It’s been a busy few weeks with plenty to share since my last update. I can’t believe it’s March already!
Despite the rain we've had, the Enlighten Festival kicked off over the weekend and runs until March 9. Check out what’s on here, and have a look at what else is happening in the City Centre on the City Renewal Authority’s new website here.
- New Canberra Aquatic Centre
- ACT Ombudsman's Report on Housing ACT
- Assembly’s Passage of my Early Childhood Safety Motion
- Climate Roundtable
- Dissent Cafe and Bar Update
- Active Democracy Bean - Politics in the Pub
- Surveying Koala Habitat
- Wombat Rescue
- Food Relief Action Plan
- MyWay+ Update
- Canberra Day Appeal Fun Run
- My Next Mobile Office
New Canberra Aquatic Centre
In case you missed it, ACT Labor made a joint announcement ahead of the last federal election to build a new pool in Commonwealth Park to replace Canberra Olympic Pool. Our community expects a like-for-like replacement for what we’ve already got, at the bare minimum, but the ACT Government’s current plans for the new Canberra Aquatic Centre in Commonwealth Park don’t include diving facilities.
Last week, I stood with Senator David Pocock and representatives from the ACT Aquatic Alliance, Canberra Diving Academy, Canberra Underwater Rugby and the Friends of Canberra Olympic Pool to advocate for both levels of government to work together to ensure the $138 million they’ve allocated to this project delivers a facility that actually meets our community’s needs and expectations. We also sent a joint letter to the Chief Minister Andrew Barr and ACT Senator Katy Gallagher earlier in the week, the day before I tabled a petition in the Assembly signed by almost 1,500 calling for a deep-water dive pool to be included in the new facility.
The new facility should be something Canberrans are proud of, not a facility with less amenity than the pool we currently have.
The South Australian Government has just delivered an incredible new Adelaide Aquatic Centre with significantly more amenities than what’s proposed in Commonwealth Park, and did so for a few million dollars less than the total funding set aside for this project.
I’ve been engaging constructively with the Chief Minister and his office about this. The design contract is out to tender, and I’m hopeful with all the user groups making clear their expectations for this facility, the Government will do the right thing and meet those expectations. I’ll keep you posted.
You can read more in this Canberra Times article here.
ACT Ombudsman's Report on Housing ACT
Yesterday, I stood alongside public housing tenants Gus Bamberry and Andy Coogan, and CEO of ACT Shelter Corrine Dobson, as we responded to findings from the ACT Ombudsman about Housing ACT’s mismanagement of public housing repairs and maintenance. The Ombudsman’s report concluded that the Territory’s public housing provider has not met its legal obligations to tenants under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, or achieved the objectives set out in the Housing Assistance Act 2007.
This came as no surprise to me, with public housing maintenance complaints being the top issue landing in my inbox. It was also unsurprising to Gus and Andy, who’ve been engaging with me and my team about their awful experiences with Housing ACT over recent months.
The ACT’s public housing stock is in the second-poorest condition in the country, with just 71 per cent of dwellings deemed not to be of an acceptable standard according to data released earlier this year – a decrease from 76 per cent in 2023 and 81 per cent a decade ago. That means almost a third of public housing tenants in our community are living in homes that don’t have at least four working facilities – a stove, shower, toilet, etc – and no more than two major structural defects. This is obviously completely unacceptable, particularly given our high median incomes and self-proclaimed status as Australia’s most progressive jurisdiction.
Last week during Question Time, I asked the Minister for Homes, Homelessness and New Suburbs Yvette Berry whether the ACT Government would commit to reversing the decline in the condition of our public housing stock by the time the next data set comes out in two years. The Minister made no such commitment, and would not be drawn on whether the ACT Government even had a goal of at least meeting the national average for the condition of its public housing stock.
While the ACT Government has committed to bringing public housing repairs in-house, I don’t see that alone being sufficient to address these shameful statistics, or the high levels of unmet need fit-for-purpose housing in our community.
This is just one of many fronts on which we’re failing some of our most vulnerable community members, and I’ll continue pushing the ACT Government to start prioritising the Canberrans who most need our support.
You can read more in my media release on this here, and the ABC’s story about Gus and Andy here.
Assembly's Passage of my Early Childhood Safety Motion
Last Tuesday, I brought a motion to the Assembly calling on the ACT Government to implement a significant package of reforms to improve children’s safety in Canberra’s early childhood education and care centres.
