Page 4230 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2019
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freeways. In fact our nation’s parliament sits on top of one of the nation’s greatest spaghetti junctions. Most Canberrans do now, and will continue to, use our road network as a primary way of getting around, sometimes as a motorist, sometimes as a passenger on a bus, or using our on-road cycling paths.
There are also some amazing off-road cycling paths, and I am sure Mr Steel will expand on those, because he is leading the government’s push to expand them. I am not much of a user of the off-road cycling network. I am a bit scared of mountain biking et cetera. A braver person than I can undertake those sorts of things.
Like all of Canberra’s infrastructure, our road network has the potential to come under pressure from the increasing growth in our city. The low unemployment achieved by this government has meant that we continue to attract new people from across the country and the world.
Whilst I have great sympathy for those in our city who are uncomfortable with the pace of change, I refuse to join Alistair Coe and co, sticking their heads in a bucketful of rear-view mirrors. Canberra is growing, and we have to deliver the infrastructure to keep our city moving. Eight thousand people a year is a lot for a city of our size to absorb. That is why I believe this Assembly should be celebrating the delivery of the ACT infrastructure plan.
For my local community, that does not just mean a new school, a new nurse-led walk-in centre and an upgrade to the hospital, even though they are pretty amazing things. It also means light rail, not just to Woden but all the way to Tuggeranong. It means upgrading and renewing the Woden bus interchange. It means the upgrades to the Monaro Highway: keeping Canberrans safer, whilst helping them get to where they are going faster. It also means so much more.
Whilst I generally talk about my time as a hairdresser when I talk about my experience in small business, I also ran a small trucking business for a while. I have to tell you about the importance of maintaining our road network for freight. Whilst many people think of cars when they think of roads, it is the heavy vehicles that really matter. They feed us, clothe us and move the rest of our stuff around. Maintaining an efficient, smooth-running, well-maintained road network keeps all of our goods moving. It reduces emissions and pollution caused by traffic and reduces the cost for business and consumers.
Whilst I often do not like what—let me get the title correct for those opposite—the Hon Mr Scott Morrison does, I do like one of the things that he says over and over again: “congestion busting”. Of course, unlike the congestion busting that the Hon Mr Scott Morrison does, Mr Barr actually busts congestion.
Sometimes when I have a meeting in the north in the morning, I park my car here and get the light rail. What I see today compared to a couple of years ago is amazing and grouse. We have full light rail vehicles and a far emptier Northbourne Avenue and Flemington Road.
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