Page 2632 - Week 08 - Thursday, 14 August 2014
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MRS JONES (Molonglo) (5.24): The estimates report goes to a number of recommendations around children’s playgrounds, and I will take the opportunity under this line item to speak about an issue which is raised with me by mums in the community on a regular basis, often also by carers and grandparents—that is, local playgrounds. Local suburban playgrounds are an important part of communities and need to be well maintained and regularly assessed—as I believe they are by this government—but not just for safety but also to ensure that they have adequate and age-appropriate equipment.
Playgrounds are of great benefit for the families of our city. They are good for the health and wellbeing of children, for mums, dads, carers, grandparents and the like. Additionally, playgrounds are a core municipal service and need to be well maintained, and some playgrounds are in need of upgrading. I am of the strong belief that there should be a fully fenced playground in each zone of our city so that mums and dads and carers can plan to go and enjoy the respite that playgrounds offer for the whole family and so mums can sit on the park bench at the playground and breastfeed their babies with knowledge that the toddler climbing on the rope ladder or sliding down the slide is in safety and will not wander onto local roads or towards water areas.
As I have said in previous debates, imagine getting to the park after doing three-hourly feeds during the night, unloading the kids and finding that the baby needs feeding. You get ready to feed, get the baby feeding, and the other child you are looking after wanders out of the playground area. It is very important that there are at least some parks that are completely fenced so that mums who are breastfeeding or have very small babies can go to the park as well.
Many cities around Australia have fully fenced playgrounds that are frequented by families and are regularly used as meeting places for mums groups. A trip to the playground to meet up with a group of other mums can be the best event of a week for a mum who is at home. It is great for her mental health and to get out into the fresh air. It is a great place for her toddler to develop skills of confidence in climbing, swinging, sliding down the slide. It is a worthwhile adventure for everyone. For examples of such parks, please have a look at Holbrook, near the toilet block; Hobart, Marieville Esplanade, where there is a park fenced for toddlers within a park fenced for older children; and Annandale, Birchgrove and Mosman in Sydney.
For families to be able to plan to spend a morning, not just 10 minutes, at the park, and have all the health benefits that come with it, I support the recommendations of the estimates committee around playgrounds. Having just a few fenced playgrounds in our city would be a real benefit to the families of Canberra, and I will continue to harp on about this as long as necessary until something is done.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Corrective Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Sport and Recreation) (5.27): I am pleased to speak about the proposed expenditure for the Territory and Municipal Services portfolio. TAMS certainly has a big job to do out there in our city, and there are a limitless number of areas we could talk about tonight. The thing we all know is that in the scheme of things Canberra is a great city to live in and, in fact, the standard of services and
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