Page 447 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 18 March 2014
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from the technology economy—being able to actually access things without an expensive download plan. This will create much fairer access to technology than currently exists in the ACT. We have pockets—if you go to the library you can connect into the free internet there. But this is looking at a much bigger picture than that.
In the same way, we are trying to change the Civic heart, the city plan that we released last week. Again, we are making some very firm statements around what land in the city should be designated for what particular purpose, being clear about that, ending some of those discussions that have happened over a number of years and also making a very firm commitment that we want to build up the city’s heart, that people look to Civic as the centre of Canberra.
Our diverse town centre arrangements mean that a lot of activity happens in other parts of the ACT, but we know Civic and the lake are our strengths. We should be focusing on how that develops and changes over time. That is where projects like city to the lake come in and the importance of them. You saw some announcements yesterday from the Treasurer about some continued early investment in the design work that is to support the city to the lake project.
But then I look more broadly at the University of Canberra public hospital where we look to leverage off the fact that we have to make these investments and how can we do it in a way that supports the growth of other organisations that are important to our economy. Certainly, the higher education sector is. This is where that project can support the continued diversification and growth of the University of Canberra. I know from when I went to China and visited universities that had university hospitals how attractive they are for students to go and study there. So we are looking at those key projects and how we can support them.
These are investments we were going to make, but we are making them with a view to who we can partner with, how we can attract external investment, what changes it will drive in terms of economic growth across the territory and how it will improve community and public benefit to those projects? On every one of them there is a very clear public benefit test.
I am much more optimistic perhaps than some in the city about what the next two years are going to be like. I think they will be tough. There is no doubt about that. But people will look to the ACT government and the ACT Assembly to show leadership at a time when the commonwealth, the big player in town, is reducing its effort. They will look to us for leadership, but I believe that with some of those really big city building projects, with our push to be digital by default, with our partnerships with areas like the university, with some of the work we are doing around Invest Canberra—all of that—we have done the hard work in the lead-up to this.
We have not been sitting around waiting. Now the timing is right to roll out those projects, to speak with confidence and optimism about the city’s future and continue to work with important stakeholders across Canberra—industry groups, unions, communities organisations—to be able to respond where we need to and, if we can, to support the city whilst the commonwealth reduces its effort.
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