Page 672 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 9 March 2011

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writing by the Chief Minister that by a particular date—I think 11 February—all the work would be done in that area. It has not been done.

I am now quite concerned, because I received some more correspondence about dangerous potholes in footpaths. I have not had a chance to go out and check whether the work has been done, but I was assured—I think yesterday—that the work would be done by the time I received the letter. So I will have to go out and check, because there is such an extraordinarily dangerous pothole quite close to where I live which people have drawn to my attention. If anyone went into this area at night—it is on a bicycle path and it is not lit—they would break their ankle because the hole is so deep.

It is now becoming clear that we cannot rely on the Chief Minister’s advice. He sends us letters that say, “It is fixed,” or, “It will be fixed,” or, “This is the state of the meteorology and this is the wettest summer we have had.” All of this stuff turns out to be wrong. Not only are we not getting the service, but when we pursue it, as is our job as elected members in this place, we get brum information from the Chief Minister. He just does not care. He clocked out of this job quite some time ago. He spent a lot of time in Spain, and at the moment he seems to be taking money under false pretences. This idea that Canberra has never looked so beautiful is a joke.

The Chief Minister is correct that the place is green because it has rained. That is fortuitous for all of us. But you need to drive around and have a look. I suggest, Chief Minister, that you drive down Copland Drive and see how much African lovegrass there is. It is in Belconnen; it is in your electorate. Just see how much African lovegrass is growing out of the crevices on the footpaths, on the kerbing and on the guttering along Copland Drive. You might think it is amusing, but my constituents do not. It is a real problem for a whole lot of reasons: (a) it is unsightly, (b) African lovegrass is a noxious weed, and you are not doing enough about that.

Then you should go and have a look at Mount Painter. Mount Painter is no longer green because it is covered in dead thistles. The entirety of Mount Painter from the boundary of the nature park all the way to the summit on all sides is brown with thistles. Then go out along Coppins Crossing Road to the place where you took rural lessees off the land two or three years ago because you want to build houses there. No cattle have been agisted there. The place is wall-to-wall thistles because there is no-one managing the land. You took the landholders off who were managing the land, and no-one is now managing the land.

For years the members on the Liberal side of this place have been drawing to your attention the state of urban amenity with weed growth, poor mowing practices, potholes, the whole lot, and you do nothing about it. You shrug your shoulders, you wave your hands and say, “I can’t do anything about it”. There are things that you can do about it. You can take an interest; you can ensure that when you sign letters to me or Mr Coe that the information in them is correct; you can ensure that when officials tell you that repairs are being done, they are being done; and you can ensure that the amenities of the people of the ACT, who pay very high rates, are well-maintained.

Mr Coe makes the correct point that our rates are going up at one rate and the rate at which you spend money on our urban amenity is going up at a much lower rate. The people of the ACT deserve better for their rates. They deserve more attention from


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