Page 3735 - Week 12 - Thursday, 25 November 2021
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will find that people are incredibly frustrated about the overgrown grass in the neighbourhood.
These frustrations are warranted. I was at the Weston Creek Community Council last night, sitting next to Andrew. We were talking about the concerns about mowing in Holder. Ms Vassarotti was there; she may have heard Andrew’s comments about the Holder Oval. It should be a great resource for the community, but for much of the time it cannot be used by the community, because it is not mowed. It requires local residents to go out. He said that they used to mow to try and get a bit of a track where they could walk. That is not what should be happening in a modern city like Canberra.
I am sure that the government will say, “We cannot do any more mowing, because it is raining.” It is raining, but it seems that the government have an ongoing excuse—regardless of whether it is dry, raining or whatever, there is always an excuse. They do not have a strategic plan in place to address the fact that as a city and a country, we are a land where there is drought and where there is rain. When there are protracted periods of rain, this government is unable to address the issue substantively.
This is not a short-term problem. In 2008, when I was first elected to this place, a resident from Ainslie wrote to the Canberra Times saying that the appalling state of grassy areas, reserves and nature strips around Canberra at the time was an eyesore not only to residents but to visitors, particularly during holiday seasons, and posed a very high risk of accidents as visibility was impeded at some intersections.
That was in 2008 when I first came to this place. It has been a perennial problem in this city. You would know that, Mr Assistant Speaker Davis. Living down in Tuggeranong, you would know that this is an issue that is raised with us, as local members, on a continual basis. It is not improving. It has not been addressed by this government.
In the recent budget estimates process, the Standing Committee on Planning, Transport, and City Services recommended a number of issues with regard to suburb maintenance. Recommendation 17 states:
The Committee recommends that the ACT Government match mowing services to the prevailing weather conditions including services in very wet years.
Recommendation 18 further states:
The Committee recommends that the ACT Government investigate alternative mowing solutions.
That was from a government member majority committee. Even the government members recognise that this government is not getting the job done; it is failing when it comes to getting the mowing done in our suburbs. If members of the current Labor-Greens government are not satisfied with what is going on, there is a problem. I know that that is true for all members of the community.
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