Page 2316 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 17 August 1993
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The reference group, in working towards the goal of outlining a preferred future, is personally very pleasing. I would not have wanted to see this task degenerate into a list of optional components, with no discernible action plans to bring them to fruition. Instead, the chair of the reference group, and I assume the group members as well, have taken on the larger task of committing themselves to producing an actual view of 2020, a place where we can see the social, environmental, community and economic landscape. I acknowledge that the vision may not be totally realised and that other, more exciting options may present themselves, or that we may be affected by factors outside the ACT. I look forward next week to seeing the preferred future produced by this process.
I also hope that, following its tabling in the Assembly, the report of the 2020 reference group will lie on the table for a period to allow the Canberra community, which after all is going to be asked to work towards this preferred future, to fully comprehend the nature and scope of the vision. I accept that there has been much community consultation in the reference group's methodology. This has been welcomed by me and many people who have contributed to the process. However, if we feel that it is worth while asking for opinions as to how Canberra should progress towards 2020, we should also ask for opinions on the final proposal. I am sure that the Government has in mind some mechanism to allow such a function to continue after the report is delivered. I look forward to hearing, I expect when the final report is delivered, how the Government will become the keeper of the 2020 vision and how it will be incorporated into existing government processes. Madam Speaker, as I said at the outset, I am delighted at the way the task is being undertaken. I have no more to say, other than thank you to the reference group members for their undoubtedly tireless efforts on behalf of the current and future residents of the ACT.
MR WESTENDE (9.03): Madam Speaker, I will be brief, but I could not let an opportunity like this slip by. I am a pragmatist, and for us to look 30 years in advance is probably more than we can absorb. I have said on previous occasions that it is great to sit around and dream about what things will be like in 30 years' time. I can see merit in this exercise; but, at the risk of being repetitive, I must say that I fail to see how a government that fails dismally to come to grips with things as they are can come to terms with something that is 30 years hence.
The future has a heck of a lot to do with what we do now, not what we are going to do. To this extent, I must say that I am very sceptical about this Canberra in the Year 2020 study, full stop. If we allow unemployment levels to continue, what the future holds is misery and hopelessness for a great many people - people, not things. I am not talking about 30 years hence. I notice that the Government has not approached the 2020 study with 20:20 vision. The Opposition is not represented on the reference group, so the question of balance in the outcome is doubtful. We could say that 28 of the next 30 years will be governed by the Liberals and, as such, there will be different ideologies influencing the thinking. There will be greater freedom of thought and greater incentives for individual achievement.
What I am saying is that all we can do is set very special objectives for the future 30 years away. For instance, the computer world can hardly keep up with the developments that occur now, let alone contemplate what is going to happen five years from now. All these kinds of developments will have a lot of bearing on our work, our lifestyles, our freedom, our mobility, et cetera.
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