Page 1888 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 June 2016
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That this Assembly:
(1) notes the motion on the proposed sister city relationship with Wellington, New Zealand;
(2) notes the benefits of pursuing the establishment of a sister city relationship with Wellington, New Zealand, including:
(a) Wellington and Canberra share much in common and there are great opportunities to work together and seek ways to continue to grow our respective economies, support our respective business communities and continue to enhance the cultural and social fabric of Wellington and Canberra;
(b) both Wellington City Council and the ACT Government have strong ambitions to drive change and opportunity, to grow in a way that reflects our contemporary communities, and to improve our productivity, liveability and economic competitiveness;
(c) there are clear economic and social benefits to the ACT community as a result of direct international air services and the engagement that will occur between the two cities;
(d) to support and continue the growth in demand for travel on the direct service and see flight frequency increase to daily services;
(e) in addition to direct international services, several programs and initiatives are already in place providing the foundation for engagement and to underpin a sister city agreement; and
(f) the ACT Government has taken a proactive approach to international engagement and with international cities that have strategic advantage; and
(3) calls on the Government to:
(a) progress the Wellington Sister City Relationship to foster trade, education, skills and talent, cultural and tourism opportunities between our two cities; and
(b) support the agreement being practical, focused and based on a tangible engagement program focused on core Government priorities.
Now is the time for Canberra to capitalise on the many opportunities arising from our increased level of engagement with New Zealand, ranging from tourism and cultural exchanges, from strengthening mutual economic opportunities through to marquee sporting events.
Members would be aware that my government has been engaging deeply with Wellington over a number of years and that, in April of this year, Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown and an accompanying delegation visited Canberra to explore collaboration opportunities to discuss greater sharing, cooperation and exchange of expertise.
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