Page 2705 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 23 June 2009
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They will be voting against new schools. They will be voting against refurbished sportsgrounds. They will be voting against the west Belconnen child and family centre. They will be voting against the Gungahlin pool. And why, Madam Assistant Speaker Dunne? I think you guessed it: opposition for opposition’s sake; opposition politics that threatens jobs and services in the outer suburbs.
This is an opposition with no plan for jobs—no plans for jobs for the tradies who live in these suburbs. It is an opposition with no plan for services—no plan for services for the families who live in our outer suburbs. Zero plans from Zed.
Mr Smyth, in his speech, claims that he wants better services for Canberrans. If that is the case, he should take the very first step, the obvious step, and walk the walk—walk over to this side of the chamber, cross the floor, and support Labor’s 2009-10 budget.
In this budget, as in every budget since 2001, ACT Labor is getting on with delivering services to Canberrans. An excellent case study is the massive investment that we are making for the benefit of the Gungahlin community, another area of new outer suburbs in this city, in my electorate of Molonglo.
For example, ACT Labor is constructing a new college in Gungahlin at a cost of more than $70 million. The Gungahlin college will accommodate 900 year 11 and 12 students. It will provide a comprehensive program of courses and cater for students who wish to combine CIT accredited courses or training with their secondary college activities. It will include a range of facilities suitable for community use, such as a gymnasium and a performing arts complex. In addition, the project includes a CIT flexible learning centre and a joint college-community library facility.
Whilst the Liberals fail to show any support for this project, the Gungahlin Community Council have expressed their satisfaction with the design of the college and the government’s consultation with the community. Earthworks have commenced on the site and building works will commence in September of this year. The college is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010, to open for the start of the 2011 school year.
We are also investing $45 million in a new high school in Harrison, adjacent to the recently completed preschool and primary school. The high school will be capable of accommodating 800 students in permanent buildings. The high school will open in 2012 and will provide state-of-the-art school facilities for residents from the suburbs of Harrison, Franklin, Gungahlin and Forde. The new secondary school will also provide an inclusive setting for students with special needs, just as the primary school facilities already do. Construction of this new facility is due to begin in April of 2010, with the school open for the commencement of the 2012 school year.
After 12 years of the federal Liberals treating education as a political football, we are now able to work with federal Labor to invest in every student in every ACT school. Federal Labor’s $230 million building the education revolution package, combined with ACT Labor’s record $370 million investment, means that every ACT student will benefit from more than half a billion dollars of investment in education from Labor at a territory and federal level. That is a case study in delivering for the outer
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