Page 837 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 18 March 2015

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MADAM SPEAKER: It does not matter, Mr Doszpot. The standing orders say that you address the chair. That is what standing order 42 says.

MR DOSZPOT: I am absolutely amazed by the fact that the amendment has been moved and that Mr Rattenbury and colleagues on the other side have agreed to something that really flies in the face of all of the requests that the community has been talking to them about. It is to the eternal shame of members of this government that they are persisting in such blatant ignorance of what is being said to them by the community. Minister Gentleman either does not listen to the community or simply does not understand what the community is trying to say to him. My point on this is that I guess he simply does not care and he does not understand.

While on the subject of shame, it is beneath contempt that Minister Gentleman tried to use a comparison between one of the most advantaged suburbs and one of the most disadvantaged suburbs in order to argue a point—a point that was incorrect in any event. Minister Gentleman’s figures on crime statistics, broken down to a per capita basis, show that in Oaks Estate there is one offence for every 3.86 people, while in Yarralumla it is one offence for every 7.57 people. The crime profile for Oaks Estate is almost double that of Yarralumla. So what was his point, other than making a cheap shot at me? It further highlights to the Oaks Estate community that Mr Gentleman does not care about these issues. Even though I may live in Yarralumla, I certainly do. I failed to see his point, as did the representatives of Oaks Estate who are here.

Mr Rattenbury indicated that he will be supporting the amendment. He also tried to suggest that there is a bright future for Oaks Estate. My retort at the time to Mr Rattenbury was, and I repeat it now, that by their actions here today they have indicated that there is no bright future for the Oaks Estate community while this government are in power. They have had 15 years to fix these problems and still today they have failed to even understand what the problems are, let alone be prepared to take action. They have crossed out every single item that relates to any action, and they have failed to appreciate the depth of concern, the weariness of the residents and the fact that they have been continually overlooked and not listened to.

I will now turn to my summing up. Those remarks were in relation to the amendment.

MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are going to close now?

MR DOSZPOT: I am going to close now.

MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: We need to deal with the amendment first.

Question put:

That Mr Gentleman’s amendment be agreed to.

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

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