Page 3467 - Week 08 - Thursday, 23 August 2012
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government putting in?” And when they say, “Well, the government is putting in a declining amount every year,” then sponsors say, “If the government doesn’t value it, why should we?”
I would urge the government to look at its funding for the active kids challenge. It is important that we get the basics right for our kids, that we instil that attitude regarding fitness, health and participation. It really is something that should be dear to the hearts of everybody in this place, but apparently it is not dear to the heart of the government.
MS LE COUTEUR (Molonglo) (9.01): The Economic Development Directorate is a very important part of the ACT government as it is the directorate which has most to do with developing how and where we head economically. And arguably, from that point of view, it has the most to do with how the ACT will change into the future.
I am very pleased to have represented the ACT Greens as spokesperson in this portfolio over the last four years. The Greens recognise that we do need economic development, and this development must take place in a way which builds for a long-term, sustainable future. We must ensure as best we can that our economic activity now does not lead to more problems—any problems, preferably—in the future.
It is not always easy to know how change will occur, but we do know that change will occur. Canberra is changing. What we need to do is ensure that its changes lead to it being resilient to a number of external changes and other changes—cultural changes, economic changes, climatic changes and social changes. We need to look at the form of the city and how we can live there. It may possibly be denser. We need to look at how we can access the essential resources of life—food, water, fresh air and a thriving and healthy natural ecosystem around us. In the ACT the Economic Development Directorate is right in the middle of dealing with all these issues.
The Economic Development Directorate, EDD, has the objective of facilitating the territory’s economic development while balancing economic, social and environmental considerations. It does this through business development and support, land release and development, major public works, some territory venues and some major community and tourism events. I will not talk on all these areas this evening, but I do want to briefly touch on some issues.
The first is the city to Gungahlin project office. The establishment of this new office, I very much hope, is a positive step towards dealing with some of the emerging traffic problems in Canberra. It starts with Northbourne Avenue, which is the most congested road in Canberra. This is expected to get worse as Gungahlin continues to grow. The congestion in Northbourne Avenue leads to problems throughout the inner north, with rat running through the suburbs and considerable inconvenience to both inner north and Gungahlin residents.
The budget includes the good first step of funding a dedicated team which will work with ESDD, LDA, TAMS and Housing ACT as well as local residents and the broader community to deal with the transit problems between the city and Gungahlin. We very much hope that the government will soon be releasing its revised costings on transit options for this corridor and we very much look forward to these costings
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