Page 4256 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 27 November 2013
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become a place where children go and simply play in the water, and families sit around. There was this wonderful square in the middle of this relatively dense part of town that, through essentially, I guess, an organic process, became a real community hub. But this was a whole neighbourhood where previously there were simply derelict workshops and run-down parts of town, and the installation of the light rail network made that redevelopment possible.
Similarly, at the other end of town, near the hospital, there has been a new area where, again through the extension of the light rail network, an old industrial site has been opened up. There is now student housing and, something we have not seen in Canberra before, a multi-storey retirement village. It is around 14 storeys high. In Australia we do not traditionally think of older people living in high-rise buildings. What I saw there was around 14 storeys of retirement units. Because of the concentration of older people and the provision of appropriate facilities in the same precinct—again, all constructed around a light rail connection—particularly for this retirement home, there was a stop right outside the front door, providing great public transport and enabling older people to remain active longer in their lives.
I will not reflect on too much more of the article, as members can read it in the paper today if they so wish, but it was very interesting to look at a city that has taken a very conscious decision to say, “If we keep going down a business-as-usual path, our city will grind to a halt and there will be a significant loss of amenity for our citizens.” Portland took a decision to go in a different direction. I am not standing here and saying Portland has got it exactly right. It was certainly interesting talking to business leaders, senior public servants, members of NGOs in the Portland community about the bits that they have learnt over the years, where they have learnt they needed to do some things differently.
We are in the fortunate position in the ACT of being able to look to cities like Portland or, as Mr Gentleman notes in his motion, the many other cities around the world that have put in this kind of infrastructure and look at some of the things that have worked well and some of the things that people would probably avoid if they had their time over again. So we are in that very fortunate position that we can do those things.
For me, it is very clear that light rail is not just a transport solution. It is about improving transport options but it is also about starting to create the city we need to see into the future, a city where people are not so reliant on cars, a city where economic growth is driven by some of the innovation that will come attached to light rail, whether it is the direct connections or the simple reputation that I think Canberra is starting to develop as a place that is progressive and forward thinking. I think we are earning that reputation on a number of fronts.
Our excellent solar research at ANU has for many years perhaps led the way. There is the work that has been done by the Canberra Convention Bureau to position Canberra as a place where major ideas are developed, where decisions are taken, where research is innovative and vibrant. This is the sort of reputation that a city like Canberra needs in a competitive global environment. If we want to attract talent to this city, if we want to attract investment, we need to have that broader image of a city that people want to come to.
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