Page 3812 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 29 October 2014
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Madam Deputy Speaker, I will be supporting Minister Barr’s amendment to this motion. I think all members would agree that the amendment speaks for itself at some length. Perhaps we could describe it as the A to Z of the ACT economy. I think that Hansard will be pleased that there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, as it is clear that Minister Barr may well have continued with his list if further letters were available to him. But I do not intend to stand here and let the Canberra Liberals run the same tired old lines, the same negativity and contradictions, without also asking them to take the opportunities presented to them by virtue of being elected members of the Assembly to constructively talk Canberra up.
As a community, as a city, as an Assembly, we know that things are tough out there. There are challenges aplenty, but we are a strong and capable city that has weathered these national storms before and will again. I am actually very taken with the new CBR logo and the messaging behind it about being confident, bold and ready. I think it is very easy to be down on those sorts of slogans, and we have certainly seen our share of controversy over slogans for this and other cities in the past. I thought the CBR messaging was very timely and reflected a real vigour that is demonstrable in this city, something which I think arose particularly through the centenary year but which has been evolving over a number of years now. More and more younger entrepreneurial types are staying in our city and advancing new opportunities where previously they might have left and gone to Sydney or Melbourne. I think that reflects a new confidence in this city that we should be proud of and we should be talking up.
The ACT Greens and I want us to be judged not just for our status as reflected in some bank’s performance report card but by the standard of life of our citizens, the equity of access to essential services, the health of our children and the quality of education. I believe being the world’s most livable city is a nice accolade, but I also want us to be judged on the quality of our air, the health of our lakes and our waterways and the preservation of our nature reserves and wilderness areas. There is much more to life than just the pure economic indicators. No doubt we could have a discussion at considerable length about whether those sorts of things are a true measure. I think they are an important measure, but whether they are a full and true measure of the value of a society is a far more debatable point.
None of these things are mutually exclusive. We can continue to assist the ACT’s private sector to diversify, capitalise on the full potential of our city, maintain confidence in the ACT economy and support jobs, and we can do this by taking the necessary steps to ensure that we retain the best that Canberra has to offer. Further, we can take the steps we need to take into the future, to plan for the future, and to build the city we want our children to live in and enjoy as much as I do.
We are facing challenging times, but we have the underlying strengths. Certainly Minister Barr has touched on quite a few of those in his amendment. That list Mr Barr has outlined indicates the fact that the observations Mr Smyth has made do not go anywhere near telling the true story of this city. This city has got a lot going for it and I think we need to continue to reform.
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