Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's always an honour to rise in this place and pay tribute to outstanding members of the Canberra community. Just last week I attended the tribute to Canberra's Private Robert Poate as we approach the anniversary of his tragic passing. I can think of no more appropriate words than those of his family, who loved him most in the world, to share with this place in relation to Private Poate's life. I will share some of those words now:

Robert attended Canberra Grammar School from pre-school to year 12, this period being two thirds of his short life. Robert was an intelligent student and a superb all-round athlete. He was awarded Blaxland House Colours and the Mark Sowell Award for outdoor education. He was Captain of the open grade Third Fifteen Rugby Football Team where he played as five eighth, and he regularly played with the Second Fifteen. In his final year at school, his football team presented him with the Players' Player Award.

Robert was gregarious, charismatic, he made friends easily and had a wonderful sense of humour. His family and his friends meant everything to him. He loved the outdoor life, particularly camping, fishing and hunting. This love of the outdoors was a strong influence on his decision to join the Australian Army in 2009.

Robert was posted to the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australia Regiment (6RAR) where he quickly earned himself a reputation as a fun-loving person and a great mate to be around. There was never a dull moment when Poatey was present. He was a great morale booster and was known as a dedicated soldier, a quick learner and a man on a mission to go to Afghanistan. As a junior soldier, he was also identified for his leadership skills ahead of most of his peers and he completed an Infantry section leaders course.

Robert deployed to Afghanistan as crew commander of a Bushmaster vehicle with Mentoring Task Force 5 in June 2012. The vehicle he commanded was regularly the lead vehicle in convoys and patrols. On 29 August 2012, Robert was tragically killed along with two of his mates by enemy fire at Patrol Base Wahab, Oruzgan Province, Baluchi Valley, Afghanistan.

Hugh, Janny and Nicola are left with wonderful memories of Robert, particularly his ever-present smile, his great sense of humour and his unconditional love.

I want to thank the Poate family for those beautiful words.

Soldier On, here in Canberra, in recent days hosted a tribute to the life of Private Poate, a life he led as both a man and a soldier that his friends and family will be eternally proud of. Locals Canberrans Colin Greef and Mike Hogan performed a touching musical tribute written in honour of Private Poate as part of the ceremony. Very movingly, a handmade quilt lovingly made by Avril Greef was presented to Private Poate's family. Overlaid with poppies, it was presented to Poatey's family on behalf of Soldier On.

Robert was aged just 23 when he and two mates were playing cards at their base in Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan province in August 2012 and a rogue soldier, a trusted sergeant with the Afghan army, turned on them. It has been reported that the man responsible is likely to be one of the prisoners released as part of the US-promoted peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Prime Minister Morrison has repeatedly confirmed it is the position of the Australian government that this rogue soldier, responsible for the murder of three young Australians, should never be released. I understand the Prime Minister has written to the US President strongly advocating our position on this issue, and I join with him in this plea. As the government continues to push for this offender to remain in prison, we near the anniversary of this fateful attack. Hugh, Janny and Nicola, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

There is no doubt that, if you look around Canberra, it is a place that has been built by primarily Liberal-National governments. It has been Liberal-National governments that have built Canberra and that have delivered us our wonderful institutions. Let's go through the list—the National Library, the National Gallery, the National Museum, new Parliament House, the National Portrait Gallery, the Australian Institute of Sport, the Royal Australian Mint, the Tidbinbilla deep space tracking station and it goes on and on. I want to talk about the fact that, as a Liberal-National government, we have been building on that legacy in the past couple of years through our massive and unprecedented investments in Canberra. Just in the past couple of years we have announced over $1 billion in new investment right here in the ACT. I want to share some of those investments because I think they're investments not only that we as a government can be proud of but that Canberrans can be proud of and that are great for our local economy. But I think that, when we invest in our national capital—a capital that I believe we can all be proud of—and when we invest in some of our national institutions, Australians right around the country can be very proud.

I want to go through some of the major investments, new investments—just in the past two years—of more than $1 billion from the Liberal-National government in Canberra. They are headlined by the $500 million expansion of the Australian War Memorial, our most loved national institution and one of our most visited attractions, with over a million visitors per year. We are investing in honouring the memory of our fallen but also investing in the capital of our nation. We are investing in a great institution that draws a lot of tourists, and we are seeing local jobs delivered. In that vein, many of the other projects I'm going to go through are delivering jobs for Canberrans and indeed for people in our region, Canberra being at the heart of south-eastern New South Wales. These huge Liberal-National government investments are providing jobs in our region but also improving the lives of people here in the capital.

I've talked about the War Memorial expansion; we are also investing in the Barton Highway upgrade. We are investing $80 million in upgrades to the National Gallery. We've seen $33 million provided for the RMC here just in the past couple of years. There's $100 million for the Monaro Highway, getting people in Canberra's south—and, indeed, people from over the border as that area grows—to and from work more quickly. We are investing in the future of our city. There is $30 million for the duplication of William Slim Drive, a very important road for people in Belconnen. We've seen significant safety upgrades right around the city, most recently on Southern Cross Drive in Belconnen, and we're also investing in significant safety improvements in Mawson.

Over a million dollars was announced just recently for new research facilities at the Australian National University. It is my old university, Australia's foremost tertiary education institution, and we are investing in it here as our great national university.

In recent times we've seen $17.6 million provided to deliver shovel-ready infrastructure projects—urgent road safety upgrades. It includes money for intersection upgrades around the city, $6 million for the Mitchell light rail stop, $5 million for upgrades to Northbourne Avenue, $400,000 for traffic signal and uninterrupted-power-supply projects across 20 intersections, money for road safety barriers and $350,000 for variable speed limits on the Tuggeranong Parkway between Cotter Road and Glenloch Interchange.

We've also, in recent times, committed another $40 million under the Roads to Recovery program. As part of our commitment nationally to investing in recycling, $21 million was announced. Just recently I had the privilege of being with Minister Ley as we announced $21 million for the ACT Materials Recovery Facility.

Just today we heard an announcement of $8 million for local infrastructure and community projects. Some of them are local cycleways and paths. That is really important. Canberra is a cycling city—we love getting around on our bikes—and improving some of those links is a wonderful investment from the Liberal-National government.

There's a million dollars for upgrades to the Stirling and Kambah playing fields and the pavilions at the Woden enclosed athletics track. Some of our street lamps are being replaced, and there will be upgrades to Belconnen and Woden skate parks. Belconnen, Dickson and Kippax library branches are being upgraded, and we're seeing a number of community centres right around the city, from down south in Tuggeranong to Woden, the inner north, Belconnen and Gungahlin. Right around our city, we are seeing significant investments. This latest announcement today builds on the more than $1 billion in new investments announced by this Liberal-National government in Canberra. We are making this city a better place. We are investing in our local economy. What we are doing is building on that great Liberal-National tradition which is to build Canberra and to invest in our national capital. When we do that, I believe it is a wonderful thing for those people that I represent here in the ACT, but I think it is also an investment in a capital that we as Australians can all be proud of and continue to be proud of into the future.