Page 4333 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 25 October 2017
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Some people like to think the Greens do not achieve anything or stand for anyone, so I would like to go through some of the things that the ACT Greens have achieved this year.
In addition to working with our colleagues in ACT Labor in providing world-class healthcare, education, transport and city services and all the other essential business of government that Ms Cody has spoken about, the ACT Greens have been instrumental in a number of major reforms and initiatives to improve the lives of Canberrans and protect our environment.
In the gaming and racing space, we have worked with the government to phase out the harmful greyhound racing industry. We are working with community and advocates to introduce EFTPOS limits on poker machines and improved transparency for social impact assessments; ensure that bet limits and mandatory precommitments form part of the Canberra Casino legislation; and advance the conversation around reducing gambling harm in the community.
In the drug law reform space, we have fought very hard to get pill testing up and running in Canberra before Spilt Milk. We are very disappointed that it has not happened. It is not entirely clear why this did not happen. We are very disappointed right now but we are hopeful that in the future the ACT will be leading Australia in minimising the harm from illicit drug use.
When it comes to putting the community first, it has always been the ACT Greens that has been the party that listens to the community. That was the focus of our campaigns for years and years and in this Assembly it is one of our key focuses.
As part of the parliamentary agreement there is an inquiry, which will be reporting shortly, into an independent integrity commissioner for the ACT. It is due to report back this month. We have made sure that community voices were heard as part of the public housing renewal projects in Weston Creek, and are very pleased that the outcomes of that seem to have had a much greater level of community acceptance than at the beginning. We have introduced a world-leading participatory budget trial for the ACT city services budget, starting in 2019. There is also the deliberative democracy trial with CTP.
Under my colleague Mr Rattenbury’s ministerial responsibilities for justice and mental health, with the creation of a dedicated Minister for Mental Health being an ACT Green election commitment and an ACT first, we have committed to setting up the ACT’s first office for mental health and drug and alcohol court as part of the parliamentary agreement; continued to work on justice reinvestment, Yarrabi Bamirr, and the restorative justice programs; and improved educational outcomes for people in our corrections systems with the expansion of the AMC’s industry program, with the bakery being launched a couple of days ago.
We have responded to community concerns by calling upon the federal government to immediately remove all refugees from the Manus Island and Nauru detention centres and resettle them here in refugee welcome zones, including the ACT. We are leading
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