Page 4125 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 22 October 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The government is committed to providing ACT Policing and the ACT Emergency Services Agency with the support they need to allow the staff to do what they do so well: protect the community and keep it safe.
MS CODY: Minister, how is the infrastructure plan helping to protect the Molonglo Valley and other areas of my electorate of Murrumbidgee?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Ms Cody for the question. Our police and emergency services staff play an important role in making the ACT such a livable city. As the population grows beyond half a million people in the next decade, we know that a well-thought-out plan is needed to ensure that all Canberrans have appropriate access to police and emergency services.
In the member’s electorate, the suburbs of Wright, Coombs, Denman Prospect and Whitlam are anticipated to have 35,000 Canberrans by 2030. So the government is committed to keeping pace with what that will mean for the demand on police and emergency services. Our investment in new infrastructure will play an important role in keeping police, ambulance and firefighter response times among the best in the nation. Due diligence and preliminary design are underway for the new station in the Molonglo Valley, with funding provided in this year’s budget.
Canberrans in Murrumbidgee and across Canberra will also benefit from the government’s investment of almost $34 million in ACT Policing, which will see more members of ACT Policing on our streets.
The admiration the community has for our police officers and emergency services staff is truly justified. The reputation of these services can only be enhanced by the investment that the government will continue to make to help them keep doing the remarkable work they do each day.
Transport—public
MR PARTON: My question is to the Minister for Planning and Land Management. Minister, in question time on 25 September, you said:
The vision, if you can call it that, from the Leader of the Opposition is an outdated dream for all Canberrans to live in outer suburbs and drive to work …
Minister, do you live in an outer suburb and do you drive to work?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Mr Parton for his question, because it does go to the future planning of the ACT, and the best way to provide infrastructure and housing for the territory in the most economical way, while also looking at the wellbeing of Canberrans. In regard to my commute to work, I do drive. I would not say that my suburb is an outer suburb. It is certainly a southern suburb in Tuggeranong. I love my suburb. I moved there in 1999. It is a fantastic place to live. It is a little more inner than Mr Parton’s suburb.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video