It’s been a big month in the Assembly with three sitting weeks, including the debate on the Budget Bill (it passed).
I’ve left some of the Assembly matters out to keep this newsletter from getting too long, but you can always check out my voting record which we’re regularly updating with explanations of significant votes in the Assembly here (check in early next week for some more entries).
- Transparency in the Early Childhood Sector
- Wakefield Gardens Community Forum
- Footpath Closures
- Active Travel Infrastructure
- Labor Votes Against Public Education
- Canberra Avenue Petition
- Closing the Gap Bill Inquiry
- Youth Homelessness
- Board of Inquiry into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
- Meeting with Conservation Council
- Reclink Community Cup
- Another Independent Territorian MLA
- Next Mobile Office
Transparency in the Early Childhood Sector
Back in June, I successfully moved a motion under the Assembly’s standing order 213A ordering the release of a range of documents from the last five years relating to regulatory breaches in the ACT’s early childhood education and care sector.
The motion was based on similar motions that had passed through the Victorian and NSW Parliaments, which have driven significant reform in both jurisdictions.
In the second sitting week of September, the Chief Minister used the new standing order 213B to retrospectively reduce the scope of the motion, as well as extending the deadline for releasing the documents by a further three months. The effect of the proposed changes — which were put to a vote in the Assembly — was to publish only the formal regulatory notices, without releasing any of the evidence informing those notices such as witness statements, police evidence, and correspondence with complainants.
The Government justified the reduced scope on the basis that significant resources were required to pull together the documents and prepare them for release. In an attempt to negotiate a compromise in good faith, I proposed a reduction in the scope of the order from five years of documents to three years’ worth, and proposed the exclusion of irrelevant material like child enrolment and attendance records. But I felt it was absolutely vital to release the evidence informing regulatory decisions, because without that we cannot possibly judge the effectiveness of the regulator!
Unfortunately, ACT Labor and the Canberra Liberals worked together to oppose my proposal, and to vote in support of the Chief Minister’s position. Fiona Carrick MLA and the ACT Greens voted with me against the major parties. I appreciated the crossbench’s support and found it incredibly disappointing that the major parties teamed up to withhold the publication of a wide range of evidence that the Assembly had previously voted in support of releasing.
You can read more about how the whole thing unfolded in an article from Region Canberra here, and check out my reflections in my media release, Instagram post and Facebook post about the debate.
Wakefield Gardens Community Forum
I’ve been collaborating with a group of passionate locals on a community-led vision for the future of Wakefield Gardens, and held a forum on 12 September where community members and interested stakeholders gathered to share their ideas. Fellow Kurrajong MLA and Leader of the Greens Shane Rattenbury attended, as did former Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and a representative from Minister Stephen-Smith’s office.
It was a joy to see such strong interest in what could be done with this under-utilised community asset. Thank you to everyone who came along, and to the working group members who’ve been driving this forward — relentless local advocate Amy, Mitch from the Microforest Collective, Fiona from Ainslie Urban Farm, Charlie from the Ainslie Peace Garden, Nat from Aunty Time, Rob from Quest Architecture and Julie from the Canberra Environment Centre.
I was happy to welcome the Government’s announcement a couple of days before the forum that it would start consulting with our community on next steps for the building at Wakefield Gardens, on the back of a petition from Amy Blain calling for exactly that — which I tabled in the Assembly earlier this month with 634 signatures.
We’re now working on finalising a proposal based on what we heard at the forum, and clarifying next steps for this project, which we will submit into the Government’s consultation process. You can subscribe for updates on this project here.
Footpath Closures
One of the most common frustrations that’s raised with me by people across our community is the prolonged closure of footpaths around construction sites. This impacts all pedestrians and cyclists, and has an outsized effect on people with mobility restrictions who might not be able to safely cross the road to avoid path closures, so I was glad to see the ACT Government announce it would introduce fees for closing footpaths as a way of disincentivising this behaviour.
Unfortunately, the Government then sided with developers who had pushed for those fees to be deferred by 12 months. In response, I moved a disallowance motion in the Assembly aiming to block the deferral. If passed, my motion would have made these new fees — $100 to $200 per day per block of closed footpaths, plus larger fees for closing roads — come into effect in the 2025-26 financial year.
