Page 112 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2016

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We have delivered in a significant period of time a world-class project that has attracted world-class bidders. We have now selected a preferred bidder who is going to deliver this project at less than the government estimated as the capital construction cost and in a quicker period of time. We have those opposite saying, “Oh, this is going to be a billion-dollar light rail. $783 million is completely unrealistic. It’s going to cost more than that.” It is going to cost nearly $100 million less than that, Madam Speaker. That is the outcome of this government’s process. And it is going to be delivered more quickly and in a shorter period of time than that which the government estimated.

Those opposite want to deny Canberrans all of these benefits. They want the cost to go up, because even delaying will see an increase in cost. They want to deny Canberrans who use public transport first-class public transport; they want to keep treating them as second-class citizens. They think that building more roads is a way of building ourselves out of our problem when all the evidence everywhere is to the contrary. They want to put at risk Canberra’s reputation as a place to do business. They want to put new costs onto new infrastructure projects in the future that will be there if they cancel contracts like this one, because the private sector will factor in the risk in their future contracts.

That is the contrast, Madam Speaker. This government is doing what it was elected to do and what it said it would do. And it is not just what it said it would do before the election but what it has said every day, every month, every year since the election. We are getting on with delivering light rail because light rail delivers the quality of public transport infrastructure our city needs, not just for the next five years but for the next 25 years, for the next 55 years. That is the investment we are making.

The only ones who have no alternative vision, no alternative policy, no alternative plan except to say no are those opposite. They need to justify to the people of Canberra why they think a blank cheque to cancel a contract and to deliver nothing is a sufficient policy position for them to go to the election on.

MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (10.41): My position on this topic is clear, and I have had plenty of opportunities to spell it out on the previous occasions that Mr Coe has raised permutations of today’s motion. I will not be supporting a position that cancels or defers light rail, because this is an excellent and important project for our city now and into the future. Governments need to get on with projects like these, building the infrastructure that we need, planning for our population growth and urban challenges, and showing vision for how we want Canberra to work in the next decades.

My vision, and the vision of the ACT Greens, is for a Canberra that is sustainable, livable, friendly to people and friendly to the environment. Light rail provides a great foundation, especially in a planning and transport sense, for creating that kind of city. It is high quality public transport, powered by renewable energy, very attractive to commuters, and built in a critical Canberra corridor that is experiencing increasing growth and congestion pressures.


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