Page 4058 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 23 October 2018

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services for people who need support during this transition. Our government understands that an inclusive community does not leave anyone behind. And that is why we are improving the recognition, participation and opportunities available to Canberrans facing tough times or big obstacles. That is why this has been such a focus of our work over the past two years.

A progressive community is open to change and faces our shared challenges with optimism. Our progressive city is taking action on climate change as the federal government continues to thrash around, changing prime ministers and policy direction every couple of years. We are on track to be powered 100 per cent by renewable electricity by 2020. We have legislated to reach zero net emissions by 2045, a world-leading commitment.

Progress is also establishing Australia’s first Reconciliation Day public holiday and celebrating the important place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in our city and our nation. Progress is tackling the damage done by problem gambling within our community by introducing wide-ranging reforms to reduce the number of gaming machines, to reduce clubs’ reliance on gaming machine revenue and to support Canberrans who need help the most.

Progress is working to make Canberra Australia’s most LGBTIQ friendly city, including by supporting our community before, during and after the federal government’s marriage equality postal survey and committing to a fundamental principle that all Australians should be treated equally under the law. And progress is protecting our most vulnerable through moving decisively to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse to bring healing to Canberrans who have suffered for too long and to protect future generations of our young people.

A connected city makes the most of the opportunities in our region, in our nation and in the world. Cities work better when they are well connected, and we have been working hard to plan for a future Canberra to connect a city that will be home to half a million people within the next decade. Canberra will be better connected under our new transport network. There will be more buses more often. There will be better connections to where Canberrans live, work and study, and our light rail network will integrate seamlessly to keep Canberra moving.

Two years ago there were no international flights from Canberra. Now there are 14 flights each week connecting Canberra to the globe and bringing a world of possibilities to local businesses and industry. The government saw the benefit of opening Canberra to the world, particularly through the many new jobs and opportunities this is creating for local workers and businesses. We are also committed to creating better rail connections between Sydney and Canberra and we are building better public spaces across our city to support stronger and more connected communities.

Canberra has been named one of the world’s best places to visit and we are consistently recognised as one of the world’s best cities to live in. But there is, of course, still plenty more to do and in the next two years we will focus on progressing


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