Page 1414 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 5 June 2007
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And the live in Canberra campaign has proved to be a best-practice example of government, business and community sectors working together to tackle Canberra’s skills shortage and low population growth, attracting skilled workers and their families from interstate and around the world.
A settlement program has also been established, with new residents provided with support and assistance.
More than 100 people have moved to Canberra—many with families—since the campaign began. In this year’s budget the government commits further funding of $400,000 for the campaign and another $240,000 for a campaign to encourage people who move to Canberra to update their residential address with Medicare. More accurate Medicare records will give the government better estimates not just of the overall ACT population, but its age profile, helping us to better plan for services and infrastructure. We see today in the release of the census statistics the need for that particular campaign.
Making Canberra an even better place to live
Mr Speaker, Canberrans are fiercely proud of their city. Labor shares that pride and today’s budget makes a significant investment in the city and its infrastructure, where it really matters, to make the national capital an even better place to live.
Waste management, horticulture, cleaning and asset maintenance services will receive new funding of approximately $5 million over four years to cater for growth in the city.
We are investing $755,000 to improve the look of our civic heart. Another $3.2 million will be spent upgrading a further section of the Lake Ginninderra foreshore, work that will encourage more Canberrans to make use of the lake and the fantastic precinct that is evolving along its shores.
An additional $1.6 million has been earmarked to create a Floriade that is better than ever, and $2.4 million in new funding over four years will be spent on our public libraries.
Canberrans are blessed with world-class parks and reserves, places that have become part of our city’s personality and that allow us to combine the best in city living, with easy access to stunning natural environments.
The nature discovery centre at Tidbinbilla has been provided with $2.6 million in additional funding for its environmental programs and $1.5 million has been devoted to the pruning and watering of the city’s trees, to help minimise the impact of the drought over the next three years.
This budget devotes significant resources to our roads.
Much of Canberra’s road infrastructure was built during a few heady years of growth, some decades ago. While there has always been an active program of refurbishment,
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