Page 187 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 11 February 2015
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(2) recognises that this investment in essential infrastructure and services has contributed to the growth of a vibrant and diverse community; and
(3) calls on the ACT Government to continue to:
(a) engage with the Gungahlin community about what future infrastructure and services are needed; and
(b) invest in the Gungahlin region, especially through its commitment to the Gungahlin community to ease the day-to-day future burden on Gungahlin commuters through the delivery of the first stage of a reliable and fast mass public transport system—Capital Metro.
I am proud to be the first member elected to this place on such substantial support from the Gungahlin community. It is an honour and, as I said yesterday and again on the radio this morning, the representational role we have in this place is important to me, as I know it is important to all members. I am also pleased that my first motion in this place can be about the importance of the Gungahlin community for Canberra’s future and the investments made by the government in this rapidly growing region.
Gungahlin is not only the place that I call home; it is also home to 47,000 other Canberrans. Just 20 years ago Gungahlin’s population was in the hundreds. Today not only is Gungahlin a wonderful community but it has much high quality infrastructure and services as well. The combination of these things makes it a wonderful place to live.
Can I outline some of this investment? It includes quality schools for the thousands of students in the area, well-built places with fantastic teachers where our young people start on a lifetime of learning, places where economic opportunity is created and where young people become truly their best selves. It includes new sporting facilities and leisure centres, well-designed spaces where families can spend active weekends together, where communities can gather and where sports teams can play.
A new public service building is in progress. It will provide jobs in the construction phase and local public service jobs that do not require a commute and which will stimulate demand for all businesses in the Gungahlin town centre. Land has been released for a new cinema site and I look forward to work commencing this year. And now there is significant work on the capital metro investment plan which will link Gungahlin to Civic and reduce congestion along Northbourne Avenue and Flemington Road.
In my first speech yesterday I said that I was proud to represent such a vibrant, diverse and growing community. I would like to take the opportunity in this motion to draw the Assembly’s attention to the detail of these significant investments that the Barr Labor government has made in Gungahlin. The soon-to-be-open public service building in the Gungahlin town centre will renew the town centre. Not only is it a building that will deliver great services but it is simply a great building. It will contain a childcare centre, an Access Canberra shopfront and also provide about 550 jobs for ACT government public servants. It is a sustainable building and it will be a great building for those people to work in.
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