Page 645 - Week 02 - Thursday, 6 March 2008
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for a pool? This is the fastest growing area in Canberra with the youngest population and the attitude of this government, as expressed by Mr Gentleman, is to be satisfied with what you have got. How dare you ask for a pool! How dare you ask for some decent facilities! It is outrageous that the Gungahlin community has to beg to use the pool at the youth detention facility because this government does not care enough to actually release the land to provide the kind of assistance that is needed to actually get this pool going.
I believe that it was an election promise that we are still waiting for—another one. Look at the experience of Gungahlin. There has been a complete failure to invest in some of the sporting facilities that have been requested. The attitude, expressed by Mr Gentleman, is that you should be satisfied with what you have got. “Go to the country club; you should be happy.” Come on! We are doing enough. This is outrageous! We see the same attitude to Gungahlin in the Gungahlin Drive extension: “Be satisfied with a one-lane road. What are you asking for, a two-lane road? You are the fastest growing area in Canberra. Soon there will be 50,000 or 60,000 or 70,000 people living in Gungahlin and you want a two lane-road to be provided. That is outrageous. What do you want? What do you expect from us?”
This attitude was summed up by the Chief Minister when he said that we as a community are living beyond our means. It had nothing to do with this government’s wasted expenditure. It had nothing to do with this government’s failure to manage the massive revenue that it has had and its failure to deliver these services. I would like to share one of the personal stories of friends and family who are suffering as a result of the housing affordability crisis caused by this government. One of them works at the airport. It is a one-income family. He works as a baggage handler. He has three young children, is in his late twenties and is probably on a middle income of about $50,000 or $60,000 a year when he gets extra shifts.
Mr Gentleman: Thanks to the union.
MR SESELJA: Mr Gentleman says, “Thanks to the union.” We say that, thanks to the ACT government, this family on one income of around about $55,000 to $60,000 a year simply cannot afford to buy a home. They are some of the lucky ones because they are able to live with the parents of one of them so that they can actually save some money and not have to be forced to pay $350 or $400 a week in rent. Maybe over two or three or four years they will have some prospect of saving sufficient money for a deposit for a home. These are some of the families.
Friends of mine have now purchased in Yass for $100,000. It was not because they wanted to live in Yass. They grew up in Belconnen and their extended family is here, but they have been forced to go to Yass. They do not want to be removed from their family and friends and loved ones, but they have to. They cannot afford to buy in the new areas in Gungahlin. They cannot afford to buy in some of the older areas such as Flynn or Gilmore where for $350,000, if you are lucky, you can get a small three-bedroom home.
This is the personal face of this government’s policies. It is hypocritical for Jon Stanhope to come in here and pretend that he has done anything to assist young
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