Page 2400 - Week 08 - Thursday, 6 August 2015

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Mr Gentleman: Madam Speaker, point of order.

MADAM SPEAKER: Have you got a point of order, Mr Gentleman?

Mr Gentleman: I do, Madam Speaker.

MADAM SPEAKER: Point of order.

Mr Gentleman: Mr Doszpot asked to speak to the petition. He is not speaking to the petition at the moment; he is speaking about general planning matters not to do with the location in the petition at all.

MR DOSZPOT: Incorrect. There was one sentence, Madam Speaker. I spoke about other related issues.

MADAM SPEAKER: I draw Mr Doszpot’s attention to the fact that he has received leave from the Assembly to speak about the petition and remind him that he should stick to the issue at hand.

MR DOSZPOT: Sure, thank you. And so it would seem that this petition has been motivated for exactly the same reason. The community had no opportunity to consider the impact of the application, had no opportunity to make comment and to discuss alternatives with the government as to what might be a better use of the land, and were given no explanation as to why the existing duplexes needed to be bulldozed.

The Old Narrabundah Community Council are passionate about heritage and have watched with increasing concern how the streetscape of nearby suburbs has changed. They are concerned to make sure that their suburb does not suffer the same fate without the community having an opportunity for a say.

Canberra Liberals will always defend the right and opportunity for people to be engaged and consulted about changes to their community. At the heart of this petition is the threat to that. I applaud the Narrabundah community for the concern and support they continue to show for their suburb.

MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Community Services, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Women and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Social Inclusion and Equality): I seek leave to speak on the petition.

Leave granted.

MS BERRY: I want to make a couple of points on Housing ACT’s proposed developments in Narrabundah. It is important to acknowledge the work of Housing ACT and the urban renewal task force in building better homes for Housing ACT residents across the city, Narrabundah being one of the suburbs that will get new public housing.


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