Labor: Funding for hockey

Labor has announced a $1.55 million upgrade to Canberra’s premier hockey pitch.

Alicia Payne MP announced that the Carter Field at the National Hockey Centre in Lyneham would be replaced with the same surface used at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The field, which has hosted major international events and is home to the Canberra Chill, has deteriorated after nine seasons, become dangerous, and no longer meets international standards.

Without the funding, Ms Payne said, the pitch would not have been useable after this season.

“Hockey is one of the most popular and inclusive sports,” Ms Payne said. “It’s important that the National Hockey Centre is safe and fit for purpose. There is a great need for this upgrade.”

The ACT is the only jurisdiction without an international playing surface; Hockey ACT CEO Rob Sheekey hoped that the upgrade would make Canberra a premier venue for international hockey.

Meanwhile, Labor MLA Taimus Werner-Gibbings reiterated Labor’s commitment to rolling out faster fibre-to-the-premises internet in Tuggeranong by the end of the year. The federal government recently pledged $3 billion to upgrade the national fibre-to-the-node network. Mr Werner-Gibbings’s motion, passed yesterday, called for the ACT Government and the state-owned NBN Co to collaborate.

“The Barr Labor Government will work with the Albanese Labor Government in making sure that there are no delays in delivering the vital infrastructure Tuggeranong needs,” Mr Werner-Gibbings said. “The only thing that’s better at delivering for Canberrans than one Labor Government is two.”

Greens: Housing is a human right

The ACT Greens have introduced a bill to enshrine housing as a human right.

The proposed amendment to the Human Rights Act — presented by Jo Clay MLA in Shane Rattenbury MLA’s absence — would require government to consider housing alongside other rights in legislative reviews; to protect people from discrimination in housing, and to prevent unfair evictions or arbitrary utility disconnections; and to ensure vulnerable people could access emergency accommodation. 

The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS), which has advocated for the bill alongside other community agencies, welcomed the bill.

“Housing is a human right, and we need our legal system to recognise this instead of treating it as only a commodity or investment vehicle” ACTCOSS CEO Dr Devin Bowles said. He believes that the legislation would strengthen protections for those most at risk. Given international [American] examples of how quickly government and civil society institutions can be dismantled, ACTCOSS commended the bill’s focus on reinforcing human rights protections.

Dr Bowles said that the bill set an “uncontroversial” fundamental principle of housing as a human right; it does not mandate the immediate construction of large-scale housing or override the market system for most Canberrans. However, he believes that additional measures would be needed to ensure every Canberran had a secure home.

“Continuing to expand investment in public and community housing is essential if the right to housing is to be realised in Canberra,” Dr Bowles said.  

ACT Youth Week

ACT Youth Week 2025 runs from today to 20 April. Events include writing, rehearsing and performing short theatre works in 12 hours; Melanesian films, workshops and panel discussions; and an exhibition of drawings and photography at the Belconnen Gallery. These are funded by ACT Government grants of up to $2,000.

For more information, visit the ACT Government’s Guide to Youth Week.

“I hope that young people in Canberra will get involved with the incredible lineup of events and activities to meet new people, celebrate being young and to share their incredible stories,” Michael Pettersson MLA, Minister for Children, Youth and Families, said.