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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 02 Hansard (Wednesday, 3 March 2004) . . Page.. 706 ..

who advised me of continuous problems with some of the children, teenagers and young adults who come through the APUs and make threats to a number of the older people there. That is a particularly disgusting and cowardly act towards helpless, frail old people.

I know the police have been called out on a number of occasions and, yes, certain action has been taken and steps have been taken. But the problem is ongoing. The house in Worrell Place where these tenants reside obviously was freshly painted and fixed up before they moved in. The front guttering has now basically been pulled off the roof. Someone or person or persons unknown have kicked in the fence and the gate and it certainly has a dilapidated look about it. The problems are ongoing there.

There are some problems that the minister is aware of, which I have brought to his attention, in relation to another family and grouping in Dunlop. I have been advised that crime in that area—break and enters and other incidents—has gone up by about a third. Okay, you cannot necessarily pin it on that particular group; but the other persons who live in that area are living in fear. One family I spoke to had to move their little girl into another room because her bedroom was very close to this house and she was terrified. There have been allegations of assaults. Neighbours are trying to work through the problem, but they do not seem to be succeeding.

I know it is difficult, but at the end of the day I think housing has to accept its responsibilities to be a model landlord, and that means doing the right thing not only by its tenants but by law abiding citizens who live in the vicinity, next door or close to housing trust properties. As I said earlier, it is a very worrying concern to have a constant stream of complaints from people who have the neighbours from hell moved in next to them. It is important that the minister and housing take this matter very, very seriously. The bottom line is that the rights of the average law-abiding citizen, be they elderly and frail aged as in the case of the ones in Florey or just neighbours in the case of the ones in Dunlop, have to be protected. If need be, those bad tenants simply have to be moved again. I know it is hard for the minister, but at the end of the day there is a duty by housing, by the government, to law-abiding citizens in this territory.

On a more pleasant note, because my colleague Mr Smyth could not attend I attended on Saturday night a wonderful function recognising all the talented sports people in the Tuggeranong Valley. It was a bit out of my bailiwick but, as the founder of the Tuggeranong junior rugby club back in about 1979, it is always good to get down there. It was great to see so many very talented young and not so young athletes and various sporting groups rewarded for their efforts. The Tuggeranong Valley rugby club supports about 55 different sporting organisations and it was a particularly good night. The Treasurer, I noticed, was there, as was Mr Wood. I had a wonderful evening, made all the more pleasant by sharing a table with my old second row partner “Ooh Aah John McGrath” and also Dick Hehir, the founding father of the Tuggeranong rugby club, who a long time ago used to be a quite talented prop. He has put on a few pounds since then and got a bit greyer, but it was great to see him again.

MR SPEAKER: The member’s time has expired.

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