Page 1049 - Week 04 - Thursday, 22 April 2021
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evidence-based way, and we make no apologies for that. There is significant information about some of the outcomes from this particular program, and we would be happy to share that with the shadow spokesperson.
Finally, we are also investing in protecting and promoting Canberra’s heritage. The ACT Heritage database and website are in need of updating to protect our heritage assets. I am happy that $60,000 has been allocated in this financial year to kickstart this process.
The Heritage Festival, now in its 38th year, is an iconic and popular event that we continue to support. This year more than 160 diverse events have been taking place over the Canberra region. Given that the festival raises the awareness of the ongoing need to conserve our natural, historic and First Nations heritage, we are extremely proud to continue to support this.
I am also proud to support the ACT branch of the National Trust, with $75,000 allocated in the 2020-21 financial year to support their important work in fostering the knowledge of, and conserving, places and objects that are significant to our heritage.
There are many more projects that I could talk about if I had more time, but I hope this has provided a snapshot of the activities that exemplify how we are improving our environment, the standard of our buildings and the general wellbeing of our community.
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (11.02): I am pleased to speak reasonably briefly on the Appropriation Bill 2020-2021, as many of my colleagues have already covered off the major points. What I am, of course, interested in is the effect on my electorate of Brindabella. We are very lucky in Brindabella. We have Namadgi National Park and the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve—a very large area which is very beautiful, attractive and usable for our residents, and residents from all over Canberra.
One of the things I am most interested in, and I have been interested in over the last eight years that I have been in this Assembly, and before that, is the water quality issues in Lake Tuggeranong. Just like me, residents of Tuggeranong care very deeply about their lake. They see it as the jewel in the crown of Tuggeranong. Whilst many of our lakes, ponds and waterways were man-made and designed to capture sediment on the way through, there is also very much an amenity aspect to the lake, especially with Lake Tuggeranong, which is right in the middle of our town centre, and accessible by everyone. All through the week, you see people walking their dogs, with their families, cycling, and very much utilising the area around Lake Tuggeranong.
Residents want to be proud of the lake, but for years now we have had terrible algal blooms and poor water quality plaguing the area. We have had beaches closed due to the blue-green algae and other bacterial blooms in the area. Greenway residents especially have experienced the smell from the blue-green algae. In fact, in January this year a resident phoned me to say they would have to leave their house for the day because the smell was intolerable and giving them headaches.
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