Page 3698 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2013
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There will, of course, be an important element of urban renewal, of providing accommodation close to the city and the cost-of-living benefits that come with reduced transport costs as well as the social opportunities that go with that kind of redevelopment. That then avoids the need to push people further and further out from the heart of the city into more far-flung suburbs.
I am particularly pleased with the progress of the Common Ground development. This is a powerful new initiative to help tackle homelessness and provide affordable housing options. I spoke about it yesterday afternoon in the matter of public importance. There has been significant progress on that project; it is moving very quickly. This reflects both a political commitment from the government but also a strong effort from the staff in the directorate. I thank them for that very focussed effort in delivering that project. We have seen, despite the affluence of this city, that many people suffer from homelessness. Last year’s figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on homelessness were, for me, with only a few weeks into having portfolio responsibility for homelessness, a very stark moment to focus the mind on the job that needs to be done. I am pleased the Common Ground project was one part of the parliamentary agreement and one part of tackling that issue.
While I was in the antechamber I heard Minister Burch make some reference to the fact that there are issues of uncertainty about whether the commonwealth will continue to play its part in the national partnership agreement on homelessness and the national partnership agreement on housing. These are both very important agreements, and we have a job to do as the ACT government to make sure we continue to take action in this area. We need to know what that partnership with the commonwealth is going to look like into the future.
As we move forward we also need to take into account our major strategy documents, including the Canberra plan. It is a cornerstone strategy document for the government, and many other plans hinge off it—things such as the social plan, the economic plan, the ACT planning strategy, weathering the change, the infrastructure plan and the transport for Canberra plan. We have this set of strategies that weave together in a very effective way. The key issue is that the government not only creates these plans but then sticks to them. We follow through and we continue to make the decisions that will deliver the goals that have been identified in those plans. The community has an expectation. There are extensive consultation processes. People make submissions, they turn up to public meetings. Not everybody’s views, of course, are always reflected because they are divergent, but it is important for the community that we continue to follow through on these plans and focus on the goals. That means, certainly for me as a minister in day-to-day decisions, trying to reflect on how they fit into those bigger picture plans and making sure we continue to remain focused on them. Not necessarily writing new ones all the time, but, as we sit down to form the budget, being mindful of those goals and making sure we are taking decisions that drive us towards them.
Reflecting on the specifics of Dr Bourke’s motion, he has identified some of the key issues in my mind. The four priority areas outlined in the ACT budget are ones I think are particularly important: creating opportunity and a more liveable city; being a
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