Page 2822 - Week 08 - Thursday, 11 August 2016
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MS FITZHARRIS (Molonglo—Minister for Higher Education, Training and Research, Minister for Transport Canberra and City Services and Assistant Minister for Health) (7.45): I welcome the opportunity this evening to speak about the importance of the Transport Canberra and City Services portfolio for the development, growth and maintenance of our wonderful city, to remind members of Transport Canberra and City Services’ priorities and to reconfirm the ACT government’s commitment, through this budget, to successfully continue to deliver quality city services to the people of Canberra.
The ACT government is committed to delivering the great local services our growing Canberra population needs and making it easier for us to move around our city. The 2016-17 budget supports transport reform to improve commuter options whilst also offering record funding for city services to ensure the look of our city will continue to match the pride we feel in it.
The newly formed Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate wants Canberra to remain the world’s most livable city by providing connected services for the people of Canberra. From 1 July this year this new directorate has a renewed focus, heralding a chance to offer more innovative service delivery with the experience of the customer firmly in the front of the mind of everyone delivering the services.
The work of the directorate influences not only the everyday lives of the residents of Canberra but also those who travel into Canberra from across our region. Whether you are catching a bus, having a barbecue at the local park, taking out the rubbish or taking the dog for a walk, Transport Canberra and City Services touches our lives through these essential services and local facilities every day. This budget will see the ACT government continuing to deliver the services that Canberrans rely on. This includes our libraries, waste and recycling services, mowing in our suburbs, graffiti removal, infrastructure maintenance, the amenity of our local shops and playground equipment and many more.
Through this budget we have committed to improving public transport outcomes and delivering a vision for public transport that is convenient, efficient, affordable, reliable and, more importantly, integrated. What it means is moving people around our city more quickly and more comfortably. This includes the development and delivery of Transport Canberra’s light rail, now in the construction phase and on track to commence operations in late 2018. The first sod was turned last month and work is progressing well on the depot at Mitchell.
The budget also supports the building, planning and maintenance of many of the government's infrastructure assets such as roads, bridges, cycling and walking paths and our streetlight network. The work of the Capital Linen Service, ACT NoWaste, the Yarralumla Nursery and the ACT Public Cemeteries Authority also demonstrates the range of responsibilities and services TCCS oversees across our city every day. I have been proud to have responsibility for a truly unique and diverse range of services delivered by one directorate over the past six months, and I am very proud of the hard work all staff do every day to keep our city running.
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