Page 1337 - Week 04 - Thursday, 5 May 2022
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Where was the outcry when the government spent over $1 million in two years in looking at the western edge? What has happened to that? It is okay for the Labor-Greens government to buy up land in New South Wales for future development, but when anybody else says, “Hey, what about this? Let’s just have a look to see whether this might be possible for residential development,” oh, no. The hypocrisy amongst the Labor and the Greens members of this government is rank and it is second only to their arrogance. Mr Gentleman literally snorted out, “But we are in government.” That is the most arrogant phrase that I have heard from Mr Gentleman, and that is saying something, coming from him. The complete lack of respect and complete lack of regard for people who have given us the privilege to be voices for them in this chamber is disgusting.
I am shocked at Mr Davis’s contribution. I really should not be because, of course, everything he says is to get the headlines. Mr Parton and Ms Lawder spoke in depth about the concerns that have been raised by their constituents down in Tuggeranong, about the concerns they have about the future of Tuggeranong and about the vibrancy of Tuggeranong, but not once was this addressed or even referred to in Mr Davis’s speech. It really does beg the question, Madam Speaker, why he is in this place. Certainly he is not listening to his constituents.
The 2012 taxation review, the Quinlan review, which most members in this place will be familiar with, said that there was about 70 years of land left. The Chief Minister later, in about 2018, clarified that and said, “No, there is far less time because we will run out of land to sell.” He was, of course, referring to easily developed land, without the need to build infrastructure like bridges or to do large-scale earthworks to prepare the land for sale. What is Molonglo? What is Ginninderry? What are those? The hypocrisy is rank amongst the members of the Labor and Greens government.
The fact is that if the Labor-Greens government wanted to, and if they had any care and regard for thousands of Canberrans who are desperate to access land to build a house, they could do it. The very simple fact is that they will not; they will not do it. They are wedded to an infill policy that is failing to meet the needs and wants of the Canberra community and, in doing so, failing to give them genuine options when it comes to housing.
We know that they have no regard for Tuggeranong—your electorate, Madam Speaker. We know that they do not because you just have to have a look at the figures. Both Mr Parton and Ms Lawder talked about them, about the struggling businesses and the ageing population—and let’s not even get started on the school numbers. You just have to have a look to see what is happening to the school numbers in Tuggeranong. Is the Chief Minister going to close more schools down in Tuggeranong, as he did when he closed 23 schools as education minister? The hypocrisy is rank amongst Labor and the Greens.
Mr Gentleman spoke about how it takes seven to 10 years to get land ready for residential development. Who has been in power for the last seven to 10 years? The question is not about: “You know what? It’s going to take too long.” The question is: what have you been doing for the last seven to 10 years? We know that Mr Gentleman
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