Page 4424 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
local services. The ACT government has invested significantly in the new infrastructure plan in Canberra’s north in recent years to support the growth of the community there, including delivering stage 1 of light rail, building and expanding eight schools, mending major roads like Gundaroo Drive and Horse Park Drive and upgrading community facilities in Gungahlin town centre. We are now further building upon this work.
The ACT infrastructure plan will deliver a new primary school in Throsby and the expansion of Franklin Early Childhood School and Gold Creek School. The government will continue to support growth in enrolments across Gungahlin by expanding capacity at Amaroo, Gold Creek and Neville Bonner for a further 500 students. A new high school in Kenny will also be opened to provide places for around 1,000 students in years 7 to 10. The new high school will help provide more capacity as the Gungahlin community grows. It will open in 2023. The plan also presents major intersection improvements and a new community centre in Gungahlin.
The ACT government recognises that with Canberra’s population shifting to the north, further investment is needed in local hospital and healthcare facilities. The new University of Canberra Hospital opened in 2018 as Canberra’s first specialist rehabilitation hospital, and we have also invested significantly to upgrade Calvary Public Hospital in recent years. This has included expanding the emergency department and investing more in theatre and surgery so that Calvary can help meet increased targets for elective surgery delivery across the ACT health system.
As north Canberra grows, we are also prioritising essential infrastructure works in the growing suburbs of Taylor, Jacka and Kenny in this plan to ensure that those suburbs are ready for existing and new residents.
Canberra is a wonderfully unique place to live, and it is important that we get growth right. The ACT government is working to ensure that we have the infrastructure that we need in the city. I will be working to ensure that we maintain Canberra’s unique lifestyle and character in that process. (Time expired.)
Walk the Border fundraiser
MS LEE (Kurrajong) (6.25): On the slightly overcast morning of 5 October, Mr Rattenbury, Mr Gupta, Ms Le Couteur, Miss C Burch and I joined 27 dedicated walkers and friends to wish Rod Griffiths, the president of the Conservation Council, well on his second Walk the Border fundraiser. The walk is to raise funds for the Conservation Council to support the dedicated work of its staff and volunteers, with participants asked to get sponsors to support them with $1 for each kilometre walked.
My colleagues and I were invited to attend any stage of the walk over the following three weeks, so Josh in my office managed to convince me to come along on the five kilometre CEO loop walk 18 weeks after having given birth to my daughter. “Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s comparatively flat,” he said. With the walk starting at Mulligans Flat, I guess we were all lulled into a sense of security.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video