Page 535 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 17 February 2016
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(g) it is the responsibility of private owners to remove graffiti from their property; and
(h) that monthly complaints have been decreasing over time;
(2) commends the ACT Government on the creation of a Graffiti Coordinator; and
(3) calls on the Government to continue to:
(a) work with street artists to drive a positive culture of street art in the community; and
(b) monitor incidents of illegal graffiti and action its removal as appropriate.”.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (4.29): I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issue of graffiti vandalism this afternoon. It is certainly an issue I have taken some considerable interest in, particularly in my former role as the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, where I received constituent feedback on this issue. I know some people in the community find it very frustrating and, in some cases, quite distressing.
Ms Fitzharris has gone into some detail with the TAMS response. I guess I would like to talk more about some of the thinking around the approach the government is taking and my own views on this. Certainly in relation to the specific areas that Mrs Jones has raised, Hindmarsh Drive in particular, I do agree that this is a genuine issue for local residents.
The particular tags or names being sprayed on fences, bridges and local buildings in the Woden region have become a talking point amongst even members of my own office who regularly travel that route along Hindmarsh Drive. Frankly, these two tags have created the unfortunate potential to damage the broader community’s respect for genuine artists, and their prolific nuisance vandalism is costing more money than anything so egotistical or petty should deserve.
Illegal graffiti is an ongoing concern and the government is committed to managing unwanted graffiti across the city, costing the ACT government about $500,000 a year to remove. Graffiti and the way it is managed certainly polarize people. While many complaints are received by residents about illegal graffiti, there are also calls from street artists for access to more sites and complaints that their art is sometimes painted over. There are certainly many in the community who welcome the colour and the vibrancy that comes from an interesting, well done and creative piece of street art.
Certainly graffiti or street art covers a wide spectrum of activities, from high-quality commissioned murals such as the Erindale bus station, which has just been revamped on the south side, through to sites in the city’s laneways such as Tocumwal Lane, through to illegal tagging on public or private assets, which many people view as being visually unattractive and which can even be dangerous particularly, for example, if it is covering street signs and the like.
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