My last update was in late May and there’s been plenty going on since then, both out in our community and inside the Assembly. I’m really enjoying getting across a wide range of different issues that matter to people in Kurrajong, and doing whatever I can to amplify voices that have gone unheard. Here is some of what my team and I have been up to over the past month.

1. Budget Week
2. Closing the Gap Bill
3. Safety for Women in Public Spaces
4. Early Childhood Care Transparency
5. Investing in Kingston Oval
6. Revitalising Wakefield Gardens
7. Next Steps for Coggan’s Bakery
8. Protecting Callum Brae Nature Reserve
9. A Night Out for Homelessness & Vinnies Sleepout
10. Tonight’s Community Run & Mental Health Forum

Budget Week

Heading into the first ACT Budget for the term, the Government had continually signalled that there were tough decisions to be made. A deficit of greater than $1 billion was revealed on Budget Day last Tuesday, and it became clear that the overarching decision by Government was to raise revenue rather than cut services. Among seven revenue-raising measures which were forecast to generate over $500 million in the coming four years, the headline story was the new $250 health levy to be added to every annual rates notice. Following the announcement, the Greens declared they would not support this measure and have since negotiated with the Government a reduction in this levy to $100 for residential and rural rates, alongside a new increased payroll tax rate for businesses with total payroll expenses of more than $150 million per year. The revenue raised through the Budget will largely be paid for by everyday Canberrans on their rates notices and other fee increases, which was the main takeaway for most media outlets (see this ABC story for example).

My key takeaway from the Budget was that it reflected a huge ongoing increased demand for acute services, and a continual underinvestment in upstream preventative measures. For instance, while the Budget included a welcome $16.2 million investment in frontline homelessness services over the next four years, it only announced 102 new social housing dwellings despite more than 3,000 approved applicants currently sitting on our public housing waiting list. In other words, we’re supporting people experiencing homelessness but doing nowhere near enough to provide sufficient housing for those who cannot afford the private market. We’re not going to the root of the crisis. Meanwhile, the rent relief fund, which provides emergency funding for renters to prevent evictions and help reduce the strain on our social housing system, was also scrapped.

Another example is community sector investment. The community sector plays a vital role in preventative health work, easing the strain on our health system by providing vital services to people with disability, elderly residents, people facing mental health challenges, families at risk of running out of food, young people experiencing disadvantage, people with substance use issues, and so on. An encouraging two-year $10 million community sector funding boost was contained in the Budget, reflecting commitments in my supply agreement with the government to address the increased demand and cost pressures faced by our critical community service providers. But that figure absolutely pales in comparison to the $1.196 billion increase in health expenditure budgeted for over the next four years, and isn’t close to the 30 per cent funding boost (approximately $60 million per year) that the community sector has actually called for.

Unless we start seriously investing upstream to reduce the burden on acute services like our hospitals and frontline crisis responses, I worry that further revenue-raising measures will be needed down the track, and it’ll be everyday Canberrans who continue to pay the price for that. I will continue to call for greater investment in things like social housing, community services, dedicated bike lanes, footpaths and community sport – all of which can significantly reduce the pressure on our hospital system.

One measure I was happy to see contained in the Budget was $1.5 million in food bank funding, and a promise to develop a Food Relief Action Plan which came out of a motion I brought to the Assembly earlier this year. This was a timely measure, with the 2025 ACT Cost of Living Report indicating that Canberrans on income support payments are 14 times more likely to be skipping one or more meals per day than the general population. I find it incredibly alarming to know that, in a wealthy place like Canberra, members of our community are going hungry. While the Budget commitments won’t change that, they’re a positive first step and will certainly help for some of our most vulnerable community members.

Closing the Gap Bill

It was a privilege to introduce my first Private Member’s Bill last week. If passed, it will significantly increase accountability for all government officials and agencies in delivering on the commitments contained in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. This bill has been prepared through close consultation with local First Nations community members and organisations, and is based on recommendations made through a review of progress under the National Agreement published by the Productivity Commission in February 2024. It also offers a response to the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led review of the Agreement, released less than two weeks ago, which criticised governments for continuing with business-as-usual approaches despite their commitments to systemic reform.

