Page 1112 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 30 March 2011
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where we will never get ahead of the game. We saw the comments by Ms Brodtmann, the member for Canberra, in the federal parliament last week. She too expressed concerns about the long wait lists in the ACT and the need for us to do something about that. She told stories of people having to put their children on wait lists possibly before they are born. I was speaking with a childcare provider recently who said that she receives about two phone calls a day from people that she has to turn away because she cannot provide services.
There is no way of accurately determining where we are and what is the pent-up demand for childcare—because there is no centralised waiting list; an idea that has been pooh-poohed by the minister but, interestingly, the Chief Minister has taken on board and thought was an idea with merit. Of course it is an idea with merit; it was one that was suggested by Mr Seselja and me.
So here we are, almost a year from the original announcement to refurbish Flynn primary school, we are eight months from D-day when the kids are supposed to occupy this new childcare centre, and we do not have plans. We, the Canberra Liberals, have grave concerns about the minister’s capacity to deliver.
So my motion here today calls on the minister, by the end of the sitting period, to table in the Assembly the final upgrade plan, the plan of works, the current budget and a work timetable and to brief the Assembly on the financial and other assistance the government is providing to Alkira and Gumnut for amalgamation and the move to Flynn, the government’s contingency plans for the continued operation of Alkira and Gumnut at their current premises in the event that the works timetable is not met, and other action the government is taking to address the continuing shortage of childcare places in west Belconnen in particular and Canberra in general.
We know that Minister Burch has no capacity to answer most of these questions, especially the last two, because she does not know where the demand is. Minister Burch has spent a lot of time with bandaid fixes and she spent a lot of time last year crowing about her achievements. She had ticked off, she said in here, because she had delivered something for Gumnut. But that tick is a contingent tick because at this stage there is no place for Gumnut to move to.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (5.09): I thank Mrs Dunne for bringing on this motion today. Again in this place we are discussing childcare and its importance to many Canberra families. This time it is the families of west Belconnen, although it was, as Mrs Dunne mentioned, not that long ago when we were talking about Gumnut in relation to childcare.
From my discussions with a number of constituents there is considerable need for childcare places in west Belconnen. Currently, there are waiting lists in most centres. The Baringa centre in Spence has just increased by 30 places. After four years of lobbying, the project is finally completed. This is good news. But despite now having 110 places, the centre still has a large waiting list. Two other centres, Alkira and Gumnut, provide care and Alkira with 70 places is currently housed, as we know, in unsuitable accommodation. Of course, it did need to relocate. Gumnut, as we know, is a small community-based service with 35 places.
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