The motion included 13 measures: establishing a public register of regulatory enforcement actions related to child safety breaches as is already in place in several other states, exploring options to cap centres’ surplus revenue to ensure sufficient investment back into the workforce, establishing an online portal for verifying Working With Vulnerable People cards (which every other state and territory already has), updating the ACT's early childhood strategy with a renewed focus on child safety, and more.
This followed my push to release thousands of government documents revealing disturbing cases of child abuse, inadequate supervision and regulatory failure across the sector. By the way, we’ve learnt that the Government missed some 250 documents, which will be tabled in the next sitting fortnight.
The motion was informed by a community survey I undertook – thank you to everyone who completed it – which found that 98 per cent of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that reform is needed to ensure safety always comes first in the sector. You can access the full survey results here. It was also shaped by extensive consultation over the last nine months with families, educators, centre directors, and sector experts. I’d like to particularly thank Early Childhood Australia for going over the final motion with a fine-tooth comb to ensure it aligned with the changes they want to see in the sector.
The motion was passed with an amendment requiring the Government to evaluate the proposed reforms, consult with the sector, and implement them if they are found to be positive on balance – rather than committing to implement them outright.
While I’m a bit disappointed there wasn’t unanimous support to implement all 13 reforms in full over the next 12 months, or at least some of them right off the bat particularly those that are already in place in other states and territories, I’m confident that further evaluation of these reforms will only confirm the need for their implementation.
The Government is required to provide an update on their progress implementing the reforms in September 2026, with a final report and updated early childhood strategy to be tabled in 12 months.
You can learn more in this Region Canberra article here, and find the motion that passed here.
Climate Roundtable
Thank you to everyone who attended my climate roundtable at the Assembly a couple of weeks ago.
It was fantastic to hear from over 20 local climate leaders, experts and advocates about the steps we should be taking now to create the future we want for our city and our community.
Since switching to 100% renewable electricity in 2020, the ACT Government has made little progress toward meeting its emissions reduction targets. We’ve missed our interim 2025 target, and aren’t on track to hit our legislated target of net-zero emissions by 2045.
Our community expects vision and ambitious leadership when it comes to climate action here in the ACT. I’m keen to carry forward the ideas and initiatives we discussed in our conversation with that in mind, including by making a submission to the Government's consultation on its next Climate Change Strategy, which is open until March 18.
Dissent Cafe and Bar Incident
I was pleased to learn last week that displaying satirical, anti-fascist posters isn't a crime in the ACT after all.
After receiving a complaint on Wednesday 18 February, ACT Police attended Dissent Cafe and Bar in Civic, declared it a crime scene, and removed several posters that depicted Donald Trump and other world leaders in Nazi uniforms. The venue was shut down for two hours while police were on site, which caused the cancellation of a touring interstate band’s gig. I spoke with the owner, Dave Howe, on the night to ask what was going on, and started enquiring with the Police Minister the next morning. I’ve still not heard back from her or her office, despite firing off multiple emails and a letter with a range of questions about the incident.
In a statement, ACT Policing has since confirmed that the posters it seized would be returned to the owner, after confirming they’d been assessed under the Commonwealth prohibited symbols laws and there would be no charges laid.
While I'm glad that the posters have been returned, It’s ridiculous that five officers were diverted from other work to close the venue and remove these posters. You can see my reaction to what happened on Instagram here and on Facebook here.
Our community needs an assurance that this will not happen again. Without that, this Orwellian incident will very likely have a chilling effect on artistic and political expression in Canberra. Based on the incredibly strong sentiment I heard from Canberrans following the incident, it’s clear that this is not what we want for our city.
The ACT Government is currently reviewing our anti-vilification laws, and I’m putting together a community forum on balancing protections from hate with freedom of expression. I’ll have more to share about that soon.
Active Democracy Bean - Politics in the Pub
I had the privilege of speaking at a Politics in the Pub event, hosted by Active Democracy Bean, on the upcoming Board of Inquiry into the deaths of First Nations people in Canberra’s prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC).
The Board of Inquiry was established through a motion I brought to the Assemblylast year, after a decade of unanswered community calls for a well-resourced independent investigation into these issues led by Julie Tongs, CEO of Winnunga Nimmityjah, the family members of detainees who’ve lost their lives in the AMC, and more recently Joe Hedger, founder of Cuz Boxing - all of whom were at Active Democracy Bean's event.
