Page 1608 - Week 05 - Thursday, 2 June 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
If anyone had come to get some assurances that this government was taking this issue seriously—a government that has a concrete plan to provide certainty for the way forward—they were left severely disappointed. Having spoken to numerous attendees from that forum since, the message sent by the minister was essentially, “I don’t really know what this problem means to you. I don’t really know what needs to be done, and I don’t really know if I can help you.” I was genuinely shocked by the woeful, inadequate response by the minister. I thought that, surely, the minister would have come to this forum well prepared, well aware of the gravity of this issue and with an understanding of how important it was for the thousands of Canberrans that are affected to be assured that their government was taking their concerns seriously and had a plan to address them.
This was a forum that had been postponed for many months. If not in the years and years since the problem first came to light, if not in the time that she has been the responsible minister, at least in the time that has passed since the forum was postponed due to COVID, you would have thought she would have come prepared with some assurances, with some concrete plan forward. From everyone who turned up to the forum there was an openness, a willingness and, most importantly, a hope that they would be provided with some assurance that their concerns were being taken seriously and, at the very least, details of the loan scheme. Astonishingly, there was nothing but a diatribe of talking points read out loud, full of fluffy words and no concrete action.
We saw yesterday in question time when Minister Gentleman took questions about this issue on behalf of Minister Vassarotti that his performance was also completely uninspiring. In response to a straightforward question, “When will the details of the loan scheme be available?” it was literally: “Oh, Minister Vassarotti is working on that.” Well, she has been “working” on it now for a year and the community is still none the wiser. In today’s question time we sought further clarification on development application fees for the removal of cladding and for remediation works. I note that Minister Gentleman brought back some words from Minister Vassarotti about being “misrepresented”. If she has been misrepresented, Mr Assistant Speaker, it is because she has been absolutely opaque during this entire debacle.
There are many, many people who have been engaged with this issue for years who are still none the wiser about what fees apply and what fees are exempt, just as they have no idea about what the process is, what the plan is and what the next step is. This really highlights the complete and utter lack of competence of this Labor-Greens government in dealing with this very serious issue. The lack of certainty and the lack of action that has been going on and on has already become an enormous source of frustration for so many in our community.
I am curious to see what those opposite will do today. As you know, they usually gang up and amend our motions beyond recognition. I note that an amendment has literally just landed on my desk, and there are no surprises here; it is a complete rewrite. I do not even have to read this, but I will: “Omit all text after “That this Assembly”. It is a complete rewrite of the motion. I have not even read it because it has literally landed on my desk.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video