While my motion had the support of Fiona Carrick MLA and the ACT Greens, it was opposed by ACT Labor and the Canberra Liberals, so went down. Now the fees won’t come into effect until 1 July 2026, and already I’m receiving further complaints from community members about closed footpaths around construction sites across our city.
You can learn more in my media release here and in the Canberra Times article about the motion here.
Active Travel Infrastructure
On the back of the footpath closure debate, last week I brought a motion to the Assembly calling on the ACT Government to develop a fully costed plan for addressing all the gaps in the ACT’s cycling and footpath networks.
Canberra has been ranked the least walkable major city in Australia, which I think just doesn’t square with our values as a community. My sense is that Canberrans want to spend less time in their cars, but need better active travel options to make that possible.
Our city should be a nation leader when it comes to active travel infrastructure, yet we’ve all encountered the bike paths that suddenly disappear in the middle of a major road, not to mention the cracked and incomplete footpaths that are commonplace throughout most of the ACT’s older suburbs.
We need to make decisions now that move us away from car dependency and toward becoming a city that’s easy to walk, roll and cycle through.
The ACT Government’s Active Travel Plan, published in February 2024, is a great document and contains a detailed Cycling Network Map showing key future links to make Canberra a more cyclable city. But the plan hasn’t been costed and there’s no timeline for its delivery, so that’s what my motion called for. I also called for a list of all residential streets in the ACT that don’t have a complete footpath on at least one side of the street, and more.
Frustratingly, the major parties worked together again to water down the motion significantly, removing all calls for costings. I can see why the Liberals might choose to do that, but can’t understand this move from Labor. Why prepare a plan then block the development of a plan to actually implement that plan!?
There will still be some improvements in transparency brought about through the amended motion, including a new line item in future annual reports showing expenditure on footpath maintenance and upgrades, consideration of a new footpath condition metric similar to what’s used for roads, and the provision of ongoing updates about the projects laid out in the Active Travel Plan. The Government is required to report back to the Assembly on these items within 6 months.
Labor Votes Against Public Education
Earlier in the month, I was bemused to see Labor vote against a call to invest sufficiently in our public education system to arrest the decline in public school enrolments. This was an amendment I moved to a motion from the Canberra Liberals calling on the Government not to sack permanent, casual or temporary teachers or support staff following revelations of significant budgetary issues across our public schools.
Public school enrolments in the ACT have decreased over the last four years while Catholic and independent school enrolments have increased. With the Government already backtracking on promised upgrades like we’ve seen at Majura Primary, I fear this trend could continue without a serious course correction.
While my amendment was supported by all other Members of the Assembly, the Government voted against it, which genuinely surprised me and seemed pretty clearly contrary to traditional Labor values.
Are you seeing the impact of these kinds of decisions at your local school? Please reach out to my team at [email protected] to share your experiences.
Canberra Avenue Petition
It was a privilege to table a petition in the Assembly a couple of weeks ago from Aiden Stuart and his mother Nektaria calling for a pedestrian overpass on Canberra Avenue, after Aiden and his schoolmate Aaron Way were hit by a speeding, out-of-control car there earlier this year. The petition was signed by over 1800 people. Whether it leads to an overpass, an underpass, and/or the urgent delivery of the signalised pedestrian crossing the Government announced back in May, what’s clear is that this tragedy needs to bring about meaningful action on the safety of this major road. It’s not good enough that nothing has changed on Canberra Avenue since the accident back in March.
This has been an issue for decades, and I think it’s disappointing but also incredibly impressive that someone as young as Aiden — after sustaining lifelong injuries in the accident that left him hospitalised for 49 days — thought to reach out to me to ask what he could do to keep this from happening to someone else (which was how the petition came about).
Closing the Gap Bill Inquiry
My Closing the Gap Bill has been sent to an Assembly Committee for an inquiry, which I’ll be participating in as a witness. Public hearings are scheduled for next Thursday 9 October, and submissions have now been published here. You can find my submission here.
I’ll keep you posted on any recommendations from the inquiry. I’m hoping to have the opportunity to debate the bill shortly after the inquiry’s conclusion, in late October.
