Page 79 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 13 December 2016
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modern city that was planned by the creative minds of Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin; the capital city that I now call home.
From the 21,000 year-old-history as the home of our Indigenous Canberrans to the beloved bush capital that it is today, I am a proud Canberran. Canberra has so much going for it. We have consistently been ranked as one of the most liveable cities in the world. Our socio-economic factors of income, education and access to recreational activities are generally higher than anywhere else in Australia. We educate some of the brightest minds in the world. I do not just say that as a proud ANU graduate or a former academic at ANU and UC. Our access to great natural resources in our parks and lakes is the envy of most and our standard of living is something that we really do not have much to complain about.
When I compare Canberra today to when I first moved here as a first year law student back in 1998, I have personally benefited from how Canberra has thrived in recent times. However, the Canberra that is not being celebrated in any international rankings is the one that seems to have been forgotten.
The rising costs of living, unaffordable housing, the lack of consultation in decisions that impact so many, the excuse that “in Canberra everyone knows everyone” as a justification for decisions that lack transparency; the decisions that seem small to those who make them but are big to those who are affected by them.
The Canberra that I want is a city where we look beyond our bubble of advantage; a city that is a leader not only in Australia but in the world; a cool little capital that punches above its weight; a city where our representatives reflect our community and know that our fundamental democratic system stems from a respect for the rule of law; a city where everyone’s contributions matter; a city where we support each other to be the shapers of our future.
Canberra is too small and too smart for its leaders to play politics for the sake of politics. Canberrans deserve more than leaders who will serve some and not all. Canberra needs leaders who will put above all else their service to the people of our great city. Because it is about conscience—the conscience to know that at the core of our community is humanity.
It is a given that I should and will give my voice to the most vulnerable in our community—our homeless, youth, elderly, people with a disability, victims of domestic abuse—those that our society has a moral duty to ensure we create an equal playing field for.
However, there are many Canberrans—hardworking everyday Canberrans like you and me—whose issues are forgotten because they are fortunate not to fall into these circumstances. Because it is about Mary of O’Connor who is on a pension and is being asked to pay almost 30 per cent of that on rates and worries about whether she can buy milk and eggs or just milk this week; or whether she will leave behind a debt to her children when she passes.
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