Page 2015 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 June 2015
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will be renewal in housing for Tuggeranong, with the new Southquay development, a fantastic development for the area. And there will be a new kids’ splash and play pool, as we have heard, at the Lakeside Leisure Centre.
You can see that urban renewal is key in this budget. It is a key focus for the territory. I am very proud to support the motion today.
MS FITZHARRIS (Molonglo) (6.04), in reply: I thank the members today who have supported this motion. I would like to reflect on the comments they made in support of this important motion about suburban and urban renewal in our suburbs. In his statements in this place as Chief Minister since December last year the Chief Minister has made clear his passion for our suburbs—all our suburbs. He outlined the significance of this budget for increasing the pride in our suburbs, increasing the investment in our suburbs. He is serious about this. We on this side are all serious about this.
The Chief Minister noted that many Canberrans come here and stay here. They stay here because they value the amenity of the city; they stay here because they value the lifestyle in this world’s most livable city. As the Chief Minister emphasised, this is what makes Canberra so special—what keeps people here, what keeps their families here. Over time, we are seeing generations of Canberrans still calling Canberra home.
I thank Minister Rattenbury. I know that he noted particularly the pride he feels but especially the pride TAMS staff feel in our city and in the work they do. These are the staff that are working every day—I gather every hour of every day—in making and keeping our city the beautiful city that it is. He made a very good point about Canberra Connect, now Access Canberra. I had to call Access Canberra today about an issue; they were fantastic. He also mentioned a very useful recommendation which, as the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, he has taken up. It was made to him when he was the minister for the ageing by the ministerial council on the ageing—to target the suburbs Ainslie and Weston to make them age friendly. What a great approach, and I am glad that it is underway. He also gave a very good and strong overview of the range of issues across our suburbs—how they differ from older suburbs to newer suburbs, how suburbs change over time.
As Minister Rattenbury noted, it is good to discuss here how we go about future-proofing our newer suburbs and the work that we undertake in our older suburbs—how we also do some future-proofing there as well. It was a reminder throughout the conversation of just how much value we get out of some of the smaller things—how much difference a shade sail at a playground, a shade sail at local shops, some upgrades to park benches, more planting or more weeds removed in our suburbs makes to the day-to-day lives of Canberrans as they move around the city, as they explore our city at different times of the year, in the different seasons we have, which bring particular challenges to our municipal services.
I thank Minister Gentleman for his support and also for his explanation, again, of the significant investment this budget is making in municipal services and in other investments in his own electorate, which I know he and Minister Burch feel very passionate about improving. I also note the very interesting comments that he made
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