Page 1736 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 18 August 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Road Signs - Removal of Graffiti
MR STEVENSON: My question is directed to Mr Connolly. An article in the Community Times on 5 August reported that signs welcoming people to the ACT were defaced by graffiti. The report indicated that delays in removing graffiti were occurring because of budgetary restrictions. I ask: Is this report accurate, and are there any prospects for the prompt removal of such graffiti on welcome signs and other prominent signs within the Australian Capital Territory?
MR CONNOLLY: I thank Mr Stevenson for his question, which raises some important issues. The problem of graffiti on tourist signs is not a problem that can be solved either by a police response - punishing people for putting the graffiti there - because you will not really catch them, or by the Government pouring unlimited funds into removing the graffiti every time it occurs. It is a community problem and we really need some greater cooperation from the community and from parents whose kids are obviously coming home with paint cans or with paint all over them.
I will admit that there have been delays in removing graffiti from some signs around the ACT. Road safety signs that have been defaced, such as "Stop" or "Give Way" signs, take priority. While maintenance of tourist signs is a high priority, it is not as high a priority as the maintenance of safety signs. There have been some delays, although I believe that work on signs on the Federal Highway has now been completed - although it is quite possible that last night those signs may again have been defaced. When graffiti becomes fashionable in the community, you can easily get into the cycle that, as quickly as our officials go out and scrub it down, it recurs.
So we really need some community cooperation on this. We need parents, in particular, to ask a few questions about paint cans. Particularly if kids are coming home splattered with paint, parents could perhaps ask some probing questions. The Government cannot cope with this alone, unless we pour virtually unlimited funds into clean-ups. We cannot cope with it as a policing priority, unless we effectively put a police officer at every road sign, which is clearly impractical. So we are dealing with the problem. There have been, occasionally, some delays, and that is because we have to give priority to safety signs over tourist signs.
Parking - Manuka
MRS GRASSBY: My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning. The Manuka shopping fraternity has expressed some anxiety about the closure of two car parks, the result of which has been a loss of customers. What has the Government done to ease parking problems at Manuka?
MR WOOD: Madam Speaker, as a result of a draft variation that went through this house last year, extensions to the Capitol Theatre in Manuka are about to get under way. As part of the arrangements for that, the developer is putting up a new car park nearby. That means that for a time there is going to be a problem with car parking in Manuka. I think the shopkeepers there will need to be careful and perhaps a bit patient. Above all, they should see that people who work in the shops do not take up space best set aside for short-term parking.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .