Page 121 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 11 February 2015
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The town centre is also home to the new state-of-the-art Belconnen health centre, our very popular nurse-led walk-in centre, the Belconnen library, the Belconnen community centre, the Westfield mall, and various ACT and federal government offices, including the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
Within close proximity to the town centre you will find Lake Ginninderra, which we have talked about this morning. This is obviously the backyard for people who now live in the many new apartments and housing complexes that are close to the lake. We also have the University of Canberra, the Canberra Institute of Technology Bruce campus, the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra stadium—which, as members know, is home to the Canberra Raiders Rugby League Club and the ACT Brumbies Rugby Union Club—Bruce indoor stadium, CISAC indoor swimming complex, and Calvary hospital. All of these institutions, businesses and leisure facilities depend intrinsically on each other as they provide jobs and services to both Belconnen and the wider community.
The Labor government recognises this, and that is why over the years we have constantly delivered proactive policies, through successive responsible budgets, that have focused on job creation by investing in infrastructure and other transformative projects.
For example, the 2014-15 budget saw the appropriation of $2.5 billion over four years for infrastructure in the ACT which will provide important new facilities to the Canberra community as well as boosting growth through job creation. Some of the projects that will benefit from this massive investment include the University of Canberra hospital, which, as members know, is very important to the people of the ACT, especially those in Ginninderra.
When completed, the project has the potential in the long term for promoting excellence in education by attracting more students, researchers and academics to the city, and to world-class education institutions such as the University of Canberra and the Bruce CIT campus. Many researchers and academics will come, courtesy of the fact that we will have the University of Canberra hospital. And that is not to mention the large number of jobs that will be created during the construction phase. Of course, we must not forget the invaluable addition this will make to health services in the ACT and region.
We have also seen renewal projects, such as the new bus interchange, which Dr Bourke mentioned before, which has transformed the town centre by facilitating greater access to the facilities in the town centre, as well as enhancing safety for passengers.
Last year the new state-of-the-art Belconnen health centre and the nurse-led walk-in centre were opened. Both of these facilities now provide Belconnen residents with greater access to various health-related services.
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