Page 216 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 11 February 2015

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(1) notes a Tree Inventory Report completed for the ACT Government found that:

(a) there were 531 Eucalyptus elata trees located within the median strip between Alinga and Mouat Streets on Northbourne Avenue;

(b) 75% of these trees exhibited good or fair health; and

(2) notes that in order to construct Capital Metro, it is likely all these trees will have to be chopped down; and

(3) calls on the ACT Government to cancel the Capital Metro Light Rail project.

I have moved this motion because I am concerned about the capital metro project.

Mr Rattenbury: Shock!

MR COE: I am pleased to bring this first light rail motion for the year to the Assembly. It will be the first of many; the first of many. Strap yourselves in. We are in for a good time. Of course, I always enjoy debating light rail. However, that is not to take away from the seriousness of this issue. In standing up here and fighting against light rail, I am standing up for Canberra taxpayers, Canberrans who do not want $800 million spent on a tram that will only carry one per cent of Canberrans to and from work on any given day.

I hear this day after day: Canberrans have been slugged enough already, through the tripling of rates, through fees, charges, taxes and fines. Now this government wants to impose an additional $100 million hole in the territory’s budget for the next 20 years. That is one of the reasons why we are fighting light rail.

Life has become tougher for the government to proceed with light rail since we last met in this chamber in the previous sitting. The deficit has increased by 132 per cent. Even excluding the Mr Fluffy clean-up, the deficit has increased by over $50 million. As we said when the Chief Minister handed down his budget last year, this is not the time to be proceeding with a dubious infrastructure project solely to retain the support of Mr Rattenbury.

Still, defiantly, blindly and arrogantly the government continues to push ahead with light rail at full steam. Since we last met, last year, the government has spent close to $7 million in advancing capital metro. No doubt part of this money was spent on a large cardboard tram which seems to serve no purpose. In fact, I think the cardboard tram at Cooleman Court is as close to light rail as Weston Creek residents are ever going to get to light rail. They just did not think it would be that light and not on rails.

It goes without saying that the money could have been better spent. The problems could have been eased in our emergency department and in elective surgery waiting times. It could have been used for the benefit of urban amenity. Footpaths could have

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