Published: 12 January 2016

Tuesday 12 January 2016

The foul smell that has been widely reported by residents across Tuggeranong suburbs continues to cause inconvenience and it’s time the Barr government resolved the issue, Shadow Minister for Environment Nicole Lawder said today.

“Throughout December and again over the past few days I’ve received complaints from Tuggeranong residents about the foul odour they believe is coming from the Mugga Lane Tip. For too long this has been an issue and residents deserve to enjoy the warmer weather, without being subjected to the foul smell,” Ms Lawder said.

“The reports have come from a range of locations, particularly in Fadden and Macarthur and it’s something I’m deeply concerned about. This doesn’t seem to be a sewerage issue as the government implied last month. ICON Water has investigated that and ruled it out.

“The government and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) need to determine the cause of the odour as a matter of urgency and fix the problem. It’s been an issue for too long and is causing major inconvenience for many residents,” Ms Lawder concluded.

Contact: Joe Prevedello 0402768432

Published: 14 December 2015

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Published: 17 December 2015

Thursday 17 December 2015

There were no local adoptions in the ACT, in 2014-15, according to a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) today. It again raises questions about the adoption processes locally, Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services Nicole Lawder said today.

“The AIHW’s Adoptions Australia 2014–15 report recorded no local adoptions in the ACT. This is in stark contrast to Victoria which had 24 local adoptions and Queensland which had 10,” Ms Lawder said.

“There are many families in Canberra who are willing and able to adopt a child or children who are in need of loving and stable homes. As Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services, I am concerned that the current ACT adoption process is not giving these families the opportunity to adopt locally.

“The ACT has the equal lowest number of local adoptions in Australia and in September this year I raised concerns in the Legislative Assembly and was assured by the government that all was well with the process. The report released today demonstrates otherwise.

“There are Canberrans who want to adopt, but the process needs to allow them to. There are children in need of loving homes and this issue should be a priority for the Barr government,” Ms Lawder concluded.

Contact: Joe Prevedello 040276843

Published: 11 December 2015

Friday 11 December 2015

New data released today from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows there were hundreds of cases of unmet need for homelessness services in the Canberra community last financial year. It should sound alarm bells to the government that more needs to be done to address homelessness, Shadow Minister for Housing Nicole Lawder said today.

“I find it alarming to see that there were 599 instances of unmet need and more women than men in unmet need. It demonstrates a failure of the government’s response to the issue,” Ms Lawder said.

“While the number of Canberrans receiving support from homelessness services dropped, domestic and family violence was the most common main reason given for seeking assistance at 14.8% in the ACT (239 men, 489 women) (also largest group last year at 15%). Nationally this is also the most common main reason at 24%.

“The AIHW report showed that couch surfing is the most common type of housing situation on first presentation to homelessness services, at 20.9% of all clients in the ACT. This is much higher than the national average of 11.4%.

“Mental health is also much higher than the national average as a reason for seeking assistance at 21.9% (last year 19.6%, nationally 12.2%).

“Canberrans seeking assistance are generally in younger age groups than the national average. 13.5% of ACT clients were aged less than 9 years of age, while the most clients were in the 18-24 years (21.1%) and 25-34 years age groups (20.8%), similar figures to last year.

“I’m also particularly concerned about the lack of exits from homelessness services. This is down to the lack of housing affordability in Canberra. Almost 55 percent of ACT clients identified housing affordability or financial difficulties as a reason for seeking assistance, much higher than the 46.2% figure nationally. The ACT government knows there a problem but it actually needs to address the housing affordability crisis,” Ms Lawder concluded.

Contact: Joe Prevedello 0402768432