Page 2753 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 16 September 2014
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Then, of course, the Labor Party and I sat down and worked out an agreement to go forward for this term of the Assembly. We were very transparent in having that agreement and publishing it online within hours of its being made. People have known exactly what we put into that agreement right from the beginning. Obviously the light rail project is in there. There is the move to ensure that the ACT is getting its energy sources from renewable energy, with 90 per cent by 2020. It is about restoring the health of Canberra’s lakes. For a long time I have been agitating for that; it is an important issue for recreational facilities in this city. I note that Ms Lawder brought that issue forward recently; it is something we have been working on for some time. There are other matters in there, and I am happy to continue to talk on them. There are things like Common Ground, tackling the problem of homelessness in this city. These were set out, and work is continuing on those projects.
I would like to say at this point that very clearly I support the four priorities the Chief Minister stated in Saturday’s papers. It follows a cabinet decision last week. Governments must be clear about the areas they are going to focus on, and I wholeheartedly endorse the four priorities of health, education, public transport and dealing with the Mr Fluffy legacy that this city has been left with. Each of these areas is incredibly important; they are areas that we must prioritise.
We ask what prioritising means. This is where key resources are going and where ministers and the bureaucracy will be spending their time. We know that around 50 per cent of the budget each year is already spent on health and education. To suggest they are not a priority is simply silly. But there is a large amount of resources going in there and a considerable amount of time and effort.
Public transport clearly does need work. As this city grows, we cannot ignore the need to diversify our transport options. Canberra is a car city; that is the way it has been built, over many years now, and that is a legacy we must live with. But we cannot rely on cars alone for the future of this city. As the population grows, if we keep simply relying on car-based transport, we will spend more and more of our time in traffic jams. Nobody in our community wants to spend more of their time in traffic jams. We need to provide alternatives that tackle the question of congestion as this city grows.
Talk to people from other cities. One of the things they say about Canberra is that they are so glad it is different from Sydney. In particular they cite Sydney, but also Melbourne. They talk about the quality of life in the city by the fact that we do not have huge amounts of traffic congestion.
We have a choice. We can keep going like Sydney has done and just build more and more road infrastructure, attempt to cut the increasing volume, or come up with a decent alternative. Through these commitments that the Labor Party and the Greens are working on, we are ensuring that this city will not end up like Sydney. We will continue to have a good quality of life. You will not need to spend an hour in your car to get your child to football. You will not need to spend an hour in your car to get to a dinner party. You will not need to spend an hour in your car to get to health services. There will be decent alternatives in this city, and we will have done that before we get to the crisis point.
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