Page 3921 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MR SMYTH: It does depend on whom you talk to.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Barr, it is not a conversation.
MR SMYTH: But the sentiment I get, the feeling I get, particularly when you talk to those residents of eastern Tuggeranong, is: firstly, what has the government got against us? What does it take to actually be heard? And why is this the only block in Canberra that is suitable for a power station, a prison or a dragway? They do not have a lot of confidence, and it is important that they should have confidence.
The issue of the Tuggeranong town centre and its master plan has been raised by a number of speakers. Some of you were not here when we had these discussions before. And basically, when Mr Corbell was the planning minister, his discussion was: “Tuggeranong is not old enough to need a master plan. It is okay.” I have given Minister Barr credit for this before. This minister at least saw the need for the master plan, accepted that and that is now being worked upon. You get the headline in the Chronicle “Save our town centre”. If you had followed Mr Corbell’s planning paradise rules, the whole of Tuggeranong would have been raised as some sort of economic disaster zone before anything would have happened.
I say that because it is important that we get it right for Kambah. Kambah should not be allowed to drift or fall apart before something happens. Kambah is actually doing reasonably well as a trading community. It is a great little set of shops. But it could be a fantastic asset to that community if we get the planning process right. And that is why I put this motion on the notice paper today.
The opportunity is here not to let Kambah decline so that the remedial action has to be stronger or cost more and come at a personal cost to those retailers and the community who suffer by allowing it to decline. That is why we have said, as an opposition, for some time now, through our leader, Zed Seselja, that there is a need for an infrastructure commissioner to look at these things long term, to make sure that the maintenance is done, that the need for refurbishment or enlarging of assets occurs and that new infrastructure is planned and the planning process is put in place to deliver it as it is needed and not after the event.
I suspect, in regard to a number of the points in Ms Le Couteur’s amendment, particularly paragraph (2)(e)(ii), (iii) and (iv), where she is talking about priority lists and how they are put together, having the consultation, doing the planning and then getting a timetable so that governments through their treasurers and the cabinet can allocate the money in the outyears so that we can get it right, it cannot be that hard for a city like this.
There are some timing difficulties. If you moved to Canberra or you lived in Canberra in the late 1960s, Woden started early 1960s or mid 1960s. In Belconnen, I think Aranda was started in about 1966 or 1967. The first works started in Tuggeranong in 1970 or 1971. The first houses, I think, were occupied in about 1973 or 1974. I moved here in 1969 and we lived in Lyons. Lyons was brand spanking new. We moved into Curtin in 1969. The shops, I think, were completed in 1968, brand spanking new. The
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video