Page 4406 - Week 12 - Thursday, 26 October 2017
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the flu season in the most significant way, through very unwell family members or indeed the loss of family members. It is a reminder to us all of the significant impact that the flu can have on our community.
In June we made it safer for pregnant mums to carry their babies, with whooping cough vaccinations made available, including through approved pharmacies. Whooping cough has devastating effects on small babies and their families, which is why we took steps to make it easier to get immunised without having to make an appointment to see your GP.
It was with enormous pride that in September we opened the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm, which has been designed with our Indigenous community as a place for healing and spiritual growth to help our First Peoples recover, reset their lives and return to their families and community stronger and better equipped to face life’s challenges. Seeing the emotion and feeling of achievement on the faces of our Indigenous elders and leaders brought home to me the ability to create real change through this place.
Often within our health system the focus is on what happens in our hospitals and clinics—the tertiary services and community-based services that help people when they are sick or hurt. That is always going to be a focus for government, but we also know that it is important to look more broadly at prevention and lifestyle to help Canberrans live active and healthy lives. My new title as Minister for Health and Wellbeing, announced earlier this year, demonstrates how committed the government is to thinking about the health of Canberrans in a more holistic way. We are backing that thinking up with a $4 million funding pool for preventative health activities to be delivered as part of our election commitment for a preventative health strategy.
I am excited about this work because I believe it will create more and better pathways for Canberrans to live longer, healthier and better quality lives. Over the next year this work will be a strong focus and I look forward to holding the second preventative health forum in early November. I also look forward to progressing the initiatives noted above, as well as ensuring that our national health reform and funding arrangements, in the interests of Canberrans, are advanced through the COAG health council, which I have the honour of chairing for the next 12 months.
For a long time Canberra has been a city where the majority of our residents get around by car, but I am pleased to say that over the past 12 months we have made great progress towards delivering an integrated public transport system that provides a real alternative as well as better active travel infrastructure to help more Canberrans combine their daily commute with exercise. With tracks being laid on stage 1 of the light rail network as we speak, we have also started the scoping work on stage 2. This has included seeking the community’s views and priorities for the proposed routes as well as starting work on the detailed technical and design work that has to underpin a major infrastructure project like this. We have also started discussions with the NCA and other commonwealth stakeholders that will be critical to seeing this important project succeed.
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