Page 636 - Week 02 - Thursday, 14 February 2013
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Light rail is about thinking to the future, about how our city will work and move in five, 10 or 20 years time so that we can find real and long-term solutions to the transport issues that are starting to trouble us today, like parking or congestion. I am very pleased, of course, that this is something that the Greens now are prepared to go forward with, and I would urge the Canberra Liberals to recognise the benefits of light rail, as their colleagues in Western Australia have done, and the great opportunities it presents for our city.
Light rail will of course not come at the expense of Canberra’s bus system. As the new minister for ACTION buses, I am very mindful of the critical role buses play in our future transport, and within my new portfolio I will certainly be looking at ways to reform and improve our bus network. To complement this, the parliamentary agreement guarantees at least an additional $24 million to fund new and improved services, including more frequent buses to and from Belconnen, Tuggeranong, Gungahlin, Weston Creek and Woden suburbs, measures to address overcrowding on bus routes—the Red Rapid is one of these measures and is already underway—and improved school bus services and several new park and ride and bike and ride sites.
In addition, the parliamentary agreement guarantees $15 million above current budget funding for improved walking and cycling infrastructure, including maintenance, new paths and lanes, new pedestrian crossings, lighting, signage, shared zones and a Molonglo cycle highway feasibility study. In my role as territory and municipal services minister, I am certainly looking forward to advancing the opportunities for walking and cycling in our city and I would love to see us become Australia’s leader in active transport.
The Greens took to the election a comprehensive package for the clean-up of our lakes and waterways, a matter that was raised during question time today. I am very pleased that the bulk of this policy agenda will be delivered through the parliamentary agreement. I certainly look forward to working with the minister for the environment to ensure that, by the end of this four-year term, we will be well and truly on the way to restoring the health of our lakes and catchments and looking after them for future generations, because the recreational value of our lakes and rivers could be much greater than what it currently is.
The Greens have never taken our eye off the issue of climate change. We prioritised it, in spite of whether or not it was fashionable to do so. So the parliamentary agreement continues to push this important issue. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Corbell who, as climate change minister, has also been steadfast in his prioritisation of climate change as an important issue and whom we worked with in the last Assembly to deliver the ACT’s 40 per cent climate change target and instrumental legislation around the large-scale solar feed-in tariff and retail energy efficiency legislation.
Given the importance of climate change, I am confident that the key items in the parliamentary agreement around climate change will be delivered this term, including implementation of a 90 per cent renewable energy target by 2020 and a renewal of the solar feed-in tariff scheme that delivers a fair price for small-scale generators.
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