Page 1990 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 May 2009
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MR STANHOPE: I thank Ms Burch for the question. As members would be aware, last year my government committed to the largest ever single investment in infrastructure through the billion dollar Building the Future program. This was an investment for the future of the territory, an investment which was designed to help our city grow—which it will—and to create a city that could support our community well into this century.
Key areas of building the future investment were: the establishment of a health system to serve the needs of Canberrans; working towards a better transport system; meeting the challenges of climate change; improving urban amenity; investing in public infrastructure; and providing for the growth of our economy.
The 2009-10 budget builds significantly on this billion dollar investment. I add that it is fair to say that we can wonder where we would be but for the foresight which Labor showed in the 2006 budget that actually led to our capacity to actually invest in that billion dollar program. We can only wonder what the situation would be today without that.
The government’s Building the Future program is enhanced with a further $274 million over four years of new spending on infrastructure which will help support our economy in these tough times. Some of the initiatives that we are pursuing in this budget through that enhanced infrastructure program—as I say, the biggest ever; well in excess of $700 million—is $43.5 million for a new high school at Harrison; $51 million for a new community health centre in Belconnen; $13.9 million for two major wetland ponds in Dickson and Lyneham; $8.5 million to upgrade the Lyneham sports precinct; $9.2 million for new cycling paths, footpaths and signage; and $83 million to fulfil Labor’s commitment to duplicate Gungahlin Drive.
On that note, I am also pleased to say that Labor has also been able to fulfil a number of election commitments through this budget and our continued investment in infrastructure. I am pleased to be able to say that $197 million worth of capital commitments in the 2009-10 budget and the recent supplementary appropriation are delivering on commitments which we made in the last election campaign. These include, as I said, Labor’s commitment to the GDE and the Belconnen community health centre.
The 2009-10 budget also included $29.6 million of funding for capital projects to deliver on commitments made in the parliamentary agreement with the Greens. These include record investment in cycling and footpath infrastructure. It is important for the government to continue to invest in our economy in these tough times. Labor’s infrastructure program will provide essential support to local business by providing a strong level of certainty in continued global economic gloom.
The federal Labor government’s initiatives announced in the nation building and jobs plan are also helping to support our local economy. The ACT government is working with the federal government to deliver on these programs through projects being delivered in addition to works that essentially very much complement our own infrastructure program.
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