Page 313 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 December 2016
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It is vital that we also foster the strong and vibrant communities of our city. Thriving communities bring people together to build great cities, and despite our differences all of us here in this place can agree on the importance of our local community to Canberra’s future.
I want to help shape a city that we can be proud of, to show off to our visiting family and friends as well as visitors. I want to see a city that offers endless opportunities. I want Canberra to represent who we are locally and also represent who we are as Australians.
I would also like to pay tribute to our growing ageing community. We must recognise the needs and expectations of those residents and respect the contributions they can continue to make to our community and the local economy. They should never be treated as a burden.
In my own electorate of Yerrabi, the Gungahlin town centre suffers from low patronage caused by locals travelling elsewhere for work. A focus on more local employment opportunities is key to stimulating additional commercial development in the town centre. I welcome Senator Zed Seselja’s efforts in securing a federal office block in Gungahlin, thus providing another potential 300 to 600 jobs. In concert with the philosophy of Canberra being comprised of vibrant town centres, Gungahlin needs an updated master plan to give Gungahlin businesses the confidence that government is focused on investing in our local town centres.
Gungahlin needs better infrastructure, better local amenities, better access to our local waterways, more visitor accommodation and aged care facilities. I welcome the recent opening of the new K-Mart centre in Gungahlin. However there is still a need for greater diversification of its retail base. Improved local social amenities are also important, thus the need for indoor sporting facilities, a town or district hall, an entertainment precinct on the Yerrabi pond foreshores and a focus on facilities for the growing youth population.
I am very proud to carry on the fight that Vicki Dunne and Alistair Coe started in standing up for the forgotten suburbs of Belconnen. For too long the suburbs of Kaleen, McKellar, Giralang and Evatt have been waiting at the banquet table of this Labor government for the proverbial scrap of meat to fall their way. For too long, local residents have been ignored by this government. During my service as a member for Yerrabi I will continue the Canberra Liberals’ passion and desire to bring government focus back to the forgotten suburbs of the ACT.
I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the many people who helped in my campaign and to all those people in our community for putting their trust and faith in me to represent their passions and interests in this Legislative Assembly. I would like to acknowledge a few of the many friends and supporters in our community who helped me during this election which started well in advance of party pre-selection in April. I received a fantastic level of support from many within our party and our community, for which I am thankful.
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