Published: 08 September 2016

8 September 2016

Yvette Berry had repeated warnings about issues with Inanna Inc months before its eventual collapse this week. The Minister now has serious questions to answer about the government’s apparent lack of oversight, Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services Nicole Lawder said today.

“Inanna has been providing valuable services and support for vulnerable women and families for 30 years and its collapse this week is a tragedy. I’m not confident though that the government did all it could leading up to the collapse to protect public funds,” Ms Lawder said.

“Yvette Berry needs to answer questions including:

- Why did Inanna fail to submit a community housing report on time (due in November 2015) and why did the government grant extension after extension for the submission of the report? 

- Why was it not until the end of May 2016 – six months later – that the Human Services Registrar finally issued binding instructions to Inanna? 

- Why didn’t Yvette Berry personally take any action?

“Inanna received a substantial amount of taxpayers’ money, in the order of $2 million a year from the ACT Government. Surely better oversight of this funding arrangement was necessary. Yvette Berry needs to explain the government’s failure to take early action on this issue,” Ms Lawder concluded.

Contact: Joe Prevedello 0402768432

Published: 05 September 2016

5 September 2016

Andrew Barr needs to demonstrate leadership and remove Chris Bourke as Minister for Children and Young People. It follows the Minister’s unprofessional display on an ABC TV program into child protection failures in the ACT, and his previous and subsequent failure to respond and act on these issues, Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Hanson said today.

“In the program, Chris Bourke demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of child protection, was clearly out of his depth and was devoid of any knowledge of the areas he’s responsible for in child protection. Subsequently, he’s failed to front up and tell Canberrans what he’s going to do about issues in the child protection system,” Mr Hanson said.

“Andrew Barr needs to do the right thing and remove these critical responsibilities in child protection from Chris Bourke and move quickly to repair the system,” Mr Hanson concluded.

“The ABC TV program explored two terrible tragedies that highlighted how badly child protection has been managed in the ACT, despite numerous independent reports to government going back more than a decade,” Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services Nicole Lawder said.

“If Andrew Barr is interested in the care of vulnerable children, he needs to send a strong message that Chris Bourke’s behaviour has demonstrated that he isn’t up to the job, and he needs to remove him as Minister for Children and Young People,” Ms Lawder concluded.

Published: 08 September 2016

7 September 2016

The ACT was the only jurisdiction to record a decline in housing affordability and rental affordability over the June quarter, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia and Adelaide Bank’s Housing Affordability Report for the June quarter 2016, Shadow Minister for Housing Nicole Lawder said today.

“The proportion of income needed to meet home loan repayments increased by 0.1 percent to 19.4 percent in June while proportion of income required to meet the median rent increased by 0.4 percentage points to 17.8 percent,” Ms Lawder said.

“This data demonstrates that families on low to moderate household incomes continue to face an uphill battle on housing costs in Canberra.

“When you are on a below-average income, a decline in rental affordability makes it more difficult for first home buyers to save up for their initial deposit and of course the problem for first home buyers is not necessarily the ability to afford monthly repayments; it’s saving up for that lump sum.

“The Barr Government continues to squeeze families as rates triple and as basic fees and charges increase. Andrew Barr has clearly forgotten those struggling in Canberra,” Ms Lawder concluded.

Contact: Joe Prevedello 0402768432

Published: 05 September 2016

1 September 2016

Today the Canberra Liberals have announced a $550,000 investment to upgrade facilities at Greenway Oval. Greenway Oval has been in need of significant upgrades for some time so the facility can continue to cater for families in the Tuggeranong Valley, Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation, Steve Doszpot said today.

“Today’s commitment will help many sporting clubs including the Tuggeranong Football Club, Tuggeranong Valley Bushrangers, and ACT Gridiron,” Mr Doszpot said today.

“We will work with these sporting clubs and all users of Greenway Oval to examine the growing needs of the facility and the best possible upgrades that can be delivered with this funding commitment,” Mr Doszpot concluded.

“The community has raised concerns with me about inadequate grandstand, change and shower rooms, coaches’ and media boxes, storage, cleaning and canteen facilities, and access for people with a disability,” Ms Lawder said.

“These concerns have gone unaddressed for too long and I’m proud to be part of a team that is listening to the community and wants to deliver adequate local services.

“Upgrading local community facilities is an important part of our commitment to give Canberrans the local services they deserve,” Ms Lawder concluded.

John Glenn, Chairman of a Joint Committee representing the interests of the three major users of the Greenway Oval said that the users welcomed and fully supported the initiative of the Liberal Party to provide funds for this essential work.

“This is further evidence of the strong support of the Liberals to the youth of Canberra and to sporting pursuits generally,” Mr Glenn said today.