Page 2321 - Week 06 - Friday, 27 June 2008
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Dr Foskey: Everybody should be like that.
MR PRATT: Of course, and their neighbours should be like that, as Dr Foskey has so wisely pointed out. I hope Dr Foskey is not worried about the focus here. The reason, Dr Foskey, they should be all of those things is that the neighbourhoods in which they live should be those things. We want a nice blend, don’t we? We want a harmonious society. The point I am making is that, sadly, this is not necessarily the case. I have constituents who are concerned about the government’s mismanagement of public housing and public housing tenants, both in terms of the sorts of public housing complexes that Mr Mulcahy just referred to and also dispersed, if you like, public housing in suburbs.
These people have concerns about bad neighbours. I might add, by the way, that I was quite surprised at the overwhelming numbers of people who approached me at Calwell shops on a number of occasions a couple of months ago. Public housing tenants and private housing owners—good neighbours all—came to me concerned that they were living next to bad neighbours who had been recidivist offenders—breaking the law and being bad neighbours—in some cases for up to 12 months.
There is a particular street in Theodore where a group of property owners have got together to tear their hair out about a situation involving, of all things, prostitution in their street. The problem with prostitution, whether it is legal or illegal, in a suburban house is that the whole damn street tends to wear it. That is what has happened in this particular street in Theodore. Up to 25 people who live in the street have signed petitions and called ACT Housing and the minister’s office and 12 months later, as at three or four weeks ago, little had been done. I am getting some feedback that there might be some movement at the station at at least one of the three houses in question in this particular street.
Why the hell has it taken so long for the government to wake up to the fact that they have got a problem and to sort it out? Everybody—owners of private houses and good, neighbourly public housing tenants—all have the right to live in peace and quiet. They all have the right to see their neighbourhood grow and develop in a peaceful way. They want the amenity and the quality of suburban life to be of a reasonable standard. It seems to me that this dynamic is going down and down, month after month and year after year. This decline can be sheeted home to the government.
I want to talk about a number of issues. I have just talked about Theodore and the prostitution, burglaries and vandalism coming out of three houses affecting 40 neighbours who have formed a group and tried to do something about it. They have represented their concerns but they have not seen much action. That is not so much a criticism of the police here because it seems the police have attended on a number of occasions. But the police have gone away scratching their heads. Talk to government departments, ACT Housing and community services. I would bet there has been no damn follow-up.
One of the Theodore residents said to me, “Look, I am selling my damn house. I have had this, but property values in this damn street have dropped about $40,000. I can no
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