I had a good chat with the Corrections Minister, Dr Marisa Paterson, about this recently and she indicated the ACT Government has been consulting on terms of reference for the inquiry, and is now looking at who will comprise the Board heading it up This is all being shaped by a community advisory committee. It sounds like the plan is to fund the inquiry through the upcoming budget and have proceedings kick off mid-year. You can learn more here.
Surveying Koala Habitat
It was a lot of fun being put to work the week before last by a local volunteer group that’s mapping potential koala habitat in all of Canberra’s nature reserves. This is a monumental piece of work that will take two or three years to complete, and was prompted by the discovery of a koala in Jacka in late 2024.
The group is unfunded and completely volunteer-led, coordinated by the Conservation Council ACT Region. They’re working with ANU researchers who’ll use the data they’re capturing about tree size, canopy coverage, species and distribution to inform any future koala reintroduction initiatives.
Thank you to volunteers Keith, Kathleen, Gavin, Liwei, Green and Chris for all your work on this, and for having me along at Mount Mugga Mugga.
If you're interested in getting involved, you can learn more here or reach out to[email protected].
Wombat Rescue
Another highlight this month was meeting Yolandi Vermaak from Wombat Rescue NSW/ACT and learning more about the great work she’s doing alongside dozens of volunteers across our community.
Wombat Rescue is the only wildlife group in the region that focuses solely on conservation, rehabilitation, and awareness-raising for the bare-nosed wombat. It was also good to hear Yolandi's thoughts and concerns about the draft wombat management plan that I got released through a question during the last round of annual reports hearings.
Food Relief Action Plan
Last week in the Assembly, Community Services Minister Suzanne Orr tabled the ACT Food Relief Action Plan 2026-2028.
Speaking frankly, I was incredibly disappointed with what was presented 12 months after the passage of my first Private Member’s Motion calling for the development and delivery of this plan.
The plan is pointing to the right things, like consulting with people who have lived experience, but involves a lot of 'exploring' and doesn't contain any funding or timelines. The first action of the 'action plan' doesn't appear until the end of the second-last page, and one of the actions is developing a policy position on the food relief system (which you'd think should have been done before the plan was drafted).
The need for food relief in the ACT is only growing, and our community sector is struggling to keep up with the demand. Volunteering ACT’s 2026 Food Relief snapshot found that 70 per cent of organisations reported their funding is insufficient to meet demand. This plan does not do anything to address this shortfall. If I'm being very honest, I've got little confidence that the plan will actually result in fewer Canberrans going hungry at all.
We need to step up and tackle food insecurity across our community with a real action plan. What was tabled last week can help start the conversation, but we really have to get cracking on this with some genuine commitments. I’m keen to work with the Minister and other Assembly colleagues who are passionate about this issue to ensure that occurs.
MyWay+ Update
Also last week, Transport Minister Chris Steel apologised, again, for the botched rollout of MyWay+. The ACT Government accepted all seven recommendations of a scathing parliamentary inquiry, which found that the project had been a “significant failure” and “clearly not ready for launch.” I’ve been particularly concerned about the impact of this failure on people with disability, given the system’s significant accessibility issues.
Minister Steel also wrote to the ACT Auditor-General to recommend the Audit Office examine the documentation of the project.
Canberra Day Appeal Fun Run
My team and I are lacing up our runners for the 2026 Canberra Day Appeal Fun Run next Monday, in support of local charities across the ACT.
The course starts at Lennox Gardens in Yarralumla and runs along the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. You can choose between a 5km walk/run or a 10km run.
This year, my team and I will wear t-shirts in support of the ‘Back Your Mates, Not Their Bets’ campaign to raise awareness about gambling harm and promote positive peer support. Last year we wore shirts supporting the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre.
You can find out more about the event and register here. Registrations close at 4pm this Sunday.
If this event isn’t your thing, another option is to make a tax-deductible donation to the Canberra Day Appeal here.
My Next Mobile Office
My next mobile office is tomorrow (Friday March 6) at Lyneham Shops from 3:30pm to 4:30pm. RSVP here.
As always, please reach out any time at [email protected] or on (02) 6205 1475 during office hours.
Thank you for your support.
Tom