Page 2391 - Week 06 - Thursday, 23 June 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
same way that the government has also foreshadowed that we are providing a renewed focus on opportunities on the Northbourne Avenue corridor, having regard to how we can have greater reliability and greater frequency of services along the Northbourne Avenue corridor and how either bus rapid transit or light rail can be delivered along that corridor.
These are the areas of emphasis for the government, and that is where I will be directing my energies between now and October next year.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Hunter, a supplementary?
MS HUNTER: Minister, what analysis have you done on the impact the building of a new Majura freeway will have on Canberra’s transport modal shift targets, and what are those impacts?
MR CORBELL: Again, the Greens continue their opposition to this road. And it is disappointing that they continue this approach because it is important to recognise, as the Assembly has already debated this week, that the delivery of the Majura Parkway is not an either/or proposition. I just wish that the Greens paid greater attention to that fact.
The fact is that delivery of an enhanced Majura Road is important for the delivery of improved freight connections. It is important in terms of improved connections for the region, the connection of two major regional roads, that is, the Federal Highway and the Monaro Highway, to support the growth of freight activities that will occur in that part of the city around the airport, around Hume, around Symonston, around Fyshwick. That is what this project is about. That is why it has been assessed as a project of national significance by the commonwealth government.
Ms Hunter: On a point of order, Mr Speaker, maybe Mr Corbell was just getting to it as I rose but it was a very specific question about what analysis had been done on the impact of Canberra’s modal shift targets of building the freeway. I ask you to get Mr Corbell to actually answer that question.
MR SPEAKER: Minister Corbell, if you could come to the question.
MR CORBELL: The delivery of this road is not part of the government’s strategy to achieve its modal shift targets. The delivery of this road is about improving freight capacity, about improving regional linkages, about supporting the economic activity that will occur around the airport, around Fyshwick, around Hume and so on.
The Greens seem to live in this world where they say, “Don’t build a road because we don’t want the idea of the airport growing because we don’t like the idea of freight coming in by the airport.” Freight does come in by the airport and it is going to continue to come in by the airport. Either we have a road that is safe and that has a capacity to manage that freight task or we do not. That is the government’s position in relation to that road.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video