Page 3619 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 13 September 2017
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Certainly the work done on that petition assisted us in getting the final wording of this motion together.
I would also like to make mention of my Labor colleague Mr Steel, who I understand will be tabling the petition on this matter in some weeks. There are not enough occasions in this place during which we all stand as one and support a particular direction, and I would like to think that this will be one of them. Thanks also to Minister Fitzharris and her office for engaging with us last night and again today regarding this motion and possible amendments. It was a pleasure dealing with Blair and also with the minister. Although in the end we did not come to agreement on amending the original motion, I look forward to getting to these amendments and ultimately to us all standing side by side to get this done.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee) (12.12): Oscar Wilde once said that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness”, and I suppose I am flattered that Mr Parton has brought before the Assembly an issue which members on this side of the chamber have been championing for some time. If the Canberra Liberals want to see some more success for their party in future elections then getting ideas from the Labor Party is a good place to start.
The Liberals committed zero dollars to Kambah at the election, so I am not surprised that they are now looking to us for the sort of leadership that has seen a transformation, with upgrades underway at Kambah Village, upgrades to Kambah’s public toilets, a new bus stop on the blue rapid route in Kambah and Athllon Drive, footpath improvements in Kambah and the green bins rolled out in Kambah. I know that the Liberals do not support all of those initiatives, particularly green bins, but, quite seriously, it is excellent to see the Canberra Liberals onside with us on the idea of improving accesses to Mount Taylor nature park.
My colleague Bec Cody and former Labor candidate Angie Drake ran a petition on this issue during the ACT election campaign last year. As Mr Parton has acknowledged, I am presently sponsoring an Assembly e-petition on behalf of Canberra residents who would like to demonstrate the community’s support for traffic improvements around Mount Taylor, particularly near the intersection with Mannheim Street and Sulwood Drive.
The wording of the petition is almost this motion verbatim, and if the e-petition reaches over the 500 mark it will be presented to the Assembly, hopefully on 28 November, with the petition referred to the relevant committee and to the Minister for Transport and City Services for consideration and a response. I am sure it will get close to that mark, with the hard copy sitting on the windowsill down at the beloved Biginelli’s cafe on Mannheim Street, at the shops. I look forward to speaking on the matter again in detail rather than pre-empting it today. I think these petitions can be very powerful when they come to us, because they help the community to promulgate and think about the issues they want addressed. They demonstrate public support and come directly from the community as well.
Mount Taylor is a fantastic natural asset attracting thousands of people from Kambah, the surrounding community and across Canberra. I grew up and have lived by the
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