Page 4131 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 26 November 2014
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indirect impacts can be large and are therefore an important part of the overall appraisal of a transport scheme. Further, research by Curtin University has found that increases in land value around rail infrastructure can provide real financial returns to government in excess of 60 per cent of the project capital cost over a 30-year period.
The federal government has released its own new infrastructure projects assessment criteria to acknowledge the broader economic benefits such as improved productivity. The current federal minister, Mr Briggs, has said the guidelines will lead to more holistic approaches to assessing development that would better reflect community expectations and achieve value for money. So to suggest we should only look at the direct transport benefits and not the broader benefits flies in the face of research done by Curtin University, adopted by the UK department of transport, adopted by Austroads as far back as 2001 and now reflected in the new guidelines released by the federal Liberal government in relation to their infrastructure assessment process.
I do not accept and we cannot accept the silliness from the Liberals on this matter. This is an important project for Canberra, one that delivers long-term economic benefits, one that gives us the opportunity to shape our city in a more sustainable and efficient manner and which gives people real transport choices as well as delivering significant economic benefits across the ACT. (Time expired.)
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (6.23): I am pleased that Mr Coe has brought the issue of light rail to the Assembly once again, because it gives us a chance to talk about what is going to be a fantastic initiative for our city—an investment that looks far into the future, a welcome public transport project, a catalyst for quality redevelopment, a smart response to threats such as peak oil, climate change and urban sprawl, and an initiative that has the strong support of the majority of members of this Assembly.
It is in the parliamentary agreement, and I am proud to say that it is an initiative that the Greens have championed over many years in the city. I am very pleased to partner with the Labor Party to bring this long-term project to fruition after it has been discussed in Canberra for many years. For a long time people in the city have talked about the benefits of bringing light rail to Canberra, and this partnership between the Greens and the Labor Party is finally bringing this long talked about project to fruition.
It is no surprise that it is not attractive to the Canberra Liberals. They remain uninterested in long-term projects for the future and are focused on a slogan and a campaign message that they think will win them the 2016 ACT election. We know that issues such as peak oil, climate change, urban sprawl and improved public transport are clearly not on their agenda at all. These are issues that some future policymaker and some future government here in the ACT are going to have to deal with, because if the Canberra Liberals have their way this generation will not deal with them.
Of course, the Labor Party and the Greens do support light rail; therefore the Liberal Party must oppose it by default. It is kind of like the high school debating team that always has the negative case. I noted, for example, Mr Coe’s recent response to the
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