Page 1514 - Week 05 - Friday, 10 May 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
There is no doubt that Canberra is one of the most affluent cities on earth. However, this average or median wealth must be looked at with some relativity. We must be mindful of the thousands of Canberrans who struggle to keep up with the average. We must ensure that this is a community that does not price people out of the market and is truly a place where hard work is rewarded and people are supported.
While city-states are not uncommon around the world, we are one of a kind in our federation. And whilst there are many other self-governing cities around the world, I think that the collective attributes of the ACT make this jurisdiction unique. For instance, there would be few jurisdictions in the world where a sub-national government has the broad level of autonomy that we have, including schools, hospitals, corrections and many other issues.
We have extraordinary economies of distance. We do not have regional schools or one-person police stations. We should be an efficient small jurisdiction. We have a city-dwelling, largely suburban population. We have generous commonwealth funding that supports our annual budget and we have well over 50,000 employees from a single employer. Add to this a legislature that is unicameral and comprises just 25 members. This creates the conditions for an efficient, dynamic, fair and prosperous community.
Furthermore, we have received endowments in the form of NCDC infrastructure and assets, institutions such as the ANU, UC, CIT and ADFA, and national institutions such as the library, the War Memorial, the archives, the gallery and many others. We have a wonderful environment and a great legacy of civil engineering that has sculpted our lakes and vistas.
The reason I make mention of this history is that we know our place in the federation and we know our place in the world, because we need to know that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.
Today in the gallery we have many luminaries of the capital. They have served or serve our city with distinction.
Madam Speaker, I note that you have already acknowledged the attendance of many former members and let me join you in paying respect to all these members. I also pay respect to a person elected to the Ninth Assembly, our friend Steve Doszpot. I also acknowledge the families of former members here with us today: Helen Watchirs and Dorothy and Kevin Jeffery.
The past 30 years have sometimes been rocky. I have witnessed about a third of this history in the Assembly. Of course, 1989 was the beginning of the Assembly but not the start of our traditions. We built upon and imported many conventions, as I mentioned earlier.
However, I am not sure that many of the former members who are with us today appreciate just how formative the First, Second and Third Assemblies were. Because of their trailblazing, so many words, phrases, props and stunts are now banned in the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video