Page 637 - Week 02 - Thursday, 6 March 2008
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Of course, there are other problems in relation to our schools. We hear issues about the safety and security of our children. It is disturbing to hear the stories of violence, drug dealings, assaults and all manner of affronts to personal safety and security for our children in schools, and that seems to be all a little bit too hard for this government, unlike the opposition which are at least prepared to talk with and listen to the views and suggestions of the community, the educational professionals and community safety agencies.
The government really has dropped the ball for young families in relation to schools. It has done so against everything it has sprouted for about a decade and I do not think it has been particularly efficient either. People are still scratching their heads as to why certain schools were closed and some were not. Of course, Madam Assistant Speaker, the government has been very loath to release any documentation to you and to other concerned parties about this to justify their decision. The fact remains that it is very hard to justify a decision which was fundamentally flawed from the word go.
Another issue of concern to young families is a basic one—I talked about playing cricket in the backyard—and that is recreation. It was not too long ago, probably only about six or seven years ago, that we were able to boast the best and the most diverse recreation facilities in Canberra. However, today it grieves me to see letters in the paper saying that facilities like the Chisholm district playing fields, once an incredibly vibrant heart of sporting and recreation activities in southern Tuggeranong, are now just an overgrown weed paddock—and this is despite the fact that this government have known for many years that we faced a drought. It had been pointed out to them that they could take measures such as simply adopting couch grass, which they now seem to be prepared to do, which could have saved about 70 per cent of watering of a lot of our facilities. Why didn’t they do it when the signs were first there, when it was first brought to their attention? Again, they are only starting to do very little, very, very late, and that seriously impacts on amenities for families—playing on ovals, be it organised sport, simply walking the dog or playing a bit a cricket there with the kids, throwing frisbees—whatever.
Speaking of overgrown weed paddocks, we have seen this government do a little to attack the unabated spread of noxious weeds like Paterson’s curse through some of our recreational parks, again an amenity families that like. We have seen the government deny the Gungahlin community the facilities that they clearly need, such as a swimming pool. The government seems quite happy to design one into the Bimberi youth detention centre, which will have a maximum capacity of about 40 detainees, but in terms of the Gungahlin community it is very, very tardy with essential recreational facilities, and a swimming pool is just one.
In terms of other recreation activities, we have seen the government utterly fail to deliver on things like its promise for a dragway for the ACT community. We have seen it neglect and allow an eyesore to develop at Phillip oval, a facility so well located and with so much potential that it could be made into a great community asset. There is even the general look of the city which is a concern to our young families. What sort of impression does ghastly graffiti have on our young children? Why should they run through long grass in some of our recreational areas and why should
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