Page 1056 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 19 March 2013
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Good practice and infrastructure planning includes developing well-defined goals based on values and priorities. A strategic approach to planning looks at future challenges and develops options to meet these challenges. Good practice also includes ensuring accountability for decision making by linking roles and responsibilities through the achievement of goals. It includes the use of qualitative and quantitative measurement frameworks as well as tools such as the whole-of-life cost-benefit analysis.
Finally, good practice and infrastructure planning means ensuring physical sustainability through targeted investment using shared resources and ensuring the government’s revenue base. All of this adds up to infrastructure planning that deals with risk and can provide the ACT community with assurance and confidence in the decision-making process. It adds up to a targeted approach to reducing costs, mitigating externalities and ensuring integrity and integration within infrastructure planning.
This stands in stark contrast to the record of the shadow treasurer who was a member of a government that brought us the futsal slab, the botched Canberra stadium upgrade and who was flat out delivering a $100 million capital works program each year—noting, of course, that the program is now six to seven times larger than it was when Mr Smyth was in government.
I would now like to turn to some examples of recent significant infrastructure projects to be delivered for the ACT community. In relation to transport, the government is committed to transforming Canberra’s transport infrastructure and services and improving ACT residents’ transport choices. Better public transport services will help reduce the costs associated with multiple car ownership, traffic congestion and will assist in reducing Canberra’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The transport for Canberra plan sets this policy direction from now until 2031. The plan links together all of the aspects of planning for an integrated transport system—public transport, roads, parking, cycling and walking as well as associated infrastructure needs. A good example of this current planning is the Gungahlin-to-city corridor. The corridor has been planned to enable transport-oriented renewal. Along the corridor the government is undertaking the first stage of the light rail network for Canberra, the Capital Metro. Roads will, of course, remain crucial to Canberra’s transport future and construction has commenced on the Majura Parkway linking the Federal Highway to the Monaro Highway.
In August of last year the government won funding from the commonwealth to investigate future infrastructure needs for the CBD. Specifically, a grant of half a million dollars was awarded under the liveable cities program as part of the nation building infrastructure investment fund. This is a one-for-one grant with the ACT’s funding contribution consisting of a combination of cash and in-kind support. The grant is being used to develop an integrated strategic plan for the CBD. This will address the role of the city as well as set other strategies and initiatives to improve public spaces and infrastructure within our central business district.
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