I was accompanied by a number of local Aboriginal community leaders, including members of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, both while speaking to media about the importance of the bill and in the Chamber during my speech introducing the bill. With Aboriginal children 12.5 times more likely to be in out-of-home care in the ACT than non-Indigenous children, Aboriginal young people 14 times more likely to be in youth detention, and Aboriginal adults 22.7 times more likely to be incarcerated – there’s a lot of work to do here. This bill will mobilise the public service in the direction of doing the necessary work. Now we just need to get it passed! The bill will come back to the Assembly for debate later in the year, and I’ll keep you updated on how you can show your support between now and then.

A special thank you to Carys and Hannah in my team who put in a lot of work to prepare the bill for introduction.

Women’s Safety Motion

One of my motions that became unexpectedly contentious last week was my call for the ACT Government to invest in lighting and footpath upgrades, and early intervention programs for boys and young men, as a way of making Canberra safer for women exercising in public spaces. This was brought in response to recent attacks on women while out running, and followed direct advocacy to me and my office by many women across our community who want to see better lighting in at least a few key areas – like the Lake Burley Griffin perimeter – to provide some safer exercise locations at night. 

The Minister for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence, and the Minister for City and Government Services, took issue with the motion primarily on the basis that most violence against women occurs in the home, not in public. The debate was very raw and personal, with a number of women in the Assembly disclosing disturbing incidents of sexual assault and harassment that they’ve experienced. I thought that showed a lot of courage and only made clearer how pervasive the crisis of men’s violence against women really is across our community.

From a policy perspective, it became quite a frustrating debate, as the purpose of the original motion was not to provide a comprehensive response to the gender-based violence crisis, but to push the Government to commit to some practical measures to increase women’s safety while exercising, reflecting specific calls from our community. In the broader context of violence against women, improved lighting obviously doesn’t get to the heart of the issue. But it is something that we can do to make a small but immediate difference, and I know it’s important to many women in our community who’ve contacted my office about it. That seemed to get lost amongst a fair bit of constructive feedback directed at me which you may have seen reported in the media. We had really hoped to work collaboratively with the Government to get a good outcome on this motion, and shared the motion with them 5 days in advance for this purpose — so it's unfortunate that’s not how it played out.

Ultimately, I felt disappointed that the voices of people like Kim Elms – a victim-survivor who first raised this issue with me and is running every street of Canberra to raise awareness and funds for gender-based violence – were being dismissed because the motion was brought to the Assembly by a man, and didn’t focus on violence in the home. The women in my team who worked on the motion and were excited to see me bring it forward also found it pretty tough to sit through. Rather than rehashing the whole thing here, you can check out this article for a good recap.

On behalf of the team, I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who sent through messages of support during the week, and to the many community members and organisations who supported the introduction of the motion on the day.

The upshot of the whole thing is that the Government will be required to report back to the Assembly in the first sitting week of 2026 on their plan to roll out their Gender Sensitive Urban Design Guidelines – which identify lighting as the top factor in determining people’s feeling of safety in public spaces – across the ACT. I’ll keep you posted.

Early Childhood Care Transparency

Another somewhat contentious motion last week was my order for the production of documents relating to the ACT’s early childhood education and care sector, which I moved on Tuesday. The purpose of the motion was to expose any dodgy childcare operators in the ACT and clarify whether the regulator is operating effectively to keep our children safe. After signalling I’d be bringing this forward, I had a number of educators and parents reach out to disclose their experiences with some of the major for-profit providers, where essentials like food, nappies and baby wipes were undersupplied. One story involved educators being pressured to leave positive online reviews to counterbalance negative reviews left by families.

My motion followed a similar motion passed in the NSW Parliament in November 2024, which culminated in a disturbing Four Corners investigation of serious incidents of abuse, neglect and poor regulation in the early childhood sector. The Victorian Parliament also passed a similar motion the week before last. I chose to bring the motion to the Assembly as I believe it’s incumbent on elected representatives to ensure regulators are operating effectively, dodgy operators are held to account, and, in this case, that means bringing about the transparency needed for Canberran families to make informed choices about who looks after their children. 

