Page 3846 - Week 10 - Thursday, 27 August 2009

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The AMC is a 300-bed facility with various accommodation options available, including cell blocks, domestic-style cottages, a medical centre and crisis support unit, a 14-bed management unit and a transitional release centre. Male, female, remand and sentenced prisoners from low to high security classifications can be accommodated at the facility. The centre is designed in an open campus style with accommodation units around a town square. Included within the AMC are health, education and programs buildings, which all support and provide appropriate rehabilitation and learning opportunities for inmates.

Bimberi is a 40-bed facility catering for children and young offenders, providing a new direction for the care of young people in the youth justice system. The facility is built on the philosophy of assisting children and young people to maximise their potential, within positive and supportive environments, and to become valued members of the community by enhancing meaningful opportunities for rehabilitation and learning.

Providing quality educational facilities ensures that our teachers have appropriate settings to assist them in facilitating first-class learning experiences for our children and young adults. Improved education outcomes will be delivered through our recently completed schools projects, including Harrison school and the Kingsford Smith school at west Belconnen.

In addition, significant upgrades and refurbishments—as members will be well aware—have been completed at preschools, primary and secondary schools and higher education facilities, along with substantial works moving forward as part of building the education revolution projects. Improvements have also been made to public libraries with a number of upgrades completed—and this will interest members—and 63,195 new books purchased.

The arts, culture and historical places all play an important role in making Canberra a vibrant, diverse and memorable place to visit. ArtsACT, through the per cent for art scheme, commissioned several new pieces—in Gungahlin Linear Park, on Yarra Glen in Woden and on the foreshore of Lake Tuggeranong. It commissioned the Mal Meninga statue at Canberra Stadium, Rain Pools at Clare Holland House and the Harmonies sculpture at Melba shops.

We have also completed upgrades to many of our arts facilities, cultural and historic places, including the Gorman House Arts Centre, Ainslie and Watson arts centres, the Canberra Theatre, the Playhouse, and several museums and galleries which all support tourism and promote the arts and heritage throughout the territory and our region.

An important feasibility study has been completed that explores options for improvements to the Melbourne and Sydney buildings and surrounding areas. This project provides a blueprint to restore and rejuvenate these historically significant buildings to their former glory.

The sustainability of our great city is an important objective for this government, and we achieved a number of important outcomes during 2008-09, including progress towards the establishment of the ACT’s first solar farm, a significant number of tree


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