Page 5207 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 29 November 2017
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themselves progressive, but true progress can only occur with an accurate understanding of where weaknesses lie, otherwise those weaknesses rot and fester and eventually bring ruin down upon the innocent.
It is not speaking negatively that poses a risk to this city of ours. A far greater risk would be for Mr Pettersson to get his wish and silence the criticism that is the only engine that will ever take this territory forward. For this reason alone, I feel compelled today to stand up and speak out. I am not afraid of this government’s totalitarian tendencies and I will not be supporting this motion.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (10.32): I am pleased to support the motion that is on the notice paper today, as opposed to the one Mrs Kikkert just spoke to.
There are good reasons to be positive about Canberra, and Mr Pettersson has highlighted a number of those key matters. Certainly I think Canberra is a jurisdiction that is willing to embrace change, to move forward, to be a progressive city and to realise the ambitions and aspirations of many of our citizens. The matters highlighted in Mr Pettersson’s motion reflect on our citizens as much as they do on this place. As someone who has lived here quite a long time, I feel that in recent years Canberra has really come out of itself, that there is a pride in this city. That has probably always been there under the surface but there is a greater confidence about it these days.
I have always felt that the centenary in 2013 unleashed a degree of overt city pride that perhaps was more guarded in years before that, given the way the rest of the country can speak about Canberra at times. Certainly there is an energy about our city these days that is a contrast to what might have been around a decade or two ago when we were a little more self-effacing in the way we thought about our city.
I am excited by the progress that Canberra is making as well because it is a reflection of what our citizens want. As a political party, we represent a range of constituents. We seek to represent their aspirations. As a social movement and as a force for change, we feel that there is a lot of progress being made in tackling issues and setting this city up for the future.
Climate change is one area that the Greens have always focused on, and Canberra is developing an outstanding reputation as a leader in action on climate change. It has been a long time getting to this point. I was reflecting recently on the history of that. It was over 20 years ago, in 1996, that my former colleague Kerrie Tucker called on the ACT government to develop a greenhouse gas reduction target specifically for the territory. The point she made then, and it remains relevant today, was that despite being a relatively small jurisdiction the ACT could have a great impact. Canberra could set a new benchmark for action on climate change, both at home and abroad. This saw the ACT set its first emissions reduction targets.
When the ACT Greens won the balance of power in 2008 we negotiated with the Labor Party and used our influence to ensure, through the parliamentary agreement, that we renewed a requirement to legislate for a greenhouse gas reduction target. That was delivered in 2010 with our scientifically based and world-leading climate targets to reduce emissions by 40 per cent by 2020.
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