Page 425 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 19 February 2019
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big ideas and everything in between. And then it was all systems go. Sue White is a doer. A Facebook group was established and a date was set for a community get-together at the shops for mid-December, partnering with La Casetta pizzeria to offer a deal to make it even more exciting for people.
I was very happy to sponsor the printing of flyers, but everything else was done by willing Scullin residents who immediately put their hands up, again ably organised by Sue and others. They letterboxed the community in a matter of days, alerting Scullin residents to the get-together and to the Facebook group. In just a few weeks the Facebook group boomed and many residents said they would be at the get-together, and they were.
On Friday, 14 December we met at the shops. Simply with the presence of people—of families, of children—and a few chairs and blankets, those struggling shops came alive. Add in some free and discounted pizza, the services of Neighbourhood Watch and Belconnen Community Service, chalk, bubbles, paper planes, ukulele singalongs and local businesses opening late, it was a huge success.
It has not stopped there. Despite the Christmas holidays in the mix there have been numerous street libraries, including a children’s street library; new planter boxes planned at the shops; and discussions about murals. As well as this, an application for a coffee shop is in the works.
This has all happened in just three months, thanks to Scullin residents enthusiastically coming together but particularly due to the work of people like Sue, like Rachel, like Tiffany and Nicole and like Sharon Leigh-Hazell, who is technically a Florey resident but has been instrumental in providing advice, particularly on the Neighbourhood Watch aspects and how to bring a community together. There is also the Belconnen Community Service, who did not even hesitate when approached to come on board.
I have really loved collaborating with the Scullin community and will keenly continue to do so. Most of all I really look forward to updating the Assembly on what happens next. I expect that that will be in the very near future.
Better Renting
MR PARTON (Brindabella) (4.09): I rise today to alert this chamber and the rest of Canberra to the fact that you have been misled, you have been hoodwinked by the so-called renters’ advocacy group known as Better Renting. Better Renting are masquerading as a renters’ advocacy group when in fact they are very, very clearly a front for the Greens. Those who signed up to Better Renting in the belief that Mr Joel Dignam will be looking after their best interests have been sadly let down.
Better Renting of course has been in the news of late for releasing a report called House of Lords: Landlords and Tenants in the Legislative Assembly, which was completely incorrect in that it declared that Michael Pettersson was the only MLA who was renting. Indeed, at the time that the information for that report was gathered, my understanding is that three Liberal MLAs were renting. It must be said that Liberal
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