Page 2682 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 12 August 2015
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I must state at the outset that although I am a minister in the government, none of the issues fall within my ministerial responsibilities and I certainly do not recall this matter being brought before cabinet. They are technical matters. I am not going to get into the issues Mr Doszpot raised about the timing of those things but these are matters that, as a local member in Molonglo, have certainly come to my attention. I have discussed this matter with the Chief Minister a number of times, as well as writing to him.
What is quite clear is that the destruction of the Canberra Services Club by fire presented a challenge in terms of finding a new and more appropriate home for the club, but also an opportunity to think about what could be possible in the Manuka Oval precinct. However, in seeking to address this fairly defined issue of helping the Canberra Services Club, it seems that other pieces of public land have been drawn into the scenario, bringing a level of change and upheaval that does seem to have got out of proportion having regard to the initial issue that we faced.
Whilst a range of scenarios have perhaps been contemplated, it is clear that the community has not been privy to the amount of thinking that has gone on inside government. That has led to the situation where I think many people were caught by surprise by the proposal. There has not been a discussion with the community about possible approaches, which could have been provided, and it also would have allowed for community ideas to come forward, of which there are many, and I will come back to that point.
Certainly, with regard to Mocca, it is unclear whether there is a specific government policy to move away from community-based not-for-profit childcare facilities or whether this was simply a case of Mocca being caught up in this broader issue. Again, I welcome the comments that I have just heard from the Chief Minister about the importance of community-based not-for-profit child care. Certainly the ACT Greens firmly support community-based not-for-profit childcare facilities. So if there were to be any change in the ACT government’s position around that, we would want to have a very considerable discussion about policy direction and why any change might be necessary—not that we think that it is a necessity, but that is a debate that would need to be had more broadly if there were to be some change there.
Similarly, with regard to Telopea school, it is unclear whether the land upon which the tennis courts are located was considered superfluous to the school’s current and projected future needs or whether it was just opportunistically identified through what was seemingly a desktop-based effort to solve this issue.
The Greens support urban renewal and a more compact city. However, it is essential that we take the community with us on this journey. I believe that early and open community consultation is essential if we are to make some changes to our city that will mean it is different from how it has been in the past. If the trust of the community is broken this makes it much harder for that transition to occur in our city.
In reflecting on this issue I have thought of a number of other possible solutions. Certainly, at the meeting at Telopea, members of the community raised a number of
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