Page 3428 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
As members, we get invited to many community events. In the time I have been in this place I have learnt just how rich the tapestry of Canberra is, now knowing much more than I knew when I came here. I tend to say that anybody who finds Canberra boring simply is not trying. There are so many community activities to be involved in and so many things to get out and do. That is something that makes Canberra a great place to be. The OECD data that came out that identified Canberra as being such a tremendous place does not pick up those things. Those things lie between the statistics, but they do, in fact, tell the true story of our city.
From an environmental perspective, as I have touched on, there are many positive facets about this city. The air is clean and we have that tremendous blue sky—a reflection of our lack of pollution, probably our altitude and also our distance from the ocean. We still have some challenges, and I am particularly mindful of the water quality in our urban creeks and waterways. It is, for me, a source of great frustration that those waterways suffer problems, be it Lake Tuggeranong, Lake Ginninderra or Lake Burley Griffin, as well as some of the urban ponds around the place. We have much work to do in that space.
Of course, over 60 per cent of the ACT is protected either in Namadgi national park or as part of our network of nature reserves. This is extremely unusual for any jurisdiction. As Canberrans, we should feel lucky about that, and I know many of our residents appreciate it. Many visitors to Canberra comment on our abundant birdlife. This is something that many of us probably take for granted and perhaps do not even notice on a day-to-day basis. On an average day, in an average backyard, people probably see at least 10 different bird species, I am guessing, although this of course would vary from suburb to suburb.
As a result of all of these historical planning decisions we have great bushwalks right on our doorstep but, more importantly, a great parks service to look after the bush. I say that as the minister responsible, but in the year that we are celebrating 30 years of the Namadgi national park and the ACT parks service, it is an appropriate time to reflect on the great history of our parks service and also the army of Parkcare volunteers who are celebrating 25 years this year. There was a conference last Friday to celebrate 25 years of Parkcare, underlying the tremendous benefit that the many volunteers have delivered to our city over the years.
I have talked already about the breadth of our community and the opportunities to volunteer. There is a tremendous range of volunteer activities, whether it be in sports, the environment, community services or helping those less fortunate in our community. We have high levels of volunteer engagement across our city. This helps people feel connected and part of the community, but it also delivers great benefit right across our community that, again, members in this place fully know.
Despite Mr Hanson’s earlier comments, I believe the ACT has an outstanding education system both in our public and our range of independent and non-government schools. One of the great advantages of Canberra is its design; it makes it easy for people to walk to the local schools. That is something we need to continue to encourage as we battle increasing congestion at our schools. I receive letters from
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video