Today I announced that 68 local sport and recreation groups will share in more than $2 million in funding from the 2012 Sport and Recreation Grants Program (SRGP).
Over the last five years I have announced more than $11 million of SRGP funding to organisations which are focused on increasing participation opportunities in a wide variety of sport and recreational activities.
Construction will begin this month on two new schools in the Gungahlin region.
The $64.4 million Bonner Primary School andthe $44.1 million Franklin Early Childhood School are set to open at the commencement of the 2013 school year, catering for enrolment growth in the east and north Gungahlin areas.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and I today inspected potential sites for ACT Government office accommodation in Gungahlin, following nine registrations of interest to build the offices from the private sector.
We also announced that about 500 ACT Government Shared Services staff would be moving to Gungahlin in 2014-15.
"In May last year, the Government announced we would move 500 staff to Gungahlin," Ms Gallagher said.
"Today we have announced those staff will be from Shared Services in the Treasury Directorate - moving many of them from the aged accommodation at Callam Offices in Woden.
ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has reported on a busy year in municipal services in the Territory. In 2011, over 127 kilometres of road have been resurfaced, over 53,500m2 of footpaths maintained, over 3,770 damaged signs fixed and over 4,220 potholes repaired.
Major roads resurfaced as part of the program include Hindmarsh Drive, Cotter Road, Monaro Highway and Belconnen Way.
Families in Gungahlin will have access to state of the art early childhood education facilities in 2013, with the approval today of the Development Application for the Franklin Early Childhood School.
I have used my call-in powers, as Acting Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, to approve the development which will see over 400 children benefitting from the new school.
The school includes a childcare centre for 120 children, a pre-school for 100 students and kindergarten to year 2 places for 189 students.
The ACT Labor Government wants to know how the community would like to see money spent and their ideas for ensuring Canberra’s economic, social and environmental prosperity into the future.
We are inviting Canberrans to have a say through the 2012-13 Budget consultation process.
This process provides an important opportunity for the community, representative and peak bodies and individuals to submit their views on what they believe the Government’s revenue and resource allocation priorities should be in 2012‑13 and future years.
These ideas will all feed into Government’s revenue and resource allocation priorities in 2012‑13 and future years and I look forward to seeing the ideas that come through.
Canberra's construction sector continues to show its strength with around $13.5 billion worth of projects currently planned or under way in the ACT according to the latest Canberra Construction Snapshot.
Construction is a major contributor to the ACT economy and since coming to office, the ACT Labor Government has invested massively in infrastructure with record-breaking capital works programs in education, health, transport and the environment delivered over recent years.
The ACT Government (through the Economic Development Directorate) is undertaking a Registration of Interest process to obtain industry input on a proposed 7,000 m2 office building.
This office building, to be located on either government or privately owned land in Gungahlin, will accommodate approximately 500 ACT Government staff, provide requisite parking spaces and be built to contemporary environmental sustainability standards. Once constructed, the new office building will deliver significant economic and workforce benefits to the ACT Government and the Gungahlin community.