Minister Barr: A city deal for Canberra on the agenda
- Written by ACT Government
Released 09/11/2016
Today I joined Capital City Lord Mayors from around Australia to meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The meeting is the start of discussions for a new "city deal" for Canberra.
The aim of City Deals is to make Australian cities better places to live in and do business. Through City Deals, governments, industry and communities will develop collective plans for growth and commit to the actions, investments, reforms and governance needed to implement them.
By bringing together both levels of government, the private sector and the community, a Canberra City Deal will provide a coordinated investment plan for our city. This partnership approach will allow us to capitalise on the brilliant possibilities Canberra offers.
The ACT Government has a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects that, with Federal Government support, will stimulate our economy and will make Canberra a better place to live in and do business.
The ACT Government will present the Federal Government with a number of areas and projects that would be suitable under a City Deal. This includes further Federal Government investment in Canberra's city wide light rail network, particularly stage 2 of the network which will link Canberra's CBD to Woden via the Parliamentary Triangle. The uplift value in Commonwealth properties along the route could be seen as a direct benefit to the Federal Government through investment in the project, as well as supporting rail based public transport upgrades.
Other areas that will be identified for inclusion in a potential City Deal with the ACT Government include support for current strategic transport projects, investment in Commonwealth Government owned assets in the parliamentary triangle such as upgrades to Parkes Way to encourage the improvement of Canberra's CBD and initiatives to make Canberra a smarter and more digital city – enabling the further diversification of our economy.
The Federal Government has already signed a number of city deals including:
- Townsville, with a $100 million investment in a new stadium and $150 million for the Townsville Eastern Access Rail Corridor;
- Launceston, with a $130 million investment towards the relocation and expansion of Launceston's University of Tasmania campus, a $7.5 million Australian Government contribution towards the Launceston CBD and a new National Institute for Forest Products Innovation Hub through a $2 million contribution from the Australian Government; and
- Western Sydney, with investment in public transport initiatives, improved housing affordability, job opportunities and regulatory reforms to achieve these measures.
The ACT has demonstrated our capacity to work with the Federal Government on infrastructure projects that have improved the liveability of our city, including stage one of the city wide light rail network, the Majura Parkway upgrade and the Constitution Avenue upgrade.
Canberra is growing by 5,000 people a year, and it's important that we continue to invest in the right infrastructure projects to ensure we remain the world's most liveable city. Our priorities for Canberra's city building, such as better public transport, further diversification of our economy to create jobs and infrastructure to support better public spaces all align with the purpose of the Federal Government's City Deals.
- Statement ends -
Section: Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases
