Page 2112 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2018
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And another:
Have not seen a street cleaner in West Belconnen for years. In Holt tree saplings are growing out of the drains in some parts. Suburbs totally neglected.
Another:
Do not want to state the obvious but when you walk through Braddon and the wide footpath is covered in damp leaves, it is slippery.
In terms of the amendment that Minister Fitzharris moved, which was emailed to me earlier today, it is what she always does. It is to hijack private members’ day. Madam Speaker, we have one day—one day!—when we can bring to the Assembly matters of importance to our constituents, and she takes this opportunity once again to amend the entire motion, hijack the entire motion, to make it all about her.
The motion calls for a very sensible approach, a common-sense approach, to look at street sweeping, something that all the feedback I have had from my constituents shows clearly needs to be improved. I am confused. The minister’s speech, on the one hand, says, “There is nothing wrong. We are doing a great job.” On the other hand, she says, “We are improving it.”
I hope that the minister will do the right thing and tell my constituents who have come to me with this issue that she does not care about the millions of taxpayer dollars spent on cleaning up the waterways because she cannot be bothered, or does not care, to make sure that street sweeping is adequate.
I hope she will do the right thing and tell them that she does not care that they have tripped or slipped because footpaths have been covered up by a pile of leaf litter that is so bad that they cannot see the uneven footpaths and the cracked footpaths. For that matter, I hope that she will also apologise to them for not fixing the footpaths that they are tripping on in the first place.
In terms of Ms Le Couteur, I do not even know how to respond. You said that you wanted to keep it interesting. I think you certainly did that: from wetlands to robotic maintenance workers and the invention of a street Roomba—I think maybe you should patent that—even to talking about local jobs. It certainly made it interesting. But, of course, once again the Greens are in cahoots with this government.
The Canberra Liberals will not be supporting this self-serving amended motion that hijacks the spirit and intent of my motion. I have some parting words for the minister, through you, Madam Speaker: you have the run of this place. Let private members’ business at least be that and make sure you just respond to the issues that we bring to the Assembly. After all, she is the minister for city services for the entire territory, not just her party.
Question put:
That the amendment be agreed to.
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