Although the Government opposed my motion, it got up with the support of the Liberals, the Greens and fellow independent Fiona Carrick. The Government will be required to table a range of documents within three months showing exactly how the regulator has been responding to serious incidents in early childhood centres across the ACT, and the extent to which it has been communicating with families about those incidents. It permits for selected redaction of names to protect the privacy of children, and doesn’t cover day-to-day incidents like grazed knees and children being sent home with a cold. 

The order covers the last five years, and I’m really hopeful that it doesn’t expose the extent of mistreatment and poor regulation we’ve seen in other jurisdictions. I understand we have a significantly higher proportion of not-for-profit early childhood centres in Canberra than in other states and territories, so hopefully that’s helped ensure our children are, indeed, being put ahead of profit – to borrow wording used in an interestingly timed op ed published by the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development last Friday.

Investing in Kingston Oval

Alongside the policy matters being debated in the Assembly, I’ve also been engaging with a range of community members about local issues affecting them. 

One example is Kingston Oval, which at over 100 years old is one of Canberra’s oldest sporting facilities. The ground is owned by the ACT Government and leased to Eastlake Football Club, who’ve poured $1.4 million into the facility since 2002. The facility is pretty tired, and lacks public toilets for spectators, accessibility features, and up-to-standard change rooms. Eastlake’s goal is to bring seniors’ footy back to the ground. They’ve put together a masterplan to future-proof the facility, and I backed their calls for the ACT Government to come to the table and co-invest with them, the Eastlake Cricket Club, AFL NSW/ACT and Cricket ACT.

While the Phillip Enclosed Oval recently received significant upgrades, Kingston Oval is completely open to the public at all times and will remain so. As the inner south densifies, it’s becoming increasingly valuable as a cherished green space for the area. It makes absolute sense to me for the ACT Government to invest in the Kingston Oval Masterplan, especially given the willingness of other partners to put money on the table for the project. 

Revitalising Wakefield Gardens

If you’re a regular at Ainslie Shops, you’ve probably noticed the disused building behind the shops on the edge of Wakefield Gardens. This property — 91A Wakefield Gardens — used to be a maternal and child health clinic, and was home to Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services. But it’s been left vacant since Winnunga relocated almost 20 years ago, and I’m constantly being contacted by residents who want to see the site reactivated. It just seems ridiculous for such a well-located building to sit vacant for so long. 

As part of a broader campaign we’re pulling together for revitalising Wakefield Gardens, I’ve sponsored a petition by Ainslie resident Amy Blain calling for the ACT Government to make use of this site as a community hub. You can learn more about the push here and sign the petition here. I’ll soon have more to say about the broader concept, which my team and I are working on with a range of different interested community members, so stay tuned.

Next Steps for Coggan’s Bakery

Several Kurrajong residents reached out earlier this year, as well as during the election campaign, asking what’s going on with the heritage-listed Coggan’s Bakery. After some digging, my team discovered that plans to revitalise the site had been abandoned by the former owner after he’d struggled over multiple years to get those plans approved, having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the project and on rates for the building.

We got in touch with the new owners to ask what their intentions are, as many community members had become concerned that this might be a case of demolition by neglect. This being Coggan’s Bakery’s 100th anniversary, there’s strong interest in its heritage value being preserved and celebrated. We met with the new owners and learned that, thankfully, that is their intent — they plan to restore and reactivate the building. You can learn a little bit about their plans and subscribe for updates here. 

Interestingly, we also discovered through our diggings that the ACT Government has never issued a heritage order or direction related to the building, despite its degraded state.

There’s clearly a lot of interest in seeing the building restored, as reflected in the response to my Instagram post about it and this news story.

Protecting Callum Brae Nature Reserve

You may have seen media reporting over the last couple of years about plans to build a new private crematorium abutting the beautiful Callum Brae Nature Reserve in Symonston. I finally had the opportunity for a site visit with the Friends of Callum Brae so they could walk me through their concerns with this proposed project. I have to say, I found their arguments pretty compelling.

