President’s comment
This year marks 100 years since Canberra
was declared as the name of the new capital of Australia. Our centenary
year is a time not only to reflect on Canberra’s history as the nation’s
capital but also to celebrate the city we have become and look ahead to
our second century.
In 1913 Canberra’s population was less than 1000, made up mainly of farming families scattered throughout the district. One hundred years on and we are now home to 360,000 people and, importantly, we are the economic and service heart of southeast New South Wales, servicing a regional population of more than 600,000.
As a city-state completely surrounded by another jurisdiction, Canberra is in a unique position. There is no other cross-border region where so many people traverse the borders each day, as though they simply don’t exist. One in 10 children attending ACT schools lives in NSW; a quarter of our hospital patients are from NSW; and 20,000 NSW residents travel to work in the ACT every day.
This brings with it both opportunities and challenges for government. On the one hand, our larger regional population enables Canberra to offer services, such as high-tech neurosurgery, that would otherwise be unviable. But it also means that ACT Government must take account of population growth in neighbouring local government areas in our planning of infrastructure and service delivery, particularly in health, education and transport.
Canberra and the surrounding regions of NSW are effectively one for the purposes of tourism and recreation, and indeed the economic health of the ACT can have ramifications for tourism providers from the Alps to the coast.
As Canberra enters its second century, the ACT Government is committed to pursuing opportunities for the collective region. This is why I recently announced the creation of a new portfolio for Regional Development, to build on the work already underway to develop a more regional approach to service delivery and infrastructure planning.
In 2011, the NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and I signed the ACT-NSW Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Regional Collaboration, which set out a shared vision for regional progress and identified several areas for immediate work. Through this, the ACT and NSW governments can jointly plan for sustainable regional growth, optimise future regional economic prospects and meet regional service needs.
Partnerships with local government will be crucial to implementing initiatives arising from the MoU, as well as to our success in responding to local issues that don’t respect lines on a map.
In relation to land use planning, ACT and NSW officials have developed a work program that includes the five local government areas within a one-hour commute of Canberra — Queanbeyan, Yass, Cooma Monaro, Palerang and Goulburn-Mulwaree.
The strategic plan for land use planning and infrastructure will take into account growth projections and give us a better understanding of the infrastructure and service implications. It will also provide guidance on sustainable development so that we can manage growth effectively negotiate a fair distribution of the costs of infrastructure.
In health, we are already seeing concrete examples of cross-border collaborations that are delivering real benefits for patients. An agreement between Southern New South Wales Local Health District and the ACT is giving NSW residents access to specialist renal services as well as dialysis and post transplant care, reducing the need to travel to the ACT and taking pressure off ambulatory services at Canberra Hospital.
Another program allows NSW paramedics to transmit electrocardiograms to the Canberra Hospital Emergency Department (ED) ahead of arrival, enabling urgent decisions to be made regarding appropriate treatment for heart attack patients while on the way to hospital.
An agreement reached last year has seen the ACT Health Directorate deliver some elective surgery at Queanbeyan Hospital, ensuring the efficient use of our region’s health facilities and giving patients their operations sooner. And a new tele-health project is linking regional emergency departments to the Canberra Hospital ED, enabling ACT clinicians to make life savings decisions more quickly by remotely accessing critically ill patients.
These are just the beginning. My vision for a truly regional approach will go well beyond core services such as health.
The ACT has recently become a full member of the South East Regional Organisation of Councils and one of the issues I’m pursuing is the potential for using our collective muscle and buying power to get greater value for the ratepayer dollar that local governments individually spend on separate service-related contracts and procurement processes.
Similarly, the National Broadband Network will undoubtedly create all kinds of opportunities for service delivery down the track, particularly in the delivery of e-Health and economic development.
If we start planning, thinking and developing services as a region, there is the potential to realise significant benefits for residents of both the ACT and our neighbouring local government areas.
As it is our centenary year, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you all to visit your beautiful national capital this year. We will be hosting a year long party with an extensive program of events that offers something for everyone, showcasing Canberra as an energetic, vibrant city that has far more to offer than federal parliament, public servants and roundabouts!
Come and get to know your real national capital this year.
For information on the program of centenary events, visit www.Canberra100.com.au
