Page 423 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 2018
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deliver outcomes that meet the community’s real needs. Grassroots democracy is one of the Greens’ four pillars.
We welcome and continue to support the citizens jury on compulsory third-party insurance as a first step towards meeting this parliamentary agreement commitment. I look forward to actually seeing the final stages of the jury process unfold and to learning more about the outcomes of this important step forward in the way in which we engage with the community. I am also looking forward even more to the pilot participatory budgeting process that the government has agreed to as part of the 2019-20 ACT budget cycle, given that it followed a motion of mine last year.
To increase and broaden the community ownership over future citizens juries, I think it is worthwhile asking the community what issues they want to be consulted about, where they want to be heard. Some of the topics I have previously suggested are relevant in particular to younger Canberrans and would assist the government in strengthening its engagement with youth and children.
Given that there are over 500 playgrounds in Canberra and the government does not have the budget to maintain them all to their original standard, it could well be worthwhile having a broader community discussion about whether we should instead concentrate on having fewer but better playgrounds, rather than the three to five in each suburb. In my electorate of Murrumbidgee, the residents of both Farrer and Waramanga would love a new playground, and Torrens would like one of theirs upgraded. I know Mrs Kikkert presented a petition on this issue last year.
Looking at playgrounds, this would also be a perfect opportunity to test innovative engagement with children. When consulting children, young children in particular, it is important to ask them questions on local things that matter in their everyday lives—things like what they want to see in playgrounds or the safety of their walk to school. Ask them about big, intangible things and you will get answers like spaceships and meerkats which are interesting and useful but possibly do not strike the balance that government needs between imagination and reality.
In 2016 the students of Macquarie Primary School showed just how strong solutions created by young people can be when they took out a national good design award for their innovative approach to resolving the school car park issues. In collaboration with Design Managers Australia, the students came up with practical and inexpensive solutions to improve traffic flow during peak periods and drivers’ understanding of the rules. This example demonstrates that young Canberrans are fantastic at thinking outside the box when solving problems that they confront in their everyday life, and we should certainly be consulting them more.
Another suggestion for a potential citizens jury was to consider lowering the voting age. While 16-year-olds can currently join the army, get a gun licence, get a job, pay tax and drive a car, they are still not considered mature or adult enough to actually participate in an election. Together as a community, we should consider following other countries in addressing this gap. As politicians, we must find better ways to connect with our young adults, understand the issues on which they want to be heard
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