Page 277 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 December 2008
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was the annual overcrowding of our little town by the influx of tourists from Canberra at Christmastime. Little did we know that that source of tourists would soon become our home.
Again supported by my mother’s wisdom and courage, I competed for and won a scholarship to attend Canberra Grammar School. Our little family moved up the Clyde to start a new life in Canberra. We settled in Richardson, at that time the most outer suburb of Canberra. There were no shops in the suburb back then, simply the “blue bus” providing the daily conveniences of life.
That was 1984, and since then Canberra has become part of my soul. Our family stayed, I went to university here, made many friends, met my wife here and started my career here. After nearly five years working overseas, I have returned this year to the place that I call home.
Canberra is a wonderful city to live in. As a triathlete, I have cycled, swum and run through much of our city over the years. It has given me a wonderful perspective on the place, one that makes me feel very privileged. I have always thought that one of the best aspects of our city is being able to head out the front door and in a short time go for a long run though one of our nature parks, through the grassy woodlands, under the flight path of the rosellas and cockatoos, past the families of kangaroos. Just two weeks ago I saw an echidna behind Mount Ainslie late one afternoon—an inspiring reminder of our status as the bush capital.
As someone who grew up at the beach, however, I have to say that if only Canberra were physically located by the ocean it would be absolutely perfect!
But, despite all of those wonderful attributes, Canberra is a city of great contrast, and we have much to do to improve it.
In August this year, the commissioner for the environment released the ACT State of the Environment Report 2007/08. The commissioner stated bluntly in the first sentence of her press release:
Canberrans are consuming natural resources at an unsustainable rate.
That is a stark observation and a fact that this Assembly must address. The ACT is the most wasteful jurisdiction in Australia, with each of us spending an average $1,475 per year on unused items. Our waste stream is a wonder to behold, although not of the good variety. In the 12 years from 1994-95 to 2006-07 our total waste increased by 87 per cent, during which time our population grew by 10 per cent—a striking comparison.
And as Canberra families struggle to deal with the economic downturn this means that many other Canberrans can look at how they spend their money, whether they are buying things they do not really need and choose instead to help others who are in need. There are 16,000 households in Canberra in the lowest Australian income group. By choosing to change our habits, by becoming a sustainable city, we have a better chance to help them as well as the environment.
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