Page 2215 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 22 June 2011
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As to funding and federal government support, Infrastructure Australia, an organisation set up by the federal government to identify and assess projects that can contribute to the country, has assessed Majura parkway as a national priority, a project that can contribute to improving the productivity of the nation by making freight movements more efficient in a national and regional context.
The ACT government also recognises this priority and the contribution that the Majura parkway can make. When appraising projects, both costs and benefits need to be assessed, and the work that has been done to date has confirmed the Majura parkway to be a very cost-effective project on this basis.
The ACT government has committed $144 million towards a fifty-fifty shared funding arrangement for the $288 million construction of the Majura parkway. The ACT government will continue to lobby the federal government to fund the balance of the $144 million. The ACT government is separately seeking options to stage and/or progress this project with or without federal funding. This work is expected to be completed in the coming months. Preliminary work associated with the Majura parkway, including the environmental impact statement and commonwealth statutory approvals, are complete and are available for the public to review on the Majura parkway website.
As I have said, any major infrastructure project should be considered on its merits and with full consideration of its purpose. Developing a transport system for moving goods and a transport system for moving people are not mutually exclusive. They need to be considered as part of a single, integrated transport system developed alongside and as part of land use planning. Majura parkway is an important, strategic connection to the national freight network and will also help move freight and vehicles away from the centre of Canberra.
Other mass rapid transit systems, including light rail, will continue to be considered on their merits to move people around the city on the “rapid” corridors, including Gungahlin to Civic via Northbourne Avenue. Moving people and moving freight are equally important in creating a sustainable and efficient transport system for Canberra and driving a strong and sustainable economy for the ACT and region.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (10.38): Whilst I am not formally moving my motion quite yet, I will be speaking, of course, to the very brief, very concise motion I have on the table and also to Dr Bourke’s and Ms Bresnan’s motions. I have got to say that whilst I am somewhat biased, I do not think that Dr Bourke’s or Ms Bresnan’s motions really articulate the stance of the Assembly as clearly as mine does. I do urge all in this place to adopt this kind of strategy when putting motions on the notice paper in the future.
It is interesting that we should be debating this. It seems to me that in a very perverse relationship it may well be that the Liberal Party is in cahoots with the Labor Party on this particular motion—on this particular motion—in so far as I think there is broad agreement that Majura Road in its current form is really not adequate and it does need to be upgraded to the form of Majura parkway.
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