Page 2964 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 6 August 2008
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Mr Speaker, the road was designed to be duplicated, and given there are now over 20,000 people using the road daily it is time, as we have announced, to commence the process for the duplication of the GDE. We have committed, as people know, $83 million, or at least there is an $83 million capacity within the budget, in the $1 billion infrastructure fund that is a feature of the budget just delivered. That is a provision, and I think this is a point that has been misunderstood certainly by the Liberal Party in this place, that is over and above just the standard or normal rolling capital budget that is a feature of any budget within the ACT.
We have also committed $18 million for a new community health centre at Gungahlin in direct response to the needs of this growing community. Of course, Mr Speaker, that $18 million committed for a new community health centre at Gungahlin is simply $18 million out of a $1 billion health enhancement project. It is a complete re-jig and re-build of health capital infrastructure in the ACT, the first $300 million of which has been provided for in the budget just passed by the Assembly.
That $18 million for a new community health centre for Gungahlin is just the first $18 million of a first $300 million which has already been committed or provided for out of $1 billion which we anticipate investing in health capital and facilities within the ACT over the next 10 years.
In addition, we are investing heavily in quality education services in Gungahlin. The schools in Gungahlin feature excellent standards of teaching and learning and high quality facilities. The Amaroo school opened in 2004 and features a renewable energy system that uses solar hot water panels, in-slab heating, roof-mounted PV cells and a wind turbine to generate electricity. The school also has large water storage tanks to collect stormwater for recycling within the school.
We have invested over $23 million in the development of Harrison primary school, which opened in 2006. We have a $1.5 million school upgrade program running over four years for improved school facilities in Gungahlin. We have also committed $67 million to the development of the proposed Gungahlin college, and our last budget provided additional funding for a feasibility study for a possible Harrison high school, plus we have allocated $27.7 million in fibre optic technology to every school in the ACT.
This is all part of our commitment to providing state-of-the-art schools and quality education. We are ensuring that young families have access to affordable and well-located housing through our land release programs in new suburbs like Bonner. Our 15 per cent housing affordability targets will be met in this new development and the own place program will be delivered in partnership with the private sector to benefit low to moderate income earners wishing to make the move to home ownership.
In June this year we announced the release of 2,200 sites for home developments and the first 114 blocks were released by ballot on 28 June in the suburb of Bonner. Mr Speaker, these new residents of Bonner will be part of the Gungahlin community by late 2009 and will enjoy housing that is well-designed, family friendly and environmentally sustainable. Over time the population of Bonner will reach approximately 6,000.
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