Page 1143 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 2 April 2019
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We have undertaken to review the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act, and I look forward to presenting the outcome of this review to the Assembly later in the year. I will be working with our community to ensure that we are inclusive of all beliefs, whether religious, cultural or personal, when it comes to burial and cremation.
The ACT government is also committed to fairness in access to services and ensuring that service providers are held to account where they fail to meet the standards expected by our community. To ensure that we are catering to the needs of the whole community and to make sure all Canberrans can access burials close to home, the government has announced that work has begun to deliver the southern memorial park.
The ACT government is committed to keeping Canberrans connected. That is why, as our city grows, we are investing in better roads and upgrading our intersections to keep the city moving. Last week I announced that the ACT government and the commonwealth government have invested in the first of a broad range of works to improve the Monaro Highway.
I am committed to seeing a more efficient and safer road network, one on which Canberrans, particularly those commuting from Tuggeranong along the Monaro Highway, can travel uninterrupted. We have an ambition to deliver an upgraded speed limit of 100 kilometres an hour along the Monaro Highway by designing new grade separated intersections.
We are also continuing to deliver on a range of infrastructure projects. The second stage of the Gundaroo Drive duplication is well underway. The detailed design of the duplication of William Slim Drive has commenced. Work is beginning on improving a number of intersections across the territory, particularly in the Belconnen area. We are working with the federal government to make significant improvements to travel time on roads on the south side as well, including the Monaro Highway.
Conversely, while we have been getting on with the job of delivering better roads that Canberrans need, we have also been advocating against the roads that they do not need. It is disappointing that the federal government has refused to remove Monash Drive from the National Capital Plan. I will work with whichever government forms power at the upcoming election to give certainty to Canberrans, particularly in the inner north, that this unnecessary and environmentally damaging road will never be built.
As we are delivering for the community, the ACT government are committed to ensuring that our own workforce is inclusive and treated fairly. Many areas, particularly in Transport Canberra and City Services, have traditionally been dominated by a single gender. I am committed to ensuring that we remove barriers and promote opportunities for an inclusive workforce.
We are also working with unions and the workforce to ensure that employment with the ACT government is secure employment. TCCS has a disproportionate share of the ACT government’s temporary and casual workforce. I look forward to updating the Assembly on the delivery of more secure, permanent jobs. That is what a progressive government does.
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