Page 605 - Week 02 - Thursday, 14 February 2013
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MS GALLAGHER: The longer term vision is for shared resources—if we can provide shared services for the region; better planning outcomes for the region; communication, so an understanding of the issues of councils and areas surrounding the ACT, what their needs are and what their demands are. The other thing is the ACT bringing leadership to this region. The region comprises over 600,000, of which 360,000 are sitting here in Canberra. We must engage with the region. We can better plan for the region and we need to ignore some of those artificial barriers or lines on a map that mean nothing to the people who live around us. They come, they use schools, they use our health system, they travel across, back and fro, to home. We need to make sure that as local government, as a territory government and as a federal government we are thinking in a much more regional sense, not just as an island in the sea of New South Wales.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Mr Coe.
MR COE: Chief Minister, in light of the terrible accident on the Barton Highway earlier this week, and I believe six deaths between 2005 and 2009, how will you be advocating for an upgrade to the Barton Highway?
MS GALLAGHER: That will be certainly one of the issues that I have got on the agenda—roads and roads planning—for discussion with the mayor of Yass. I will meet with her prior to the meeting tomorrow.
Finance—Canberra Centenary Trail
MR SMYTH: My question is to the Treasurer. Treasurer, the rollover of undisbursed appropriation under section 16B of the Financial Management Act 1996 that you tabled earlier this week noted in relation to the Centenary Trail:
Additional unplanned consultation was required with key stakeholders to mitigate the risk of reduced project support, which caused delays.
Treasurer, what was the subject matter of this unplanned consultation and with whom was the consultation undertaken?
MR BARR: I understand that consultation was with a number of park user groups and related to a range of parks around the territory that the trail was going to go through.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Smyth.
MR SMYTH: Treasurer, why were these stakeholders not consulted earlier?
Ms Gallagher interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: I am sorry, I think Mr Barr is taking the answer to the question.
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