaine, the former Minister for Urban Services, because there was good work done; and we should not let that slip past without acknowledgment.

The important thing for Brindabella in the next three years is that at last - it may seem an odd thing to say - we will have a hotel in Brindabella; we will have accommodation. The impact that will have on business and on the amenity of the community will be substantial because that hotel, in fact, will become a catalyst for other activity. At the same time as that hotel comes on line, this Government will be initiating a study of the foreshore of Lake Tuggeranong. Lake Tuggeranong, as the centrepiece of the electorate of Brindabella, is extremely important because it can become something special for us; it can become a focus point. The previous Minister for Heritage, Gary Humphries, set up the interim authority to look at what finally happens to Tuggeranong Homestead. Tuggeranong Homestead has great potential to become a jewel in the crown. It is an area of some 30 hectares right in the middle of Tuggeranong. If we use it wisely and if we protect it, it will become a tremendous asset for us. I think that what that allows us to do is create for the people of Brindabella a future with jobs, and I am sure that one of the No. 1 focuses of this Government will be to continue the record of the previous Carnell Government in creating jobs.

I guess as a Minister with a department, particularly the Department of Urban Services, which is now all under one Minister's control, there is an immense amount of work to be done, to continue the good work done previously by the former Minister. I have said to the people of my department that by the end of this term I want us to be known as the Department of Customer Service. I think that governments are here to serve the people and that departments should deliver. What I will do at all times is make sure that the people of Canberra know that the Department of Urban Services really is there to serve them, and I will ensure that we provide the best service that we can at all times. As a department, we are here to deliver services equally to all Canberrans, and I will ensure that happens.

As a member of the Government, though, there are decisions that take Ministers above representing their particular bailiwick. When we make decisions as a government we will make them on behalf of all Canberrans, and we need to make them wisely. As a kid, my father had a line that used to really annoy me. You would go and ask Dad for more pocket money and he would say, "If you cannot pay, do not go". I think that what we have to do in terms of financial sense is ensure that in this community we live within our means. But that is not to say that we are not adventurous; that we do not try new techniques; that we do not take different tacks which will allow us to build a complete city and which will allow us to build a city that, whilst retaining country town attitudes, has big city amenities. I think that is what the people, certainly of Brindabella, want. They want to retain the lifestyle that we have down in the valley, but they want access to, and indeed are entitled to, the services that good government should provide.

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