The reserve is home to endangered Yellow Box-Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland, providing critical habitat for threatened species like the swift parrot and the gang-gang cockatoo. The ACT Government has approved a crematorium just over the fence of the reserve – on land that’s also environmentally valuable. The development will require the removal of a number of important foraging trees, as well as introducing significant commercial activity into a largely untouched area. The pollution from the crematorium will have a major environmental impact as well. I’m not sure why the current ACT Conservator of Flora and Fauna would approve the project, particularly after evidence came forward showing the former Conservator had disapproved of it on environmental grounds.

The development application for the private crematorium has been approved notwithstanding evidence that our existing crematoria aren’t anywhere near capacity, and despite a 2017 Assembly committee recommendation to ensure all future crematoria in the ACT are publicly managed and operated. Whether this is all just a failing of having a planning system that permits such a DA to be granted, or a failure to carry out the DA process appropriately, is an important question. Either way, it’s not clear to me why this project should be allowed to proceed given the environmental consequences.

At an ACAT hearing last Thursday, an attempt to block the DA was unsuccessful though some minor modifications will be required. I’ll be engaging with the Friends of Callum Brae to see what, if anything, can be done next. 

With the former ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment having indicated she had never encountered an example of the ACT Government choosing environmental conservation over development, I really think we need to have a look at whether our approvals process is serving both current and future generations of Canberrans.

A Night Out for Homelessness & Vinnies Sleepout

I participated in my second Vinnies Sleepout this year, which raised over $850,000 for ACT homelessness services. That’s a pretty remarkable figure.

As part of my fundraising efforts, I put on ‘A Night out for Homelessness’ at Palace Cinemas, with an expert panel discussion about homelessness and a screening of the documentary RUNN, about Nedd Brockmann’s inspiring run across Australia raising funds for homelessness. We ended up raising over $5,000 through the event and related donations, as well as enjoying an impactful evening involving candid conversations and a great film produced by local company WildBear Entertainment.

Thank you to everyone who came along to show their support for local homelessness services, who are under a lot of pressure doing everything they can to help some of our most vulnerable community members. A big thank you, also, to local firm Johannessen Legal for sponsoring the event, Palace Cinemas for offering a discounted cinema hire rate and WildBear for providing the film licence for free to support our fundraising efforts.

The Sleepout itself was a great event, too, with some compelling exchanges between panellists and participants inside the House of Representatives Chamber at Old Parliament House, where those in attendance challenged each other to step up and play their part in tackling the ongoing homelessness crisis in our city. After the formalities, I picked a spot under the stars in the courtyard, and woke to Canberra’s coldest June morning in 39 years. 

Like last time, I didn’t get much sleep and didn’t expect to. But I got to go home to a warm shower and a comfortable bed the following night. Among participants there was an appreciation of our very good fortune as privileged members of our community, and of the harsh reality experienced by people navigating homelessness across the ACT.

It’s an indictment of our failed housing system that rough sleeping in winter is the daily experience of so many Canberrans, especially in unsafe circumstances on our streets, compared to the very controlled environment we experienced with the sleepout being hosted in one of our city’s most iconic buildings.

Tonight’s Community Run & Mental Health Forum

In case you missed it, tonight I’m co-hosting a community mental health forum with Running for Resilience at The Dock in Kingston. We’ll kick off with the regular Running for Resilience run/jog/walk at 6pm, starting at The Dock, before heading into the pub for a panel discussion and audience Q&A at 7pm. We’d love to see you there for the run, which everyone does at a level appropriate for them, but you’re also very welcome to come just for the forum at 7pm. We’ll wrap up at 8pm sharp, so will look to squeeze as much meaningful conversation into the hour as possible.

You can also stick around to watch the British and Irish Lions come up against the Queensland Reds on the big screen after the event. Further details and RSVPs here.

Next Mobile Office

My next mobile office is this Friday at Campbell Shops from 4pm to 5pm. If you’re free, come along for a chat and let me know what you’d like to see me focus on as your local independent MLA. You can RSVP here.

We’ve got a couple of weeks now to catch up on meetings and to focus on pulling forward various different threads of work before Budget Estimates hearings kick off on July 22. As always, please flick through any feedback, ideas, or requests in the meantime.