Page 2414 - Week 08 - Thursday, 6 June 2013
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As members know, the ACT Greens signed a new parliamentary agreement with the ALP after the 2012 election. Aside from our priority areas of light rail for Canberra, common ground and support for Gonski, which have been funded by this budget, there are a number of other initiatives that have been funded in this first year of the parliamentary term. The policies outlined in the agreement reflect our ongoing commitment to building a sustainable society, supporting those in our community who need extra assistance through a lens of social justice, developing our city to be vibrant and diverse, but also to have clever urban design that supports resilience in the face of climate change, and protects our bushland and biodiversity.
There are a range of parliamentary agreement items that I am pleased to see progressed in this budget—items that truly reflect the breadth and width of the ACT Greens’ engagements with the community, items that have been worked up over years by myself and my former colleagues in the Seventh Assembly, and all items that will be welcomed by many. I would like to also acknowledge the efforts made by my cabinet colleagues in seeing the value of these agreement items in what is admittedly a tight year.
I am very pleased to have been able to announce an additional $1.3 million to enhance the biodiversity of Canberra’s woodlands, parks and nature reserves. This goes hand in hand with an additional $1.5 million to fund five new park ranger positions over the next four years. The Greens have long been calling for extra resourcing for our parks and for appropriate amounts of money to be spent on pest and weed management, in particular as earlier operational plans indicated that programs were not being carried out due to shortages of funding.
I am personally very pleased to see funding of just over $1 million for Canberra’s community legal services to provide funding for rental accommodation for a community legal hub. The community legal centres—the Welfare Rights and Legal Centre, the Women’s Legal Centre and the Tenants Union—will finally have improved accommodation, and more space, which will allow them to maximise their volunteer capacity. It is an outcome that the Greens have been advocating for over a number of years. I am pleased, as I understand the CLCs are, to see the funding eventuate.
In the area of mental health, it is positive to see that the Greens and Labor are placing the importance needed on the creation of a secure mental health facility. Often discussed, and desperately needed, the funding for forward design for the facility will help to address a major gap between our justice and mental health systems, and will undoubtedly lead to better outcomes.
WorkSafe is funded for 12 new WorkSafe inspectors. From the Greens’ point of view, this is a particularly welcome initiative. This reflects the Greens policy platform from the ACT election called “Making Canberra the work safety capital”, and the parliamentary agreement, which sought to increase proactive worksite investigations, particularly in construction. In conjunction with the implementation of other recommendations from the Getting home safely report, this budget item will provide a strong boost to work safety in Canberra.
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