Page 3071 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 August 2008
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As we all know, if someone in politics says it will take a year or two, it has the potential to turn into two or three in the blink of an eye. That is why I was disturbed when I was told in estimates that the government would not consider beginning the work needed to duplicate the road for at least 12 months while detailed, but probably unnecessary, studies were undertaken. This delay would have meant that the Gungahlin community would have waited far too long for the initial error of a single-lane GDE to be rectified.
I wrote to every household in Gungahlin. Even though my letters were pre-empted by the government’s announcement, the response that I received from residents has been quite strong. The fact that I am still getting letters from residents each and every day, even after the announcement, is testament to the strength of feeling in the Gungahlin community about this issue.
The community in Gungahlin are right to feel a little bit aggrieved by the standard of service they have been offered over the last few years. Although the area is rapidly expanding, I do not believe that the standard of infrastructure or services is developing at an appropriate rate. Even with the flood of recent election announcements for the area, I believe that residents still feel a bit like second-class citizens. That is certainly the view that I receive from them when I talk to members of the community. For the area to mature, I believe—and have called publicly for this in the past—we do need the ACT government to do all in its power to attract a major employer to move in to Gungahlin, which, in this town, almost exclusively means a federal government department.
This issue is relevant to the GDE because much of the road’s traffic consists of Gungahlin residents who commute each day to other parts of Canberra for work, whether it be down to Tuggeranong, into Civic or to areas that are more towards the centre of Canberra. I recognise that this will not happen overnight and that there is a limited amount of control for the ACT government to exercise. But it is something that I would like to see happen for the Gungahlin community, and it is an issue that is regularly raised by people in the area.
We have heard about the ACTTAB employment there. I think the news must have been released at least 15 times since I have been in this place. That is good; it has created employment, particularly for a number of women who were looking for part-time work. But we need to go further in that community and try and create more employment there. It is probably the commonwealth that is in the strongest position to do something. The people of Gungahlin do not deserve to be treated as second-class citizens between elections by their government, whether it be territory or commonwealth.
I have been pleased to talk about the GDE today. It is a very important issue for the Canberra community as a whole and for the people of Gungahlin in particular. As I said at the start of my remarks, I do not particularly care who promised to build the road first—and, frankly, I do not think the people of Gungahlin care two hoots. I am pleased that both major parties are now committed to duplicating the road, as a priority, and I think this is a positive move for the people of Gungahlin. This has been a major issue for my constituents. A mistake was made and I am pleased that action is
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