It's usually branded the Fun Police, but the National Capital Authority is open to any and all proposals for bringing more people to the lake. 4/8/23
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 So the lake is one of the most beautiful parts of Canberra and everyone loves it and a question
00:04 about well how can you experience the lake.
00:07 So we're always open to ideas.
00:09 People come to us with an idea for food and beverage or an activity on the lake and we're
00:14 happy to work with them to see how we can implement it.
00:18 People didn't like the lake and didn't enjoy the lake, we wouldn't be doing our job as
00:21 the MCA to make sure that Canberra was a great place for all Australians.
00:25 Because we want people to come to Canberra, have a chance to enjoy the lake, think about
00:30 why Canberra is here, what the Griffins were trying to achieve, see their institutions
00:35 but at the same time we're all human, we all need food, we all need a bit of wine, we all
00:41 like a bit of hospitality and we can have it all and still be that very special Canberra.
00:47 And it's true to say isn't it that the Canberra's original architects, the Griffins, Walter and
00:51 Marion Griffin, they always intended that the lake would be the central feature and
00:55 that we'd be much closer to the lake than we currently are.
00:59 The original plans from Walter and Marion were around vibrancy.
01:03 They thought Canberra could be planned but also be planned to be a vibrant, interesting
01:07 city, one which was a great place to live and in being a great place to live, a great
01:12 place to enjoy the outdoors, to partake in culture and also hospitality.
01:19 So just behind you we've got, you can see Parliament House, I can see the National Library,
01:24 I can see Questacon, the gallery's in there in the trees and so is the portrait gallery
01:28 and the High Court just over here, I'm just panning over here.
01:32 So look, it's fair to say that, or is it fair to say that we've been a little bit protective
01:39 of the lake in terms of keeping it all very pristine.
01:43 We want to keep it pristine but we also want to see people using it more.
01:47 Would you agree with that?
01:48 So the way the buildings sit in the landscape helps maintain the vibrancy of the lake and
01:55 the, if you like, the stature of the lake.
01:57 But having people beside the lake is just perfect, having them enjoying it is perfect
02:02 and in fact what you can see is the top of the National Triangle.
02:06 The National Triangle is both the institutions but deliberately takes in the other side of
02:12 the lake because that's where Walter and Marion particularly always thought it was the people's
02:16 place.
02:17 And it was their idea to call it the National Triangle.
02:19 It was Walter and Marion in their very early plans talked about the National Triangle and
02:25 so we've adopted that again and we're talking about the National Triangle so it's not just
02:29 the institutions which are very important but it's the whole area in central Canberra
02:34 that really is the heart of the nation.
02:36 [silence]
02:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]