Page 2005 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 June 2015
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attention. There will be a strong effort to efficiently cultivate young, developing trees as well as a concentrated focus on weed removal on median strips, cyclepaths and verges.
Another important component of keeping our city clean and planning for the city’s future are the waste management services that have also been funded in this budget. A $2.8 million feasibility study to investigate long-term options for the management and treatment of waste in the ACT will be undertaken, including the development of a full business case for a waste to energy facility. A new landfill cell will be created with $20.9 million to expand the Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre, and $400,000 will allow the bulky waste collection service to continue. This service allows eligible concession card holders to have large items, such as couches, collected and disposed of for free—another service this government provides for some of our more vulnerable and disadvantaged residents.
The ACT government has shown its passionate commitment to keeping Canberra beautiful. The results of this continued commitment are very simple: beautiful, well-maintained suburbs are home to people who have pride in the city they live in. From Gungahlin to Belconnen to the city to Woden to Tuggeranong, every region will benefit from this investment. This is a budget for all Canberrans. It is a sign of the Chief Minister’s—or should I say “mayor’s”—pride in this city that maintenance in our suburbs is such a priority.
It is no secret that Canberra is the world’s most livable city. Because of the continued investment of the ACT Labor government in this budget, it will continue to be the world’s most livable city. Where else in the world can a person live in a bustling town centre and then, in as little as a 10-minute walk, be able to enjoy bushland? This budget invests $275 million in municipal services to ensure our city and town centres look and feel great. It also includes $90 million additional funding on roads, with more than $60 million in Gungahlin, to help develop a truly integrated transport network for Canberra’s future.
It includes $159 million for public housing renewal, which will better meet tenants’ needs and break down concentrations of disadvantage across the city. And it includes $2.8 billion for infrastructure over four years for major projects and to deliver better services in all our suburbs and town centres. We are all proud Canberrans, and I believe this budget will ensure Canberra continues to look and feel like it is the world’s most livable city.
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (5.27): It gives me great pleasure to speak to this motion today. There is a different view about urban renewal on that side of the chamber than there is on this side of the chamber. When we hear about urban renewal from those opposite, we generally hear about the light rail and what they are planning for the Northbourne corridor. I and my colleagues—I know you, Madam Speaker, do also—spend a lot of time out of this place in the suburbs talking to Canberrans about what is important to them and what matters to them in their suburbs, in my own electorate in places like Weston Creek and in Woden, and across broader areas of Canberra. I recall going with Madam Speaker to Belconnen quite recently. Many constituents came to see us about what they considered to be
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