Page 2009 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 June 2015
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to clean almost 440 hectares of urban lakes and ponds. We are providing extra maintenance for trees, road signs and bus stops, and more weed removal on road verges, median strips and cyclepaths. We are providing more funding for street lighting and maintenance of our public places.
I moved to Canberra around my fourth birthday. Approaching next year I think will be my 40th year in this city. I grew up in this city—
Mr Doszpot: Fiftieth?
MR BARR: Fortieth—in its leafy garden suburbs. I know that people are drawn to Canberra by its amenity, and once they are here they stay for that amenity. I am determined that we hold on to that as we grow. I am also determined to make sure that our town and group centres are places that suit everyone, that there are things for young people to do and that there are things for young families and older Canberrans. That is why we are investing and continue to invest in improving landscaping and safety in key areas of our city, particularly in this budget—$860,000 to improve landscaping and safety in Weston and a further $860,000 on extra car parking, footpaths and infrastructure at the Erindale shopping centre. That is why we are investing in Tuggeranong and Kaleen to widen footpaths, provide traffic islands and wheelchair ramps in these areas.
This is a government that can sustain multiple initiatives at the same time. We can build the transport infrastructure our city needs whilst we renew our ageing public housing stock. We can upgrade our roads whilst we are building new cycling and walking infrastructure. We can invest in our important state government services, our schools and our hospitals just as we deliver high quality municipal services—the high quality services that Canberrans expect and deserve—maintaining public parks, pathways and pleasant public spaces.
Yesterday’s budget was a budget for Canberra. It is a budget that reflects the pride that every single member of this government feels for this wonderful city. I thank Ms Fitzharris for bringing this motion to the Assembly today.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Corrective Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Sport and Recreation) (5.44): I am very pleased to support this motion; it is an issue that is close to my heart. As the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, I take great pride in how the city looks and I know that the staff of the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate take great pride in this city. They enjoy their jobs looking after this city and they are very passionate about what they do.
I am certainly pleased that additional funding has been made available in this budget to assist TAMS to look after this city and to present it in a way that Canberrans aspire to. We live in a great city, and we are very lucky with the city we live in. This extra money will help us to maintain it at a standard that we want to see. Certainly, as a Greens member of this government, I am very pleased that through this budget process a number of items that are a part of our parliamentary agreement and things that the Greens are very passionate about have been funded, which will assist with investing in our community, in our suburbs and our urban villages.
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