Page 1164 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 7 May 2014
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will spend around $14 million maintaining roads and car parks this financial year alone, not to mention the money that is being spent rolling out capital upgrades such as the Belconnen to city transit way, the Parkes Way widening and the Cotter Road duplication.
When it comes to housing and housing affordability, as part of our parliamentary agreement ACT Labor and the Greens are currently constructing common ground—a new housing model for the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in the ACT, providing 20 new permanent homes for people currently experiencing primary homelessness, as well as 20 new affordable rental homes. On top of this, there are a range of other measures through the affordable housing action plan. Just recently I have been able to implement changes to the affordable rental scheme to particularly acknowledge the vulnerability of older women in our community who often find themselves, later in life, with very limited assets and with limited income and find themselves particularly vulnerable in the rental market.
Again, we are looking at very practical day-to-day issues. Under the scheme we had and the way it had played out, tenants found that through changes in the rental market they were being unfairly squeezed. The government has responded to that by providing a new tiered rent system that meets those cost of living and affordability issues that some of our more vulnerable Canberrans are facing.
There are a whole range of other areas that are addressed in the motion. We have talked a lot in recent days about corrections and the Alexander Maconochie Centre. As part of that and as part of that announcement I have been very clear that the government will be actively working to not just deliver bricks and mortar at the prison, as necessary as that is. There is also the work that we will undertake to keep our community safer through reduced crime. This will take shape in the coming months as the Attorney-General and I develop a new justice reform strategy aimed at reducing reoffending and keeping the community safe.
The strategy will seek to provide a more comprehensive framework to the good programs already underway, such as through-care, restorative justice, drug and alcohol diversion programs and more intensive community-based supervision orders. Basically, we are committed to ensuring that we are not just investing in the necessary infrastructure at the prison but working hard to ensure that as few people as possible are going to jail, which, of course, has a benefit for the rest of the community, by minimising the crime rate.
What I found particularly stood out in Mr Hanson’s motion, and it was a glaring omission, was that he made absolutely no reference to the natural environment as a priority. The ecosystem, which we all rely on to provide fresh air to breathe, fresh water to drink and fresh food to eat, did not rate a mention at all in his list of priorities. That really is an incredible oversight that is not in tune with the attitude of Canberrans. They know that we need to take responsibility for sustainability and for ensuring that we protect our environment, and not just all the things that were listed in Mr Hanson’s motion.
The areas that Mr Hanson listed are important, but a government needs to be able to undertake more than just 10 priorities. It needs to be able work on a range of areas and
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