A NATIONAL indigenous treaty, virtual schools and a high-speed train from Sydney to Melbourne via Canberra were just some of the proposals generated at yesterday's Canberra 2020 Summit at the National Convention Centre.
The summit brought together 300 individuals from Canberra's business and community sectors to generate proposals for the national meeting which will take place later this month.
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said that while at times it may have felt like "the policy equivalent of speed dating", the summit produced plenty of "bold ideas" which would also feed into policy-making at a local level.
"It was intriguing that a number of the ideas related to greater regionalisation in governance. And it was interesting to witness the focus on the grass roots and on proposals to increase levels of active and engaged citizenship," he said.
High on the priority list was a treaty between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
"I've no doubt that a treaty is the next step in the process of reconciliation," the Chief Minister said calling for one to be put in place by 2013, the centenary of the capital.
Environmental sustainability was another prominent concern, with delegates saying it ought to strongly influence decision-making at all levels of business and government.
Delegates also proposed that the ACT become a "regional demonstration model" for health care systems across the country. Some suggested there should be a single national health system with a consistent funding source, rather than the present mixture of state and federal funding which often saw governments passing the blame for failings.
On the topic of education, suggestions included increasing teachers' salaries, a national knowledge bank and even virtual classrooms.
Participants also advocated a campaign to increase public transport usage in the ACT from 7 to 50per cent by the year 2020.
Other suggestions which will go to the national summit include: dividing Australia into "super-regions" of around one million people, generating a human rights charter and agreeing on a nationally-consistent legal system.
Liberal MLA Annette Ellis said the conference offered an opportunity to hear new ideas.
"It's certainly been the first ever very large Canberra conversation," she said.