Page 1075 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 March 2013
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birth to year 2. It will cater for around 300 students from preschool to year 2, and offers a 120-place childcare centre operated by Anglicare. The growing number of families in north Gungahlin will also benefit from a second new school, Neville Bonner Primary School, which also welcomed its first students this year. Students are also enjoying stage 1 of the $48.1 million Neville Bonner Primary School. When stage 2 is completed the enrolment capacity of the north Gungahlin region will increase to 818 student places.
Canberra is at the centre of the Australian capital region, one of the fastest growing in the country, which creates significant opportunities. Canberra as a regional hub has significant potential to expand and diversify our economic coverage, but also recognising important environmental and social connections. A rapidly expanding region does create some service planning challenges, particularly in the areas of health and education. Continued engagement with the region is essential to addressing these challenges. In December 2011 the ACT government signed a memorandum of understanding on regional collaboration, demonstrating our commitment to a regional approach.
Transport for Canberra is the foundation for transport planning in the ACT for the next 20 years and identifies a number of key actions for completion in both the short and the long term. This is important work, and it includes a number of transport efficiency actions and setting targets for emission reductions. Transport for Canberra integrates with land use planning to create a more compact city, where cycling, walking and public transport are easy travel choices. These modes are projected to make up 23 per cent of work trips by 2016 and 30 per cent by 2026.
Infrastructure improvements currently include an environmentally friendly public passenger vehicle fleet with modern ticketing and real-time passenger information, underpinned by efficient and accessible network planning and complemented by bus priority measures, bus stops and park-and-ride, bike-and-ride facilities. The development of a new monitoring and reporting system to support the delivery of transport for Canberra is currently underway, with consultation to begin shortly.
The ACT government recognises the importance of contributing to the global task of reducing greenhouse emissions. The ACT’s second climate change action plan, or AP2, sets out a clear strategy for the territory to meet our 2020 greenhouse gas reduction targets and sets us on the path to becoming a sustainable and carbon neutral community. Large-scale renewable energy is the key area of action under AP2 which aims to see 90 per cent of the ACT’s power source from renewable energy by 2020. The ACT will become a leader in solar energy through processes such as the current solar option. On 5 September 2012 the FRV Royalla Solar Farm Pty Ltd 20 megawatt proposal was announced as the sole successful proposal in the fast-track stream of the solar auction.
The NDIS has been described by many as the most significant social reform in this country since the introduction of Medicare. I am glad you agree. This social reform was made possible for eligible residents in the ACT when the Chief Minister agreed to the ACT’s participation as an NDIS launch site at the Council of Australian Governments meeting on 7 December 2012. As a result, from July 2014 eligible
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