Page 530 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 17 February 2016
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fingerprints, write a report and open an investigation. Then on the back of that they will attempt to bring to justice the person who committed the crime. And it is a crime. Then I can claim damages to my front door, for the repair of the spray painting to my lounge room walls, on my home and contents insurance. Yet when it comes to the crime of graffiti vandalism on people’s back fences the home owner is left completely on their own to foot the bill.
Here in our democratic society we have a type of social contract in place. Citizens pay their taxes to the government and in return the government provides services that the citizen is unable to provide for themselves such as roads, hospitals, schools, police and, preferably, a relatively safe society. Here in Canberra people are paying more and more in their taxes by way of ever-increasing rates; yet the government is not keeping up its end of the bargain. This government is happy to blame the residents for the crime of vandalism, or to make them take responsibility for something that they have no ability to control, against their property and forces them to foot a bill with no assistance.
There needs to be more focus not only on stopping the vandalism but on quick removal. The balance is not right. The home owners along Hindmarsh Drive are regularly having criminals come along and intentionally damage their property and inflicting costs on them. However, unlike in the scenario I mentioned earlier about a criminal doing this in my lounge room, there is absolutely no desire by the government to stop these criminals or even to try to prevent the activity. The home owner has no power over what happens on territory land onto which these fences face and the government is turning a blind eye to the crimes that are being committed on that government land.
Canberra ratepayers are paying for a safe and well-maintained city. They have an expectation of a safe and well-maintained city but under this government some basic municipal services are not being provided and every cent is being stripped out of services to fund the tram along Northbourne Avenue.
I spoke with one mother whose home backs onto Hindmarsh Drive who was at her wits end about the constant graffiti vandalism that they are subjected to. She and her husband saved for years to be able to buy a family home. They have got their ailing parents living over the road. They have one child with special needs and a couple of other kids. Their special needs child requires specialist appointments which cost hundreds of dollars each time. The mum gets up each morning to go to work from 4 am till 8 am so that she can be home to take kids to school and be there when they come home.
She tells me that every dollar they earn is allocated to paying their mortgage and ensuring their family is provided for. Now that they have higher rates to pay, things are tougher for them. The cost of having to repair their back fence regularly due to the constant vandalism is just too much for her now. She has lost the heart that government will even bother holding up their end of the bargain and work to stop the criminal activity.
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