Page 3091 - Week 09 - Thursday, 13 October 2022
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Everything comes down to income support for every member on the Labor and Greens side. Of course it plays a role. I specifically mentioned that it plays a role in my motion. Of course it plays a role. But whilst every single member of the Labor and Greens parties in this place continues to spruik about policy levers that are absolutely not within their control, they absolutely ignore the policy levers that are within their control. They are stubbornly, stubbornly refusing to even consider the policy levers that are within their control because of course, conveniently, it is much easier to say: “Not our responsibility. Not our role. It is all the federal government’s responsibility.”
Mr Barr has said on a number of occasions that he is so happy now that there has been a change of government at the federal level; so now it is going to magically happen, is it not? It is going to magically happen because it was of course the evil federal Liberal-National government that was keeping people in poverty! So it is going to happen, is it not, magically, right now because we have had a change of government at the federal level.
Mr Davis says, “Just give them more money!” I do not know about the area of Tuggeranong you live in Mr Davis, but money must grow on trees! Even the Chief Minister has acknowledged that a good job is going to be a very, very, important factor when it comes to relieving people from poverty. This contribution by Mr Davis just goes to show how dangerous it is to have the Greens in government, Mr Deputy Speaker. That just goes to show how dangerous it is.
But let us talk about a job. We talked about, yes, a job is important. But at the same time, of course, as—and I acknowledge the Chief Minister acknowledged this, as I did, that the ACT has the lowest unemployment rate at the moment in the country. So if that is the single factor, then why are we here?
Ms Davidson spent the entire speech saying that she does know. Here is all the data. Here is all the work that is being done. Then the question is this, why has the rate of repeat homelessness increased in the ACT whilst it is going down all across Australia? Why? Why has it? Why has it? Mr Deputy Speaker, I am incredulous that, as a minister in this government, she is calling for action. What do you think your job is? What do you think the job of a minister in this government is? If it is you calling for action, who is actually going to take the action? I am just incredulous that after two years in this place, both Ms Davidson and Ms Vassarotti are sitting here still spruiking, “Hey, let us do something. Let us call for action.” You have the privilege of making decisions when it comes to those most vulnerable Canberrans. So instead of spruiking and saying, “let us call for action,” just do it!
Finally, Mr Davis talks about lived experience, so let us talk about lived experience. When you have kids in primary school that make fun of your house, when you are too embarrassed to invite friends over to your house because of the state it is in, when you cannot attend school excursions, and when you have debt collectors coming around, barging into your home, tagging your possessions, your household items, to see what is of value to sell, when you have that lived experience—I will not be lectured to by a Greens backbencher that this is all politics and political opportunism. That is an absolute slap in the face to the thousands, the tens of thousands of Canberrans that are doing it incredibly tough in this town. That is an absolute disrespect to the tens of thousands of Canberrans, on behalf of whom I bring this motion again.
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