Youth Homelessness
Like many Canberrans, I was alarmed to see recent data showing that 935 children received support from homelessness services in the ACT over the last year. Tragically, 178 of those children were alone — without a parent, guardian or family member — when they reached out for help.
I continue to hear from community service providers across the ACT who are engaging with vulnerable young people that they are stretched, being expected to do more with less, and that there simply is not enough accommodation to provide Canberrans experiencing homelessness with a safe place to sleep.
In Estimates, I asked the Minister for Homes, Homelessness and New Suburbs, Yvette Berry, about Progress on the new Youth Foyer at the recently opened Woden CIT Campus. I was shocked to learn that the ACT Government only opened the procurement process to find a provider for the service after construction was complete. That means a brand new, purpose-built youth foyer, which could be housing 20 young people experiencing homelessness, is currently sitting empty.
This is part of a frustrating trend of governments showing insufficient urgency when it comes to addressing the housing and homelessness crisis that is smashing the life prospects of far too many people across our community. I’ll keep using my role on the crossbench to push for more urgency in this area.
Board of Inquiry into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
Following my motion earlier this year committing the ACT Government to establish a Board of Inquiry (similar to a Royal Commission) into systemic issues surrounding the deaths of Aboriginal people in Canberra’s prison, the ACT Government reported back last week on next steps for this piece of work.
A First Nations advisory committee will soon be established to inform the terms of reference for the inquiry, and determine who carries it out. I was disappointed that more of this work wasn’t already underway, and that the Minister couldn’t report back with a start date for the Board of Inquiry — which she’d promised to do during the debate back in May — but it was good to see the ACT Government clearly reaffirm their commitment to carrying out this powerful inquiry after pretty strong initial reluctance on their part when I first brought the motion forward.
Meeting with Conservation Council
I recently caught up with Dr Simon Copland, Executive Director of the Conservation Council ACT, to chat about the need to protect Canberra’s Western Edge. This is something I’ve indicated my strong support for since the election campaign.
The ACT Government could show a whole lot more ambition when it comes to preserving and enhancing the incredible ecological diversity of our Territory, particularly given how much Canberrans care about Nature. Setting aside the Western Edge of our city not for more urban sprawl, but for well resourced environmental conservation efforts, is a fantastic opportunity to do exactly that.
The Conservation Council currently has a petition running calling on the Government to protect the Western Edge. If you haven’t already, you can sign the petition here. This is something I hope the Assembly will have an opportunity to vote on this term.
Reclink Community Cup
Despite a serious lack of Aussie Rules experience, I had the opportunity to suit up for the Limestones (the musos team) in the annual Reclink Community Cup against the Noise (the media term) earlier this month, donning a jersey in my first match since Under 12s for a laugh and a good cause.
The event was put on to raise funds for Reclink, whose structured sport and recreation programs help to improve life outcomes for people experiencing mental illness, family violence, homelessness, social isolation, gambling harm, unemployment, and drug and alcohol challenges.
It was a great day of footy and music in beautiful Canberra weather at Alan Ray Oval in Ainslie. Massive props to everyone who helped bring it together, including the organisers, volunteers, fantastic local bands, players, coaches, umpires, spectators and the Ainslie Football Club, with a special shout-out to my Assembly colleagues Marisa Paterson (Labor), Mark Parton (Liberal) and Shane Rattenbury (Greens) for being part of it.
Another Independent Territorian MLA
I enjoyed meeting up with Justine Davis over coffee on Friday. Justine is an independent MLA in the Northern Territory Parliament, and we had a great chat about community-driven politics, policy-making for future generations, the independent movement, and just how crazy things are in the NT at the moment. I’m really impressed by Justine and look forward to seeing what she can achieve as a progressive independent voice in a very conservative Assembly. You can give her a follow on Instagram here and Facebook here.
My Next Mobile Office
My next mobile office is at Campbell Shops this Friday 3 October from 4pm to 5pm. If you’re available, please drop by for a chat and let me know how I can better represent you in the Assembly. You can RSVP here.
Please reach out any time on [email protected] or (02) 6205 1475 during office hours.
Thank you for your support,
Tom