Page 2372 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 31 July 2018
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I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (11.16): This is a sad day, I would have to say, for the people of Waramanga, and with regard to the community’s trust in the government and in this minister. I go back to the reason the minister is making this statement today, which is the motion that was agreed to unanimously by this Assembly on 21 March. It is disappointing that the minister now walks away rather than hearing what the community’s concerns are, as I have spoken to the community this morning.
As she walks away, let me remind members of what was agreed to on 21 March. The agreement by this Assembly was that the government would commit to the establishment of a new playground at Waramanga shops. This was not some ambiguous “there’ll be a further process and Waramanga can fight for scraps of what’s in the budget, to see if they might get some money allocated to their playground”. It was a commitment to fund, a commitment to build, a new playground at Waramanga.
As you would be aware, Mr Assistant Speaker, and as other members would be aware, the Waramanga community, led by Elizabeth Hoyt, had put together a comprehensive proposal for a playground at Waramanga. They had good reason for doing it, they had good cause and they had done a lot of work. That was articulated both here in the Assembly and in a number of other forums. You are aware of it, Mr Assistant Speaker, and Ms Le Couteur is aware of it: they have done tremendous work.
We came into this place on 21 March and we had an extensive debate about broader requirements for playgrounds, about their use and application across the city, but, when it came to it, it was specifically about Waramanga.
I refer back to the debate that we had on 21 March. There were a series of amendments. There was an amendment put by Ms Le Couteur. There was then an amendment that I put. That amendment that I put was done by negotiation with the minister. There was some to-ing and fro-ing, and that was referred to in the debate. You can look at the Hansard and see it. There was some to-ing and fro-ing, but the minister agreed to support the amendment that I put forward. She agreed that the government would support the amendment that, at the end of the day, called on the government to commit to the establishment of a new playground at Waramanga shops.
The minister said, in regard to that, “I think we have reached a good conclusion.” There was no ambiguity. As Ms Le Couteur will recall, I was surprised by the minister’s decision. Ms Le Couteur is nodding. There was a long debate, but at the end of the day we were surprised, and I was personally delighted. I know the members of the community who were in the Assembly that day were delighted that the minister said that the government was committed to building a playground at Waramanga.
That was the conclusion of the debate. There was a lot of other stuff in the motion—some good stuff, I would say, but that was what it all boiled down to. Certainly, the
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