Page 1534 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 12 August 1992
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MRS CARNELL: Yes, I do. In summary, we no longer need a provision which allows the Minister to make a large percentage of the population submit to radiological examinations or Mantoux tests. Obviously we should not allow the statute books to get cluttered with old laws, out-of-date laws that are no longer needed and that are duplicated in other places. I therefore propose that we repeal the Tuberculosis Act 1950.
Debate (on motion by Mr Berry) adjourned.
URBAN RENEWAL
MR LAMONT (10.35): I move:
That the Assembly note the importance of urban renewal for ensuring the future economic and environmental viability of public services in the Territory.
I have much pleasure this morning in addressing this issue. Madam Speaker, for many years we Canberrans have been involved in long and vigorous debate about the pros and cons of the size and location of Canberra's population. In recent times, however, in some circles this debate has taken on the characteristics more of a joust than of a debate. There seems to be a failure by those arguing for greater densities and those warning against them to recognise that we all share a great pride in our city. Are the past opinions available to us poles apart, or is there a way forward for Canberra's development which will solve our existing and future needs while retaining Canberra's unique way of life? We cannot ignore the fact that Canberra is not immune from the outcome of irresponsible decisions or from the retrograde mentality of not implementing the right ones.
Canberra has been growing over the years by way of extensive greenfield developments which have not taken into account the fact that the city's remaining land is limited and that the demographic characteristics of the population are continuously undergoing a process of change. As a result we are now facing several fronts which require remedial action. The first is a decline in average household size in some of the older urban areas due to the ageing of the population, lower birth rate, divorce or separation and increased longevity. This decline in population, which will continue over the next decade, is more pronounced in the inner suburbs of Canberra, where existing infrastructure still has the capacity to serve a larger number of people. In spite of having an annual growth rate of 3 per cent - the fastest in Australia - the districts of inner North Canberra and inner South Canberra currently have 62,000 residents, well short of even their current capacity of 100,000.
The second result of greenfield developments is the increasing cost to the ACT budget of new capital works and daily provision of services. The third and perhaps most important is the associated environmental cost, which cannot yet be totally envisaged but which is a base cost of the type of greenfield developments that we have had over recent years.
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