Page 468 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 February 2020
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Those opposite may want to dismiss these increases as a few dollars here and a few dollars there. After all, it was Chief Minister Barr who laughed off increased parking costs by claiming that they were less than “the price of a bottle of sparkling mineral water at some of our high-end restaurants”. Such sneering disdain for Canberrans and their daily struggle to keep a roof over their heads and food on their tables should receive no welcome in this Assembly or by the public.
The people in my electorate know all too well that even small increases in parking, transport, electricity, gas, water, rent, car registration, property rates and so forth all add up. This government’s determination to continually increase the cost of doing business makes both goods and services more expensive for everyone. The end result is extreme hardship.
I know what I am talking about, Madam Assistant Speaker. After moving to Canberra, my husband and I struggled for years to pay our rent. We skipped heating our home in winter. We fed our children two-minute noodles and leftover bread that we picked up from our Belconnen bakery after it closed. We shared the bread with dozens of other families in similar or worse circumstances.
People in my electorate are hurting. People across this territory are hurting. This motion calls on the Barr government to bring down the cost of living for families in Canberra. Simply put, Madam Assistant Speaker, we have had enough. On behalf of the people of Belconnen, I add my voice to the voices of my Liberal colleagues in support of this motion.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (11.15): I am happy to speak on this motion today, particularly on the Chief Minister’s amendment to Mr Coe’s motion. I want to start with the Chromebooks that the ACT government has been providing to senior school students in the ACT, because not only does this improve equality within our ACT government schools but it means that teachers do not have to navigate across, and troubleshoot across, a number of devices, that they can have some expertise across one and not spend so much time away from the class.
It also, obviously, removes that burden of decision-making from families, but particularly that financial burden that families have to bear each year when they start school. That initiative is a $400 support that the ACT government provides to senior secondary students in our ACT government schools that would otherwise be a cost to families in the ACT. I wonder if the support for the provision of Chromebooks, the textbooks of today, will be supported and continued by the Canberra Liberals. We have been rolling that out now for three years, with over 20,000 Chromebooks delivered, relieving that financial burden on families in the ACT.
In addition to that, education should not be a financial burden on families in the ACT. Additional support for those families that need it is provided and available at schools through bursaries when families might need additional support for uniforms,
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