Page 5183 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 28 November 2017
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Valedictory
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Urban Renewal) (6.37): Over the past year, the directorates that serve this government have worked extremely hard and extremely effectively, and I rise today to thank them for the great work they do.
Firstly, I want to acknowledge the excellent work that both ACT Policing and our Justice and Community Safety Directorate do. Both the police and our directorate do an excellent job in keeping our community safe. As minister responsible for these services, I am fortunate enough to see the achievements of the directorate on a daily basis, achievements that are not always immediately evident to the community.
Likewise, the ESA has this year shown its continued dedication to protecting the safety of all Canberrans. This year, ESA’s work has ranged from fitting all ESA vehicles with automatic external defibrillators to launching the new SouthCare rescue helicopter fitted with the latest aviation safety technology.
The Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate has also been hard at work. I will give some short examples of the projects and ongoing initiatives that EPSDD has been part of this year. Being such a large directorate, it would be difficult to list all of the great work they do in a short time. Since the beginning of the year, EPSDD has introduced more quolls into the Mulligans Flat sanctuary; they are now adjusted to their new home and getting on very well. The directorate has put Canberra heritage on show at one of the region’s most successful heritage festivals. The festival drew one of its largest crowds this year, with events such as the Majura bush festival and Gungahlin homestead tour. Both the ACT government and EPSDD are working to raise awareness for the health of our waterways through the H2OK healthy waterways project. This represents just a handful of the examples of the great work our directorates do, and I want to thank the men and women of all ACT government directorates for their continued dedication to their roles.
I want to take this opportunity to thank my office for the fantastic work they have done this year, too. I will start by congratulating Dan on his new role as a father. He is doing a great job as the COS, and the team appreciate his knowledge on all things economics. Look out at budget cabinet, Mr Treasurer.
Bethel is my senior adviser for EPSDD; she took up the role as acting COS while Dan was on paternity leave. I appreciate her sage advice on all things planning; the knowledge gained from working with Simon Corbell and her engineering skills have helped the office immensely. Frances is my police, ESA and MGB adviser. She has a wide range of knowledge on all things legal and even more on sci-fi things.
Kim is our dedicated DLO for EPSDD. She is incredibly tenacious in ensuring that every i is dotted and every t is crossed on our corro and briefs. I should mention that it is only three more days until the festival of Kim. Gail is our ESA DLO and has a keen eye on the rule of law. She even quotes acts and regulations off the top of her head
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