Page 3473 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 22 August 2018
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reduce congestion between Gungahlin and Belconnen. This will include approximately 3.2 kilometres of new carriageways, 6.4 kilometres of new cycle lanes, and a new bridge over Ginninderra Creek. This will see the entire length of the road between Gungahlin and Belconnen duplicated to improve access between these two growing regions.
We will also invest over $8 million to upgrade Belconnen intersections at Ginninderra Drive and Tillyard Drive, and Tillyard Drive and Lhotsky Street, as well as Kuringa Drive and Owen Dixon Drive. Installing traffic lights and upgrading each of these key intersections will make commuting faster and safer for thousands of drivers who use these roads every day, including me. These are, of course, areas that I have campaigned on, as have many people in this place—my own colleagues and, more recently, those opposite. There are areas where we continue to build on the work that we are doing to build our community as the community has learned about the different things that we are funding.
Other budget measures for Ginninderra include the new Belconnen bikeway and an expansion of the Belconnen Arts Centre and Lake Ginninderra boardwalk. I know Mr Ramsay is working with the Belconnen Arts Centre and the community out there to make sure that that upgrade and expansion goes well.
There are the Calvary Public Hospital Bruce upgrades, including an expanded ED and upgrade of the mental health unit; the establishment of a future skills academy, with two hubs at the University of Canberra and University of Canberra Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra; and a greater investment in mowing, weeding, graffiti removal and cleaning up our local waterways as well as tree trimming.
In education this year we continue to invest in new and expanded schools, the recruitment of more teachers, and enhancing learning opportunities to continue to strengthen our already world-class education system. We have also recognised the importance of early childhood education and the difference it can make to a child’s life in promoting equity and quality learning opportunities for our children.
Members will recall that earlier this year I announced work towards a model for the phased implementation of free quality early childhood education for three-year-old children in the ACT. This year—just last week, in fact—I was pleased to release the future of education strategy, which was the culmination of work that heard from around 5,000 individuals across Canberra from school communities, including parents and carers, from teachers and students, as well as from community organisations and the broader community, to set the direction for the future of education in the ACT for the next 10 years.
In the schools that deliver that education, the government has continued to invest where it is needed. Over the last two budgets—2017-18 and 2018-19—the ACT government has provided around a quarter of a billion dollars in capital works funding for education. The 2017-18 budget provided $117 million in capital works infrastructure funding for education. The major works included $85 million in funding for public school infrastructure upgrades and $24.1 million for expanding schools in Gungahlin. The 2018-19 budget provided $133.5 million in capital works funding,
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