Page 2251 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 August 2016
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the cultural group and contempt for residents in the area. This approach seems to have become the modus operandi for the government: dragging their feet or moving the goal posts on vulnerable community groups.
Another group that has applied for land is the Hindu community of Gungahlin. This community applied for land more than two years ago. They are looking for a large piece of land given there are between 12,000 and 15,000 Hindus in Canberra. They were initially offered some land in Kenny which they were happy with and started to have plans prepared and even commissioned some statues in preparation for the new facility. However, they were disappointed to be told that some sort of panel had met and did not agree with the group receiving this land which had been offered. Apparently it was then offered to a public housing development. They were rather disappointed.
They were then offered a block of land in Franklin, which was much smaller at around 5,600 square metres. As a community they were concerned that this really was not big enough for the festival days and the big celebrations where they expect between 300 and 400 cars. To deal with the traffic and parking expectations they have asked over and over for a block of land that is close to good car parking facilities or has enough room. However, two years into this process they still have no land and no assurance that they will ever be granted land.
I am told that they work tirelessly to raise funds to build the facility and many in their community are scared that they will never have an opportunity to build this place to call home for their spiritual experiences. Within the Gungahlin area there are no community facilities that can hold between 500 and 600 people and the only facility they have been able to rent is Albert Hall.
The Catholic church in Gungahlin when seeking land in the Gungahlin town centre were told by departmental officials that people do not go to church anymore and there is no great need for land to be made available for church groups. A church of over 300Â members in the Belconnen area was also told there was no land available for them, so they were forced to spend a significant amount of money on purchasing a commercial building. However, they found the government and the planning process to be obstructionist when it came to changing the use requirements of that facility and bringing it up to current building requirements. Again, the tired government has shown a complete lack of respect for these multicultural and multifaith groups and contempt for the residents in the area. The lack of clear process has caused enormous stress to these groups as they are unsure what their futures will hold and what facilities they will be able to establish for their people.
I am sure we would all agree that Canberra is a place for everyone, and we have seen support on all sides of politics in this place for our multicultural and multifaith communities to some extent. On 30 October 2014 the government held the one Canberra symposium with the goal of promoting cultural harmony. I note the symposium’s recommendations were grouped under a number of key streams, some of which include celebrating a diverse city, community leadership, community cohesion and engagement, and cultural and religious acceptance. The programs outlined in that plan would build on core commitments to three key principles to
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