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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 5068 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

and your good self, Mr Speaker, delivering for the people of Ginninderra and three hardworking members achieving gains in Brindabella. The suburbs of Canberra are finally getting the attention from the ACT government that they deserve.

Mr Speaker, the Stanhope government has delivered significant gains to Canberra suburbs. I will take some time now to highlight some of these achievements. On the question of health, one of the major victories won by the Stanhope government in the battle for quality health services in suburban Canberra was the agreement with the Commonwealth to extend its outer metropolitan GP incentive scheme to cover Belconnen, Gungahlin, Weston Creek and Tuggeranong.

Under the agreement, GPs moving from inner metropolitan areas of the state capitals are eligible for up to $30,000 to help them establish a practice in outer metropolitan areas of Canberra, as long as they agree to stay there for at least three years. I note that last month the government began a national GP recruitment campaign with a series of advertisements in national newspapers and specialist medical journals.

I am extremely pleased that the government has acted in this area because the GP shortage is impacting heavily on my electorate of Brindabella, especially in the Lanyon Valley. The shortage of GPs has resulted in increased pressure on the ACT's hospital emergency departments. Since 1998-99, growth in attendances of patients with less urgent conditions at the ACT emergency departments has been approximately 15 per cent.

Turning to education, the government has undertaken a major review of funding issues and has taken steps to ensure a more equitable distribution of money to schools. We have seen a deliberate shift in funds away from rich schools, predominantly located in central areas, to more deserving schools, both public and private, predominantly in the suburbs.

I note that the minister, Katy Gallagher, has been actively ensuring that the educational needs of outer suburban areas are met. For example, the minister has opened the new Amaroo preschool, provided funds to upgrade the Page preschool playground and funded the award winning Lanyon High School hothouse, which students will use to grow plants, learn about science and the environment and help with landcare projects.

The Government has also acknowledged the value of our public libraries, especially those in outer suburban areas. This year we have seen a $690,000 upgrade to the Erindale library completed, plus a site chosen for the new Kippax library.

In the area of housing, the government has moved to address the shortfall in ACT Housing properties in Belconnen, Gungahlin and Tuggeranong. I note that this has met with opposition in some quarters, but believe the statistics speak for themselves. The inner north accounts for 26 per cent of all public housing, but only 16 per cent of the applicants want to live in the inner north.

The demand for public housing is in Belconnen and Gungahlin, where 27 per cent of the housing stock is located but where 34 per cent of the applicants want to live. Similarly, in Tuggeranong there is an undersupply of housing, with 24 per cent of the applicants wanting to live there but only 20 per cent of the housing stock is located in the valley.

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