Page 3332 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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I was able to attend one of the sessions that particularly focused on transport issues, and I found the discussion very interesting.
Going to some of Mr Doszpot’s comments as well, it was really interesting to see the evolution of the older persons assembly. Of course, this is the second one that has taken place now, after Ms Bresnan moved a motion during the last Assembly to establish the older persons assembly, and then we agreed through the parliamentary agreement to continue it in this term.
There were to be two, but in consultation with the older members of the community, we amended the format slightly so that there was a conference last year about age-friendly cities, which many local residents attended, as well as a range of people from interstate. I think that really added to the depth of the conversation.
I listened with interest to Mr Doszpot’s comments about the format. It is an interesting question because this format was an evolution of what happened last time. There was feedback last time that it should be done differently. By the sound of it, there are probably still some views that further evolution is required, and that is naturally the case as these events start to take shape. It was quite different from last time. I know last time a range of people found it a bit frustrating that they went off into individual groups and that, whilst they got to say more, they felt there was not a plenary feel about it. I think the format will undoubtedly continue to evolve.
As I said, the discussion about transport was very interesting. Certainly, I was pleased to talk to members of the older persons assembly about the new flexible transport system which was launched in September through ACTION. I think talking about it on that day worked well, because the number of bookings has gone up by quite a bit. I think the word is starting to get out there through the community that this is a very valuable service for older Canberrans and those who have difficulty getting around by themselves.
I will comment briefly on the issue of footpaths. Without re-prosecuting last year’s debate, the issue is that there are footpath problems right across the city. TAMS is currently, every day, out there organising inspections, repairs or in fact replacement of complete sections. With respect to the comments I made last year, which Mr Doszpot brought up, he had asked for a particular emphasis on the inner parts of Canberra. The observations I made at the time were that, across the city, there were sections of footpaths that needed to be replaced and I was reluctant to agree to a motion which at that time said that we should focus on the inner south when in fact there were bits of work that needed to be done right across the city.
My observation was that, because older people live right across the city, in particular, and the discussion was about the needs of older people in that instance, we needed to replace them as required, as notified to the government when there was a particular issue, rather than particularly focusing on an area. So we will need to have that underlying and ongoing maintenance program and the capability to respond when particular issues arise, which is something that does happen.
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