Page 2757 - Week 08 - Thursday, 11 August 2016
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have world-class education and that we continue to invest in transport, community and municipal services. The budget that we will pass later this evening invests $5 billion in the future of this community to ensure that we have the best hospitals, the best health facilities, in our regions and that we are able to provide world-class education in our preschools, primary schools, high schools, colleges and vocational education training centres and through our world-class universities so that we continue to lead this country and, in many respects, the world in the provision of world-class education.
The government continues to focus on the delivery of public transport with the light rail project, a significant renewal of our city’s public transport system, the establishment of Transport Canberra and the new focus on public transport, active travel and innovations like the introduction of ride sharing in the ACT. We have a holistic transport plan to ensure that Canberra remains the world’s most livable city.
We continue to invest very strongly in municipal services. Fifteen per cent of the territory’s budget is invested in our council responsibilities. This year’s budget provides significant boosts in many areas of municipal services, areas that the community has identified and would like their government to invest more in.
We continue our focus on the prevention of family violence. Through the package of reforms contained within the budget that will pass later this evening, we see a nation-leading response to tackling domestic and family violence. We have put in place a mechanism to ensure that those measures can be funded sustainably into the future. It is a comprehensive response to a challenge that our nation faces. We are not immune from it here in the ACT and we must continue to have a very significant focus on the prevention of family violence.
In community services, in the arts, in sport and recreation and in disability services we continue to invest very strongly in our community to ensure that we are offering world-class services. Canberra is the best city in Australia to live in. We have been rated by the OECD as the world’s most livable city. Our economic future is very bright. We have the lowest unemployment rate in Australia. Service exports from the ACT have been growing faster than those of any other state or territory. We are seeing record levels of international and domestic tourism to Canberra.
We are seeing our higher education sector growing rapidly. We have enabled the University of Canberra to compete on the national and international stage. We have established new vocational education and training facilities, opening a new CIT in Tuggeranong. We are building the new University of Canberra public hospital in Belconnen. We have just recently opened the Majura Parkway, a major new road transport investment.
We are delivering 100 per cent renewable energy for our city by 2020. We are serious about tackling climate change and we are working very hard across the board to ensure that services are delivered to a world-class standard and that we are investing in those areas of importance to our community.
On social policy, we want Canberra to be the most inclusive place in this country. That is why we have taken the lead on LGBTI inclusion—(Time expired.)
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