As we build up to the 2024 ACT election on Saturday 19 October, Marisa Paterson MLA and Jeremy Hanson CSC, MLA will write a column each week covering different topics. This is the penultimate instalment.
Jeremy Hanson
Time to get back to basics.
With the highest-taxing government in the country, people should rightly expect to have the highest level of services. Here in the ACT, that is simply not true.
We all drive through our streets that are overgrown and unmaintained and over potholes that take months to fix. We can all see the dangerous and sometimes tragic outcomes that occur when we do not properly fund our police, our hospitals, and our schools.
For instance, I have worked for many years calling for a new police station in the growing area of Molonglo. This is considered the fastest growing jurisdiction in the country, yet it has no police or emergency service facilities at all.
Our schools and our hospitals face similar challenges. Despite the incredible work of front-line staff, starving these sectors of resources has resulted in the worst waiting times in the country for health, and the most dangerous and poorly supported schools in the country for teachers.
Those are ‘big ticket’ items that will take time, money, and a change of government to address.
Yet one of the issues that gets raised most within our community is something that can be addressed immediately – car parking.
From the ideological – and irrational – hatred of cars from the Greens, to the lack of concern for the suburbs from Labor, people raise with me over and over again the lack of safe, maintained, and available parking. It seems the only thing about parking the government is interested in is how many fines they can issue.
We have identified sites all across Canberra that need better parking, as well as a host of other good, local issues that need addressing.
That is why we announced the $100 million “Putting your suburb first’ program. Every suburb will be eligible for a funding boost for local community projects.
This policy will put the choice firmly in your hands. You will be able to tell us what your community needs, and we will invest your rates back into your suburb.
It is just one, very real way we can get back to what’s important. This is what I’m hearing – get the basics right. It’s something this government has failed to deliver, but the Canberra Liberals can and will.
Marisa Paterson
ACT Labor has a proven track record when it comes to keeping Canberrans safe. Canberra remains the safest city in Australia, with crimes rates lower than they were 10 years ago. Last year, ACT Labor commenced an unprecedented commitment in ACT Policing by investing $107 million over five years to recruit an additional 126 police officers. We are also committed to investing in upgrades to stations, and I am particularly committed to seeing a new police station in the Molonglo Valley.
ACT Labor has delivered the PACER program to better respond to mental health emergencies, and we are committed to expanding this service if re-elected. ACT Labor are committed to delivering new Emergency Service Stations in Acton, Molonglo and Casey, to better support our fire and ambulance response.
This term, ACT Labor have been committed to the most progressive law reform agenda in Australia to improve community safety, with a focus on drug decriminalisation (we view drug personal use as a health issue, not a criminal one); raising the age of criminal responsibility; domestic, family and sexual violence reform; and addressing dangerous driving.
ACT Labor has reformed many of our road safety laws to see immediate loss of licences for high range speeding; new aggravated offences; vehicle seizure powers for police; harsher penalties for street racing; bail reform; and new laws to address drug and alcohol use while driving. To target recidivism, ACT Labor is committed to exploring international programs to develop an evidence-based pilot program to target recidivist offenders. A re-elected Labor Government will also introduce electronic monitoring in a staged approach.
In 2022, I introduced affirmative consent laws in the ACT to address sexual violence. This work has formed a part of a significant ACT Government reform agenda that has involved our community service sector, ACT Police, and our courts to address sexual violence. ACT Labor is strongly committed to continuing this reform agenda to see an end to violence against women in the ACT.
ACT Labor is committed to expanding restorative justice practices and increasing public safety initiatives in Civic.
ACT Labor will continue to focus on community safety by championing progressive and practical law reform, as well as supporting our police and emergency services.
