Page 2196 - Week 06 - Friday, 27 June 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Graffiti—Copies of photographs—Various (7).
The photographs, three months apart, show no change and the same graffiti adorning that particular depot. You can have a look at those if you wish. For God’s sake, if the government cannot even clean up the ex-Cityscape depot, a depot which still has a responsibility for urban landscape management, then what signal does that send? And what do we see?
As a consequence of their failure to show pride, to demonstrate pride and to maintain their own agencies and their own associated agencies’ depots or to demand that standard of their own contracted services, we see, for example, graffiti scattered down 200 metres of Mort Street in Braddon. And it will not surprise you that the same tags that are scattered down Mort Street, Braddon, are the same tags you see on the old gardens depot. Why is that? Because graffiti vandals know that there are no deterrents; there is no will on the part of this government to clean up the graffiti.
In this year’s budget we would have hoped to have seen something done to also address the funding that used to be available to assist private property owners. And we do not see that. In fact, I read from a response from the then acting minister, Mr Barr, to a recent letter from me when I asked what was the policy—“What are you doing to help private property owners?” I talked earlier here about the kilometres of graffiti along the back fences overlooking Athllon, Hindmarsh and Isabella drives, and the response was:
The ACT Government will not accept any liability for repairs to fences that are between privately owned properties and unleased territory land that are damaged by acts of vandalism.
That was in a letter from Mr Barr of 20 June.
It is really quite sad that the government has run down the funding that used to be in budgets to at least provide some assistance to some private property owners. In this year’s budget we do not see any restoration of that activity, and it is a great shame—even a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year to at least address 10, 15 or 20 per cent of the damage we see to private property, particularly where that private property is overlooking well-used thoroughfares. It is a great shame and it is a pity the government has just ignored that.
I would like to now go on and talk about Tharwa. The people of Tharwa note the inflated future estimates devised by the minister for the refurbishment cost of Tharwa bridge. The dragging of the chain in relation to completing the refurbishment is also well noted. So this government’s neglect of Tharwa continues unabated until December 2011.
I would like to also address this particular issue: the people of southern Tuggeranong do now finally appreciate that the government has taken the opportunity granted them by an upcoming election to re-announce the planned upgrade to Tharwa Drive after three years of rollovers, recycling and re-announcements. Were you guys saving this one as an election thriller?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .