Page 2016 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 June 2015
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about Mr Coe’s earlier engineering commentary on the wait times at the Gundaroo Drive, William Slim and Barton Highway intersection. A $1 million per second fix in a flyover is not something that is going to be widely supported. I hope to hear Mr Coe reassessing that proposal in light of this new evidence about wait times.
I am disappointed but not surprised at the Canberra Liberals’ lack of support for this motion today. I believe they share pride in this city; I believe we all come into this place wanting to make Canberra a better place, wanting to make sure that it remains the world’s most livable city. But I reject, as the supporters of this motion have done, that this city is characterised by urban decay. It just does not stack up that we can be in the world’s most livable city, that we can be making record investments in health, education, transport and municipal services in this city this week, and be suffering from the urban decay Mr Hanson mentioned.
There were two things, in particular, about Mr Hanson’s contribution that I found difficult to accept. One was the view that this government is being short-sighted on transport. The second was his lack of understanding of a budget position that needs to be strong.
Firstly, short-sightedness is not something that can be used to describe this government at all. This government has a vision; it has always had a vision and it is working hard to implement that vision. “Short-sighted” is not how I would describe a government that is making record investments in health infrastructure, in new and innovative health services and in new education infrastructure across the city. There is the CIT campus in Tuggeranong. It is not short-sighted to be investing in light rail. Far-sighted visionary governments across the world are investing in light rail; short-sighted political parties are talking only about roads. We need to do something about congestion, about the sustainability of our city, and short-sightedness is talking only about roads.
There was also the budget discussion that he is keen to emphasise. There were announcements this week by the Liberals on roads and public transport—two very small announcements on what for some time now they have promised is a comprehensive transport strategy. That is $90 million. That is the sum total of the new investments in roads in this year’s budget. From the investment that they announced on Monday, I would like to know which investments in this year’s budget—which new investments of $90 million in roads and infrastructure in this budget—they would not do.
I was disappointed, as I say, in the lack of support, but I am grateful to members for speaking in support of this government’s commitment to investing heavily in renewing our suburbs and town centres, and also making sure that Canberra continues to look and feel like the world’s most livable city.
Motion agreed to.
Magna Carta—anniversary
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (6.12): I move:
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