Page 3361 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 September 2015

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

have been able to use her influence inside her party to have got a commitment for or for a sod to be turned before the next election.

If the government is supportive, I welcome that. I encourage the government to consider this as part of their serious commitments for the next election rather than just empty promises and to put it in the budget. Show me the money. I hope to see a Canberra Liberals government after the next election, but, ideally, for the people of the ACT I would like to see all parties agreeing that this bottleneck is a problem and something that should have been resolved already.

I conclude by saying that this duplication will make a huge difference to the lives of mums and dads and householders in the ACT, particularly in the Molonglo Valley and the Woden areas. This will speed up people’s ability to get where they need to go. The commitment from this side of the chamber is to resolve these problems and not just push people onto public transport. I am glad to see that since 2010 the government has had an eye on this piece of road, but I am disappointed the duplication has never been funded. I hope that the government will support our motion.

MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Justice, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Transport Reform) (10.09): I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak about the possibility of duplicating Cotter Road—the second part of Cotter Road—and, at the same time, to make some comments on the general approach that is taken to road upgrades by this Assembly. Let me say from the outset that I do not intend to support a motion that simply says “duplicate a road” without presenting any further evidence, especially when I know that there is a much more sophisticated debate to be had about transport planning in this city. Instead, I will present an amendment to reflect that position. I now circulate that amendment and move:

Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:

“(1) notes that the ACT Government:

(a) is committed to meeting sustainable transport mode shift targets through its Transport for Canberra plan;

(b) is investing in public transport and active transport options for Molonglo residents, which may mitigate the need for road upgrades in coming years;

(d) has already undertaken feasibility and design studies for Cotter Road stage 2; and

(2) calls on the ACT Government to analyse the case for duplicating Cotter Road in the context of:

(a) the commitment to meeting the sustainable transport mode shift targets in the Government’s Transport for Canberra plan;

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video