Page 555 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 14 March 2007
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Mr Speaker, in the last four months our community has been left reeling as a result of the ACT government’s decision to close the Griffith library and a number of schools. While the immediate reaction from people affected was to protest loudly, question the basis on which these decisions were made and hope that they could be repealed, we are now starting to wonder what will become of those premises that once served a community purpose.
There is a strong proposition, supported by the ACT Greens, that the Labor government made the wrong decision in many of these cases, and there should be an opportunity for the decisions to be revisited once a more thoughtful and transparent analysis has been conducted and made public. The decision to close so many schools and facilities is unprecedented. The community land on which they are sited is a limited resource. Any decision to permanently change the use of those buildings and to sell off or develop the land should come after the next election, when the electorate has had the time to consider properly the options before it. We must remember that people who voted for the ALP at the 2004 election had no idea it had plans to make access to education more difficult in some communities.
I think these are important issues, and I have not moved this motion in order to simply say the government has got everything wrong. My argument is that the level of change and reorganisation is so great, and to date has been so much the province of internal government analysis and decision, that it needs to be tested at the 2008 election.
What is the future of our local communities? Some ingredients of that mix must include: rapidly increasing oil costs and climate change producing a compelling imperative to reduce energy use; the need to restructure our lives, particularly the lives of children, around healthier lifestyles; and the community’s desire for lifelong learning. Surely we need profound engagement across our community on the future of essential community services such as public education, access to information, libraries, health services and local shops, before we are locked in to the sale or redevelopment of community sites for aged care or private housing.
Recent damage to the Griffin Centre as a result of the supercell storm reminded the Canberra community how vulnerable its community groups are, especially when it comes to accommodation. While this was an emergency situation, many community groups and vulnerable citizens are facing similar crises every day. ACTCOSS, for instance, is faced with having to move as they are unable to provide necessary services due to difficulties with accommodation and infrastructure. We know that they are operating under extreme difficulties.
The ACT government has a policy, referred to in its 2004-05 property report, to help the non-government sector, where possible, through the use of its properties within the strategic and financial framework of cost-effective property administration. I understand that the property group within TAMS has a community groups waiting list for sites that the government leases out and that that list is long. The application guidelines state:
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