The Hon Kristy McBain MP
Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories
Federal Member for Eden-Monaro
Alicia Payne MP
Federal Member for Canberra
Mick Gentleman MLA
ACT Minister for Environment and Heritage
Member for Brindabella
E&OE
PRESS CONFERENCE
TUESDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER 2022
SUBJECTS: Funding commitments for Scrivener Dam, infrastructure upgrades for Bruce area.
ALICIA PAYNE, MP: Hi everyone, it’s a great pleasure to be here this morning at Scrivener Dam with the Minister of Territories, Kristy McBain and our ACT Planning Minister Mick Gentleman to talk about these really important works here at Scrivener Dam to future-proof the dam. We’ve just had a really interesting tour, so thank the NCA for showing us under there. That was really interesting and I’ll hand over to Kristy. Thanks.
KRISTY MCBAIN, MINISTER: Thank you to Alicia and thank you to Mick for coming along. It’s fabulous to be here today and recommit an Albanese Labor government to $38.5 million in a once-in-a-lifetime, hopefully, project which will help strengthen the Scrivener Dam for another 60 years. It has been a feature of Canberra since 1963, when it was completed, filled in 1964. But we know over time we’ve got to look after the assets right across our community. And so $38.5 million will go to anchor the dissipator here and make sure that for a long time to come that any spill doesn’t impact the land around it. So it’s fabulous to be here and commit that to the ACT Government and to the NCA. I think most importantly, we are in a new era of collaboration. We want to work with our state and territory counterparts and I’m here today to recommit that relationship. The ACT is an important partner for the Federal Government and we look forward to working with them into the future.
MICK GENTLEMAN, ACT MINISTER: Thank you, Kristy. And it’s great to be here with Kristy McBain, Territories Minister, and Alicia Payne, our ACT representative in the Federal Parliament too, Member for Canberra for this announcement. It really is an important announcement for Canberra and Lake Burley Griffin and the important infrastructure we have here at Scrivener Dam to ensure we can keep it going for the next 100 years and longer after that, if need be.
And it does show the collaboration between the new Federal Government and the ACT Government in ensuring we can look after Canberrans. It’s great to see this level of commitment from a new Federal Government for our territories, both ACT and the NT as well. And I’m really looking forward to working with Minister McBain in the future, looking at Light Rail Stage 2A, the Barton Highway and the Monaro Highway as well into the future. Great steps forward for us and helping with the Federal Government ensure Canberra’s liveable city well into the future. Thank you.
KRISTY MCBAIN: Any questions?
REPORTER: In terms of, Minister McBain, in terms of I suppose we’ve just heard some of the projects that are working on in the future. One that’s been raised recently is a new stadium for Canberra and, or upgrade in the Bruce area infrastructure around GIO. Are there any plans or potential to work with the Federal Government to upgrade that area?
KRISTY MCBAIN: I’ve had a number of discussions with the Chief Minister in regards to some of Canberra’s big projects. I know that the Chief Minister has also met with Minister King in her role as the Infrastructure Minister and is in the process of meeting with Minister Wells, who is the Minister for Sport. So I think Canberra well and truly has put their projects and plans on the table and we are looking forward to collaboratively working with them and seeing what we can do to make those dreams a reality for people in the Territory. Thank you.
MICK GENTLEMAN: Enjoy the tour.
