Page 4335 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 25 October 2017
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We have been laughed at and accused of being radicals for talking of an alternative economy but if we are serious about tackling inequality and climate change we need to be serious about these conversations. This is particularly so when it comes to population growth. There are finite resources, both locally and globally. We talked about that a few sitting periods ago with Mr Steel’s motion but it is still here. We need to think about how as a local and a global community we have to look at reducing population growth to a level that the world can sustain and how we can equitably spread resources to everyone without destroying our one and only planet.
On that, locally, the ACT finally has a big win on something the Greens have been pushing for a long time—since the 2004 election: we are going to have a container deposit scheme. Also in this space we have secured funding for community climate action through the new zero net emissions projects and are improving Canberra’s active transport network with $30 million extra expenditure on walking and cycling infrastructure as part of the parliamentary agreement.
The parliamentary agreement also has money for improved auditing of building certifiers and better work as far as building quality and energy efficiency regulations go. Energy efficiency regulations are something that we really need to do better work on than we have at present.
One of the nicer things this year is that my motion for demonstration housing precincts was passed by the Assembly. I am very hopeful that we will start doing some world-leading showcase housing, particularly medium-density housing, in Canberra in a way that Canberra did in the past.
Ms Lawder this morning talked about the halcyon days of the NCDC. While I do not think anyone here would like to see them back, one of the things we can remember that they did do was try to experiment with different things to see whether they would or would not work. We need to do more demonstration and showcase projects in the way that Canberra used to do and still can, as we positively committed to as a result of the motion earlier this year.
So, in short, we have achieved a lot this year. It feels like more, having stood here and read it out, than I thought. I thank Ms Cody for this chance to remind us all of the fact that, while there is still an awful lot to be done, some of it has been done and we are going at least partially in the right direction.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee) (3.35): I thank Ms Cody for bringing this motion forward. The ACT Labor government went to the last election with a positive plan to invest in our schools, hospitals, transport infrastructure and neighbourhoods. At the one-year mark it is nice to be able to reflect on the first year of government in the new term and what we have already delivered, particularly in my electorate in Woden, Weston Creek, Molonglo Valley and Kambah, all the while returning our budget to surplus and maintaining our world-leading credit rating.
Our commitment to strong fiscal management means we can invest in the infrastructure our growing city needs and deliver policies and programs that work to foster inclusion and support the most vulnerable in our community.
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