Page 3722 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2013
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difficult for any government to provide high quality services that the community deserves—but also to create greater opportunities for all in a city that is enjoyable and easy to live in, healthier and smarter, while still focusing on urban renewal as our city grows.
Whilst the government is proud of these achievements, it recognises that there is more to be done, and it is committed to continuing to deliver for the Canberran community. The foundations for a strong economy were laid in the previous years. The appropriation bill 2013, which, as I recall, was so vehemently opposed by the Canberra Liberals, was well considered and served to consolidate the gains we have achieved in a very difficult economic time.
I will now proceed to detail the progress on some of the things that are being delivered by the government and how they will impact on the Ginninderra community, which I represent. As I stated earlier, the government wanted to ensure that Canberra remains a fantastic place to live and raise a family. As you are aware, Canberra has Australia’s highest standard of living and the government wants to protect that. Diversifying the ACT economy and keeping it strong is one way of securing Canberra’s future prosperity.
We have seen in the last year the ACT host the biggest program of sporting events in Canberra’s history, as Minister Barr mentioned earlier. This has provided us with the opportunity to showcase the ACT as capable of hosting major events and sets us in a good position to secure more in the future. As you know, such events stimulate economic activity through increased tourism, the beneficiaries of whom, of course, are Canberrans and Canberran businesses.
Further to this the government has embarked on major economic reforms that will see Canberrans and businesses in the ACT benefit and become more competitive. These include greater competition for third-party insurance, cutting red tape for businesses and the community sector, a push for international flights to Singapore, further cuts to stamp duty and weighting for small and medium-size businesses while tendering for ACT government contracts.
As I mentioned earlier, good health and education systems are two of the things that make the ACT an attractive place to live and bring up a family. As such, this government has continually invested in these two areas to allow greater and fairer access to all Canberrans. We know that investment in these sectors places Canberrans, on average, as the healthiest, best paid and best educated people in Australia.
It is particularly pleasing to see the new step-up, step-down supported accommodation service that was opened on 6 March 2013, which realises the government’s vision of extending options for integrated mental health treatment and care. Some will recall that this was one of the recommendations that resulted from the inquiry into appropriate housing for people with a mental illness, which I initiated in the Sixth Assembly when I was Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Health and Disability.
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