Page 3932 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 25 August 2010
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The purpose of my advice is to seek to ensure that such provisions are reasonable and proportionate under the Human Rights Act. In this regard, your changes to existing provisions would improve the proportionality of offences relating to shopping trolleys.
The other issue that Mr Coe raised was basically that this Legislative Assembly should not be concerned with shopping trolleys. I would point out that this Legislative Assembly is for the ACT both the local council and the state government. If we are not concerned with shopping trolleys, I would ask Mr Coe who he thinks should be. I am surprised he has not interjected to say that he already said “the retailers”. Clearly, it is the issue for the retailers. Clearly, the retailers have not in every case managed to control their shopping trolleys.
Every day I come to work along Northbourne Avenue and I see shopping trolleys. I am quite amazed at the constant stream of emails I get from constituents about shopping trolleys in some remarkably inventive and inappropriate places. I am also aware of the number of people who have suffered quite severe injuries because of collisions in the dark with shopping trolleys left in inappropriate places.
Yes, I do think that shopping trolleys are one of the issues which this Assembly should concern itself with, and I am a bit disappointed that the Liberal Party’s TAMS spokesperson does not feel that trolleys are something worthy of his consideration.
MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Minister for Transport, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Land and Property Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for the Arts and Heritage) (5.29): I wish to respond too to the charge of misplaced priorities. It sort of reflects a very single-dimensional approach by the Liberal Party to issues.
It is possible for governments, Assemblies and members to deal with more than one issue at a time. Dealing with issues of litter, public amenity and the look of our public spaces is a very important issue. I have to say that based on my time in this place it does concern Canberrans. I am surprised that Mr Hanson and Mr Coe do not share the very general concern within our community around the look of our city.
One of the behaviours that impacts quite severely on the look of our city, people’s view of our city and its tidiness or otherwise is abandoned shopping trolleys. There are at times, most particularly in those suburbs around town centres or group centres, dozens and dozens of abandoned trolleys. They represent a very significant issue for government.
I think that over any given week it is fair to say that there are at different times hundreds of abandoned shopping trolleys spread across the whole of the ACT. I am stunned at the number of shopping trolleys that I see in Lake Ginninderra. There is a stunning number of shopping trolleys thrown into Lake Ginninderra, into creeks, into gutters and into ditches.
Mr Coe: And this will stop it?
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