Page 410 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 18 February 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Mrs Jones: Point of order. The question still has not been answered: whether it will be released before work begins. That has not been answered and I ask the minister to be directly relevant to that question.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mrs Jones, there is no point of order. He has referred to when he will be able to release that information. He has 30 seconds—
Mrs Jones: He has not, actually. He has not said a thing about when.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mrs Jones, you are warned.
MS LEE: Minister, why has the government continued to operate in the shadows with projects like light rail stage 2A, especially given that the ACT budget deficit has blown out by over $278 million?
MR STEEL: I thank the member for her question, and I refer to stage 1, where we came in under budget for this massive infrastructure project, the largest in the city’s history. We were able to deliver that under budget, and now it has proven its success, in terms of the patronage that we are experiencing, which goes beyond the business case for the project; numbers that we did not expect until 2021. Our government promised to deliver light rail, we did so under budget, and now it is overperforming with respect to its targets. Our government will deliver stage 2 because we are determined to expand light rail to the rest of our city.
Crime—outlaw motorcycle gangs
MR HANSON: My question is to the minister for police. Minister, Canberra has recently seen at least three incidents that appear related to outlaw motorcycle gangs. There was a shooting in Gordon, there were shots fired and an arson attack in Kambah and there was the arrest of the president of the Satudarah motorcycle gang on weapons offences this week. Minister, in the past 12 months how many charges have been brought against members of the Satudarah gang? If you have information on other gangs please provide that as well.
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Mr Hanson for his question. On Saturday, 1 February 2020 two men were arrested following reports on the Friday night of suspicious activities. Three people faced the ACT Magistrates Court on 28 January following an aggravated burglary in Ainslie. A Gilmore man faced the Magistrates Court on Monday, 27 January, charged with firearm and drug offences.
The crime disruption team is doing the job that we have asked it to do. We have invested in our police force in the ACT to disrupt criminal gang activity and they are doing that very work now. Regarding the number of charges for the Satudarah motorcycle gang member, it is an operational matter. It is in the courts. I will not go to the number of charges for that. But I can say that the crime disruption team is doing the job that we have asked it to do. We have resourced it. The challenge for the Canberra Liberals is to vote for the next budget and support it.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video