Page 297 - Week 01 - Thursday, 13 February 2020
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I cannot tell members how frequently this issue comes up when I am out in the community. To say that this is the number one issue for people in Yerrabi is not an understatement. Why is that? Because under this long-serving government Canberrans have seen their rates triple; they have seen fees and charges go through the roof; and they have seen rents skyrocket.
As a father of a young 20-something-year-old, I can say that I am concerned for his future. How will young people afford to buy their first home and raise a family in Canberra? How will the aspirations of young people from my electorate of Yerrabi, young families who are working hard to get ahead, ever be realised? We will have to answer for them. They will just have to vote for a Coe Liberal government in October this year. We have already pledged to freeze rates from day one. I can guarantee that we will manage the budget better and respect the ratepayers of this city.
In addition to respect, it is time that residents in the ACT received better value for money. Under this Labor government, we now have Australia’s most expensive education system, yet a lack of support for teachers. We have Australia’s most expensive hospital, yet nurses are at breaking point. We have Australia’s most expensive prison, yet there is very little rehabilitation. We have Australia’s most expensive petrol. We have Australia’s highest cost of owning and running a car. We have Australia’s highest rates of assault on prison guards. We have Australia’s smallest frontline police force. We have Australia’s worst rental stress. And we have Australia’s highest rent, Australia’s highest rate of repeat homelessness, Australia’s highest gas prices, Australia’s least affordable housing market for young people, Australia’s most expensive childcare costs, and Australia’s worst hospital waiting times. This is just not good enough.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I have heard many stories while talking to residents in my electorate of Yerrabi. The same themes keep coming up. Let me share one of those stories with you.
Jason and Kathy live in Bonner with their young family. Jason works full time running his own business. Kathy combines two part-time jobs so she can share family commitments with her husband. They are often up late into the night doing their own bookkeeping and planning how they can grow their business.
When I doorknocked one Thursday afternoon, Kathy was about to take the kids out to their karate lessons in Mitchell, an activity the kids loved to do. But the family is really stretched and they are wondering how they can continue to afford for their child to continue at karate. Kathy told me that in most months they are scraping together money to cover things like rates, car rego and bills. She worries that they have not had a holiday, not even a weekend away or time camping, in the past two years. They just cannot afford it. Despite working so hard and risking so much, they struggle to get ahead here in the nation’s capital.
This tired Labor-Greens government should be ashamed of the past 19 years that they have been in power. This is the reality facing many people in our community. This is just one story. I could go on to seniors, single parents, students, tradespeople,
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