Page 5102 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011
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MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (8.45): I think the government’s ongoing concern with this motion is that it fails to recognise the very significant work the government has been undertaking and continues to undertake in the delivery of additional transport services and transport infrastructure to improve support to the people of Gungahlin. And that investment is a significant one. Whether it is investment in more rapid transit bus services, whether it is in the development and construction now underway of park-and-ride facilities, whether it is the very extensive consultation and assessment studies that are close to finalisation in relation to the new bus station facilities at Gungahlin, whether it is the additional parking that has already been provided at the Gungahlin town centre, whether it is the investment in park and ride and in bike-and-ride facilities, the government has been investing significantly in transport infrastructure for the Gungahlin region. There is no doubt about that whatsoever.
The government always accepts that there is always more that can be done, but our concern with the approach being adopted by the Greens and by the Liberal Party is that there is no preparedness to recognise the work that has been done in relation to the delivery of transport infrastructure, in particular public transport and infrastructure and infrastructure in relation to car parking.
The government does not have any particular objection to the proposal put forward by Ms Le Couteur, except that it fails to recognise—and Ms Le Couteur has already rejected the government’s amendment which seeks to recognise—the work that we are doing in the Gungahlin town centre. So the government will not be objecting to this amendment, but I think it is important to put on the record again the very significant investment the government is undertaking in the Gungahlin town centre, because these things should be recognised in the record of this debate and it should be recognised that the Labor government has made significant investments in improving public transport and other transport infrastructure in Gungahlin.
Public transport infrastructure improvements include the close-to-completed feasibility study on the upgrade of bus stations in the Gungahlin town centre, community input along with technical studies that have been used to develop these options for consideration and the fact that we undertook consultation directly with the community in August this year. The government has already provided funding to construct these improved public transport facilities in the 2011-12 financial year.
In relation to park and ride, the government has already completed detailed analysis of options for park and ride in Gungahlin and is already constructing a park-and-ride facility on Flemington Road near Exhibition Park in Canberra.
The government has provided additional parking within the Gungahlin town centre. The government has provided two sites south of the existing retail developments on Hibberson Street in the town centre which are located on either side of Gungahlin Place and are within comfortable walking distance of the retail and other facilities in the town centre. The government has also provided temporary car parking on another site east of the retail developments in the town centre.
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