Page 2804 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 12 August 2015
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community use their centres, further rejuvenating and building a vibrant environment for locals.
Our highly successful master planning program will continue throughout 2015-16. The process of developing master plans for town and group centres has energised communities throughout the ACT to have their say on the things they believe will enhance their shared spaces. To date the ACT government has delivered final master plans for Weston and Oaks Estate and draft master plans for Woden and Mawson, with rigorous consultation being undertaken in the Belconnen, Curtin and Calwell centres as well. We are also preparing a draft master plan for Kippax which we expect to release later this year. All of these plans are being developed in conjunction with the work mentioned earlier in relation to better connections to better places to ensure that the concepts developed as part of the master plan can deliver the desired outcomes.
Our work in 2015-16 will continue to be supported by the Government Architect. The creation of this position has allowed the government to deliver better design outcomes and ensure that the work of our directorates is coordinated and delivering improvements in the way this city is developing, a particularly important consideration when we are committed to urban renewal.
The 2015-16 budget reaffirms this government’s commitment to maintain the ACT as the most livable city in the country—indeed, the world, according to the OECD. Our planning systems ensure that we are delivering great outcomes for the ACT. With the initiatives that will be delivered as part of this budget, we are developing a city which will be exceptionally well connected, organised and vibrant for years to come.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
Health Directorate—schedule 1, part 1.11.
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (9.08): I will start with some words on the health budget:
We need to get better access for patients, particularly in our emergency department and particularly for elective surgery. We need a better culture for staff. There is no question that across the health system, when you talk to the staff and the nurses and the doctors, there is a real problem. I have had nurses in tears about the treatment they have received at various stages at the Canberra Hospital. And we need a healthier community. We need strong incentives to be active and well.
It is a great disappointment to me that we are in this place debating the budget, looking at the statistics, looking at the data and we see again that where there should have been improvements, where we were promised new buildings, where we were promised improved access for patients, where we were promised a better culture for staff, none of that has been achieved. What we get year after year are endless promises from the health minister that the situation will improve while year after year it does not.
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