Page 1509 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 May 2017
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This block has been officially identified as a Bush Fire Prone Area: For this and many other reasons it is entirely unsuitable for the proposed development. Your petitioners therefore request the Assembly to withdraw this proposal.
The Clerk having announced that the terms of the petitions would be recorded in Hansard and referred to the appropriate ministers for response pursuant to standing order 100, the petitions were received.
Pursuant to standing order 99A, petitions having more than 500 signatories are referred to a relevant committee. Accordingly, the petitions in relation to public housing developments in Holder and Chapman stand referred to the Standing Committee on Planning and Urban Renewal with the petition relating to criminalising the non-consensual disclosure of a sexual image standing referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety.
MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (10.03), by leave: Firstly, in relation to the public housing petitions, I note that this is a significant number of signatories. In my time in the Assembly I do not recall four petitions being tabled with such a significant number of signatures. I would like to commend those members of the community who have been out in their communities speaking to people by doorknocking and at shopping centres. As I think we all understand, there is significant concern in the community about what has been proposed by the government. I commend the members of the community for instigating this action.
Madam Speaker, it is important to talk about what is happening here and to take some of the emotion out of it. We saw that in the chamber yesterday. I am speaking on behalf of the community because I have been speaking to many members of the community. It is great to see that a number have made it here today. I know that there are many people from the Weston Creek, Wright and Woden communities, including Mawson, who are watching this via webstreaming.
What is happening—this is all factual—is that the government is selling off every single public housing block on Northbourne for tens of millions of dollars. It is selling that to developers for what will be solely privately-owned accommodation. This is something that Ms Berry, back in earlier days, warned about—that it would only be there for “posh people”. They were her words. That has come to fruition under this government.
They are evicting every single public housing tenant from Northbourne. In doing so, they are desperately trying to find new sites for them. What they are doing is looking for cheap land. The cheapest land that the government can find is community-zoned land, because residential land costs more. Residential land is what this public housing should be built on but, clearly, community land comes at no expense to the government.
What they have done, as we are all aware, is sneak through something that has been described as deceitful and dodgy. It is a hidden change, a secretive change, an
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