Page 2239 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 5 June 2013
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Yesterday the ACT Labor government outlined its plan to build and transform Canberra. Our budget starts down the path of delivering big, transformational projects, including city to the lake and light rail. It also continues our nation-leading tax reforms while setting out a responsible and measured return to surplus. We are implementing the important national education and disability reforms and delivering on our election commitments in education and health.
The government continues to plan and deliver major infrastructure projects to meet the economic, social and environmental challenges of Canberra’s second century. The city to the lake project and capital metro are two transformational initiatives that will not only revitalise but also redefine the city and Canberra more broadly. The latter in particular will fundamentally change how a great many of us will live and move around in the coming decades.
Elsewhere, the Majura parkway, new public schools in Molonglo and Gungahlin, and a new subacute hospital on the campus of the University of Canberra are all to be constructed in the near future. These are perhaps only the highest profile of the many infrastructure projects the government has committed to, as detailed in our infrastructure plan and its annual updates.
However, the role of the commonwealth and business in delivering new infrastructure is also acknowledged by the territory, and I would specifically like to note the continued expansion of the Canberra international airport and the rollout of the national broadband network as being important for Canberra’s future. The major infrastructure investments that I have just talked about and others across the government, including education, health and transport, as well as the contribution of the commonwealth, will help Canberra meet some big challenges as we enter our second century.
First, we need to ensure ongoing economic growth, sustainability and resilience, including helping our local businesses export their goods and services around the world to help create growth here in the ACT economy. We need infrastructure that will attract new investment, support new high value-added businesses and leverage our unique heritage to increase tourism and interest in the nation’s capital.
The second challenge is to increase connectivity through infrastructure that will improve the sharing of information and knowledge, skills and capabilities, including through new and emerging digital and telecommunications technologies. This is critical in supporting our wide and varied knowledge-intensive industries.
The third challenge is to protect the environment and to wisely manage our natural resources. Careful infrastructure decisions will help us conserve landscapes, protect biodiversity, increase community awareness of conservation values through recreation and tourism, help build a sustainable economy through initiatives such as increased use of solar energy and create healthy built environments and precincts.
Climate change poses its own unique challenges for the territory and the greater Australian capital region. Less rainfall, drier winters and more intense summer
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