Page 2102 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 5 June 2019
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struggle to live in the city that they love. Canberra is a great place. We all love it. We all choose to make it our home. But just imagine if you did not have the choice to stay in the city that you love.
Andrew Barr seems to think that the fact that a lot of people pay rates and can afford this city is a ringing endorsement of his policies. If that is a ringing endorsement then what about the 27,000 people who are living below the poverty line in the ACT? What about the 5,000 kids in the ACT who are living in poverty after 18 years of ACT Labor? That is what this government has come to: 5,000 kids in the ACT living in poverty.
Not one member of the Labor Party stands up and says, “We have to change that.” Not one member of the Labor Party says, “Perhaps we need to slow things down a bit.” Not one member of the Labor Party rebukes their leader and says, “Enough is enough.” It shows they are far more interested in their careers than they are in the 5,000 kids living in poverty.
Next October is going to be a very significant point for the future of Canberra. We will be doing everything we can to make sure that we can end this injustice, this unfairness, happening in the territory right now because somebody does need to stand up for the 27,000 people living in poverty. Somebody needs to stand up for the working poor in the ACT. And somebody needs to stand up for the hardworking taxpayers of Canberra who see their money get blown by this government.
This is a government that is very good at collecting revenue and very good at spending but not so good at getting value for money. This is a government that rips off the people they are meant to represent. This is a government that has no qualms with pricing people out of this city.
The fact that the Greens are willing to back the Labor Party at all costs shows just how tight this coalition is. I have said it before and I will say it again: it shows that the Greens’ loyalty to the Labor Party is stronger than their commitment to the disadvantaged of Canberra. There are thousands of people who are doing it tough and the Greens are being absolutely ineffective in doing anything about it—absolutely ineffective.
That is exactly what Ms Le Couteur said in her contribution. She said, “Admittedly, we have not done as much as we would have liked.” It has been a massive failure. There are 5,000 kids living in poverty after 18 years of Labor, and the Greens are propping them up along the way.
Things have to change. Things absolutely have to change. It is clear that it will not come from the Labor Party. It is clear it is not going to come from the Greens. It has to come from the Liberal Party. We are very pleased to stand up and fight for the many people in Canberra that do not have a voice but are doing it very tough as a result of Andrew Barr and his party.
Question put:
That the amendment be agreed to.
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