Page 492 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014
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I was looking at the Canberra Times regarding the ACT government’s release of the stimulus package. I looked at the comment from the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party’s comment was that the construction sector should not need to have a stimulus package, or perhaps not a stimulus package like this one. But we would not have needed that if we had not been facing the cuts that we are going to be facing from the federal government.
I looked at the web page to find out whether they had some other plans to protect jobs and support our economy—and it was pretty slim pickings, I can tell you. In the nearly 18 months since the election, the Liberal Party have yet to tell Canberrans what they would do if they were in our shoes. Where is the policy for urban development? Where is the policy for attracting new industries to Canberra? Where is the policy to encourage infrastructure development for the ACT? The opposition are pretty good at having a whinge and at opposing things, but they do not have the leadership skills required to navigate the ACT through any hard times that we might be facing.
Today, through Dr Bourke’s motion, we are showing that we have a plan for our community to protect jobs and services. We are the ones with a plan to bring new investment to Canberra, we are the ones with a plan for our construction industry, we are the ones with a plan to encourage new industries to grow here and we are the ones with a plan to build critical infrastructure that is necessary for our growing city.
The ACT government, in the words of Optimus Prime, will continue to transform and roll out these progressive and important projects. Only a progressive government like Labor puts the welfare of people first to achieve these goals. I commend Dr Bourke’s motion.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Disability, Children and Young People, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Women, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Racing and Gaming) (11.33): I welcome this timely motion from Dr Bourke, as it is important that we have this conversation. It is an important conversation, not just because Canberra is entering its second century but because there are many in our community that wait with a level of concern about the outcomes of the federal government’s Commission of Audit and the first federal Liberal budget and how that may impact on our community, as Ms Berry made reference to.
The ACT government will continue to support our local economy and the ongoing prosperity of this community. We will do this by ensuring that it has the right infrastructure to encourage the growth of jobs and a sustainable community. We know that infrastructure and its construction provides an important contribution to this city’s economic growth, its sustainability and its resilience.
We also need to acknowledge the benefit of “enabling infrastructure”, such as the government’s announcement last week of the digital Canberra initiative. The rollout of free wi-fi in Canberra, commencing with Civic in the second half of this year, will deliver benefits of greater connectivity across Canberra. Garema Place will become the centre of digital innovation—a space for the meeting of minds and creative digital ideas in the city.
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