Page 1927 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 5 August 2014
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incident of vehicle tyre damage, however ACT Policing is still investigating all historical instances of vehicle tyre damage, specifically in Narrabundah and Griffith.
ACT Policing is committed to creating a safer, more secure community in Canberra. With any form of criminal behaviour and activity in Canberra, ACT Policing relies on information from the public to assist in investigating instances of crime. I would urge any ACT resident with any further information in relation to vehicle tyre damage, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestoppers.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.
Environment—Lake Tuggeranong—petitions Nos 11-14 and 14-14
MS LAWDER (Brindabella), by leave: For as long as I can remember, we have had problems with the water quality in Lake Tuggeranong, problems with the lake’s closure and the blue-green algae; it is all too familiar for Tuggeranong residents. For years the residents of Tuggeranong, who would like to be able to enjoy the amenity of their lake, have not been able to do so.
Today I would like to speak to this petition which has over 3,000 signatures—signatures that show how much these issues matter to the residents of Tuggeranong and to the wider Canberra community. It is not just people who live nearby. It is people who work in the town centre, go to school near the lake or just enjoy using the lake. Over 3,000 people are calling on the government to address this issue now. This was a promise at the last election and it makes up part of the Labor agreement with the Greens. But every man and his dog who would also like to walk around the lake can see and smell that action has not yet been taken. Over 3,000 people want this government to go ahead with what they have already promised. The Labor-Greens agreement states, at item 3.11(a):
Construction of four new wetlands to improve water quality at Tuggeranong (2), Yarralumla and Ginninderra by June 2016 …
The agreement does not say “work on a proposal by 2016”, “start in 2016”, or “continue with monitoring”, as that has already been going on for years. The agreement refers to the construction of two wetlands in Tuggeranong by 2016. It is now August 2014 and nothing has been started in Tuggeranong except more monitoring.
The petition, which has been driven by the Tuggeranong lake carers group, calls on the government to take immediate action to clean up Lake Tuggeranong and fulfil their election promise to build wetlands in the Tuggeranong valley, which will help to improve the quality of water flowing into the lake. There are two parts to this: the immediate action of cleaning up the lake; and the long-term solution of creating wetlands. And they need to start now.
As a member for Brindabella and a resident of Tuggeranong for the last 26 years, I understand the need for action in this area, and I am happy to stand with and for the residents of Tuggeranong who are petitioning our Assembly today.
If you look back at this issue 10 or 20 years ago, you can see that not a lot has changed. For example, on 5 March 1994 a Canberra Times article said, “Warning
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