Page 2134 - Week 06 - Thursday, 8 June 2017
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The government has committed $2.8 million to strengthen community consultation through deliberative democracy strategies, including running a trial citizens jury process in the next year. We applaud this progress. However, we note that for this trial to be successful, the issue that the citizens jury is asked to examine must itself be meaningful to the community. We need to ensure that the citizens jury explores a contentious issue on which the community wants to be heard. It would be useful to get clear community feedback on the first topic for the citizens jury trial. The government also needs to either commit to supporting the findings of any citizens jury or clearly explain the extent of influence that the citizens jury may have over any government decision from the outset, so that we do not see a repeat of the situation that has played out in South Australia.
The Greens believe that today’s community has a responsibility to ensure that the environment is protected for future generations and takes real climate action. As our city grows, we want to ensure that it is sustainable: as well as investing in fast and convenient public transport, we must protect our natural environment and promote natural spaces in our town centres and urban areas.
We are pleased that this year’s budget commits more new funds to public transport than to roads, something we have worked very hard to turn around over the years, as we believe that smart investments in public transport will truly transform Canberra. This budget also continues investment in cycling and walking upgrades, including the much-needed Belconnen bikeway.
As both a former transport minister and former education minister, I am particularly pleased about the funding for safer walking and cycling around schools: infrastructure which contributes to both sustainability and the safety of children, some of our most vulnerable road users.
The ACT is leading the nation in our commitment to climate change mitigation. We are on track to reach our goal of 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2020 and are progressing our blueprint to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest. This budget includes $1.9 million for delivering the climate change adaptation strategy and $550,000 for community grants to undertake zero net emissions projects, ensuring that individuals and community groups are supported to develop programs and projects that contribute to Canberra’s ambitious climate action.
We believe the ACT should lead the nation in waste management once again by reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. The Greens have long called for a container deposit scheme in the ACT to help improve recycling rates and reduce litter across Canberra. We are pleased to see that the funds for that to progress are contained in this year’s budget. We welcome the funding to implement the waste recovery and resource management act, which will improve data collection across the waste sector and help to divert recyclable and reusable resources from landfill. We look forward to working with the government on further waste management initiatives following release of the waste feasibility study later this year.
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