Page 932 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 21 April 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
It is not going to upgrading the intersection of Baldwin Drive and Maribyrnong Avenue to stop the right-hand lane becoming congested, overflowing into the mainstream traffic and blocking one of the lanes. It is not going to installing a footpath along Mackellar Crescent in Cook, a street that has never had any footpath, though residents have lived there for over 50 years. This is not an age-friendly city approach.
It is not going to upgrading the Mortimer Lewis Drive traffic lights at the southern end, where the road meets Drakeford Drive in Greenway, an upgrade that constituents in my electorate of Brindabella have been requesting for years. There has been additional construction in that area of Greenway recently, and residents have very real safety and traffic concerns about the area. It is not going to improvements in road safety in Callaway Crescent in Gordon, where some residents have had cars plough into their front yards.
Nor is it necessarily going towards the removal of abandoned vehicles. The budget papers showed a 61 per cent achievement against the target when this minister had promised that there would be an improvement in the removal of abandoned vehicles. There were supposedly legislative changes to ensure that this could take place.
Another interesting part of the discussion in the budget hearings concerned playgrounds. During the hearings, I noted a sponsored post from the ACT government which said, “Want to find out what’s in the 2020-21 ACT budget for Tuggeranong?” It included a graphic, a tile, that said, “We are upgrading playgrounds.” If you clicked on that link, there was no information about playgrounds included in that paid advertising for the ACT government’s budget. When I asked the minister about this during the hearings, he was unable to provide a list of playgrounds in Tuggeranong that would be upgraded, although he came back with a list of playgrounds after taking that on notice.
I feel that was quite deceptive advertising. Why would that be? Why would they advertise upgrading playgrounds? Because they know how important that is to residents. Residents are constantly requesting playground upgrades, improvements and maintenance. The government has used this as a drawcard for people to click on the link. When people clicked on it, there was no information about playgrounds available for residents to see.
I could go on with many other items, but one thing that has been high on the agenda over the past few months has been mowing. We have heard about the greater levels of rainfall and that this makes it hard to mow. It is hard not just to do mowing but to do burning off when it is really wet. I will read some extracts from a Canberra Times editorial. It says:
To a small extent, the recent wet weather mitigates the Government’s tardiness; one can neither do much mowing, nor burning off, when it rains.
It goes on to say:
One would have expected those lessons to have been learned … our government must cut the grass.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video