In April 2020, I used the dilapidated, graffitied, derelict tennis courts near Hawker playing fields as a backdrop to launch the inaugural Belco Party campaign for the October 2020 Election.

Four years later, this derelict area of Hawker still has not been fixed up. My colleague Alan Tutt will send photos of the mess to the Weekly so readers can see them.

There were several young teenagers at the site, and they said to Tutty: “Mister, when is all this going to be cleaned up?” Even they were concerned.

Another concern for the punters is the increasing levels of crime. Recently, we had a spate of crimes around the residential tower blocks of Belconnen; now it seems that, for the last six months, the longtime residents of Emu Ridge, just south of the town centre, have been victims of assaults, abuse, and malicious damage from a gang of young men who seem to either live in or regularly use a few public housing units in the suburb. These guys don’t seem to work.

Residents have told me they have been assaulted: one lady had a brick dropped on her hand, a couple of men have been hit with a hammer, cars have been damaged by bricks thrown from balconies, residents’ cars followed, and occupants abused. As well, a local gay man was bailed up by three thugs on the Emu Ridge oval and verbally subjected to gay hate and homophobic abuse, as well as being physically threatened.

There have been incidents of drug dealing observed, and police have been notified on several occasions, but nothing seems to be done to stop this behaviour happening. My constituent told me some police she spoke to seem to dread having to talk to members of this gang. One male in particular seems to have been the worst offender.

The police have several job numbers for incidents reported.

Now, I’m not sure why the police haven’t gotten more involved. Is it the classic lack of resources? Is it a lack of appropriate powers? The community has a right to be protected.

As this gang seems to gravitate to a certain public housing flat, one solution would be to move the occupant/s elsewhere or simply evict them for antisocial behaviour (a breach of the Housing lease).

The lease states that tenants must ensure they give quiet peace and enjoyment to their neighbours – and hitting people with hammers, dropping bricks on cars, and monstering people clearly breaches that. For Housing to tell the neighbours they can’t do anything and to just go to the police is wrong.

I can recall former Labor housing minister Ellnor Grassby in 1994 moving some particularly nasty tenants, recently released from jail, from a house in Downer to another suburb due to them terrorizing the neighbours. I did it myself on several occasions as Housing Minister.

This does highlight the decline in services to Canberra by this tired and lazy government. It brings home the problems with a lack of police numbers, a lack of willingness, and maybe the lack of clear legal power for police to counter this antisocial behaviour. Housing also just doesn’t want to get involved. If the relevant Ministers won’t do anything to ensure their relative departments take appropriate action, I would hope the next government will. If the Belco Party gets a member in, we certainly will. People deserve to be safe and feel safe in their own suburb.