Minutes of proceedings
|
|  Yüklə 5.91 Mb.
|
MOTION FOR AMENDMENT TO PROGRAM 1: CLEAN, GREEN AND WATERSMART CITY
Councillor JOHNSTON: Yes, thank you, Madam Chairman. In the LORD MAYOR's budget speech last Wednesday, I noted he seemed to be very proud of the fact that his budget was fair. He used the word fairness. I think that was deliberate, because of the adverse study that was done with the overall sort of review of Council's system. Councillor BOURKE: Point of order, Madam Chairman. Chairman: Point of order against you, Councillor JOHNSTON. Yes, Councillor BOURKE. Councillor BOURKE: The amendment I've got is relating to drainage works, not park projects that Councillor JOHNSTON states. Can we have a copy of the actual amendment that is meant to be being debated, please? Chairman: Parks, Maintenance and Enhancement. Sorry, Councillor JOHNSTON— Councillor JOHNSTON: I am not sure what has been handed out, Madam Chairman, but there are two pages, and I have moved them as one amendment. One is about the parks funding, and the other is about drainage. Councillor BOURKE: We've only got one, the drainage one. Chairman: Yes, we've only got one. I've got to get a copy of the other amendment, please. If there's two there, can I have a copy please? Councillor JOHNSTON: I handed them to the Clerk, Madam Chairman. Chairman: Yes, I know you did, Councillor JOHNSTON. Are they all the same? What have you got? Councillor NEWTON: We've got an amendment relating to Eucalypt Park. Chairman: Yes, that's the same as this one. So there's a second one. Can I have two copies up here of the second amendment please? Councillor BOURKE, have you got the second one? Councillor BOURKE: I've got the drainage one but don't have the parks one. Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON, what you were really moving was two amendments, because they are two different parts of the budget. It is two amendments; it's not one. Councillor JOHNSTON: Madam Chairman, I moved it as one amendment. I read it out, I moved it. It was moved as one amendment. It is simply written down as two because that's the way it just got written down for the purposes of ease. But I have moved one amendment clearly to the items as outlined. It was seconded by Councillor GRIFFITHS, and I would appreciate it if we can have some debate. Chairman: Okay, yes; debate on the amendment. No, it is okay. Councillor JOHNSTON: It is not a mistake. It is very clearly an amendment— Councillors interjecting. Chairman: Order! Councillor WINES! Councillor WINES! Councillor JOHNSTON: I haven’t made a mistake. I stood up, I've moved an amendment and it's been seconded— Councillor interjecting. Chairman: Order! Councillor WINES! Councillor JOHNSTON: —and there's debate now, so grow up.
Chairman: Councillor WINES! DEPUTY MAYOR: Point of order, Madam Chairman.
Chairman: Order! Councillor FLESSER! Point of order. Yes, DEPUTY MAYOR. DEPUTY MAYOR: I just wanted to raise that at least one of these amendments or proposed amendments is incompetent, the one that relates to Conservation Reserves Consolidation. Under the requirements of the Bushland Acquisition Levy, that money can only be spent on purchasing and maintaining bushland. It would be illegal to put it into drainage. Chairman: Yes, that is correct. Councillors interjecting. Chairman: Order! DEPUTY MAYOR, can I have a five-minute adjournment, please?
UPON RESUMPTION: Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON, that part of your amendment is incompetent. That is the Conservation Reserves Consolidation, money to be transferred to drainage, because if you look at 1.3.1.1 it is dealing only with the Bushland Preservation Levy. If you turn to page 239 of the budget book, that explains very clearly what that money can be used for. It cannot be used for drainage, and therefore that amendment is incompetent and I will strike that one out. So we will have debate on the other part of your amendment please. Councillor SUTTON: Point of order, Madam Chair. Just a question about that ruling. Can I just ask for one— Chairman: Yes, Councillor SUTTON, you are here. Councillor SUTTON: Yes, I am, and I know you always love it when I join the debate in the Council Chamber. Chairman: What is your question? Councillor SUTTON: My understanding was that Council could resolve to change exactly what you are saying in terms of the levy expenditure. If this Council was to support Councillor JOHNSTON's motion that she has put forward to spend the money in this way, then that is a resolution of full Council and would actually lead to change in that policy. So, I am just questioning how you can rule that that is incompetent. Chairman: Okay, Councillor SUTTON, I will explain it again. The Conservation Reserves Consolidation is about the Bushland Preservation Levy only, which is explained on page 239 of the budget book. The Chief Legal Counsel has confirmed my opinion that that amendment is incompetent and cannot proceed. If you want that in writing, I can request another adjournment whilst we get that in writing before we start the debate on this amendment. It is up to you. Councillor SUTTON: I just wanted to ask. Chairman: Just now and again it would pay to perhaps realise that just maybe the Chief Legal Counsel and myself know what we are talking about. Councillor JOHNSTON, debate on— Councillor JOHNSTON: Point of order, Madam Chairman. Chairman: Yes, Councillor JOHNSTON. Councillor JOHNSTON: Madam Chairman, my understanding is this is the highest decision making body of this place. Council can vary and change the allocation of funding expenditure. I do not agree with your advice, and I move dissent in the motion and the decision that you have made today, and I would appreciate it if there is a seconder. Hello?
Chairman: Order! Dissent has been moved in my ruling. There is no seconder; therefore we continue. Councillor JOHNSTON: All right, Madam Chairman; that's fine. Chairman: Now, you can debate— Councillor JOHNSTON: Yes, I understand. Chairman: You can debate your amendment in relation to 1.4.3.1. Councillor JOHNSTON: I understand, Madam Chairman, that this Council is all about shutting me down when it comes to— Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON— Councillor JOHNSTON: —allocating expenditure— Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON! Councillor JOHNSTON: Yes. Chairman: I am asking you to withdraw that comment. Councillor JOHNSTON: Okay, I withdraw. Madam Chairman, the part of the motion that you are allowing to go forward today is very straightforward. We have heard from the LORD MAYOR last Wednesday that he claims his budget is fair. He claims that he is investing for everyone in the city. Well, Madam Chairman, I can tell you now that there is a total of $15 million allocated to park and playground works in this budget, and not a single cent of it is allocated into Tennyson Ward. When we had the budget estimates session on Monday, it was astonishing to listen to the amount of pork barrelling that is being done in LNP wards, particularly when it comes to parks projects. One of the issues that was raised was the Upgrading Neighbourhood Parks item at 1.4.3.1. There are dozens and dozens of projects, a total of $5.5 million in expenditure, for neighbourhood parks, and not a single cent of that $5.5 million is going into any Tennyson Ward suburb. However, there are multiple projects for Bracken Ridge Ward—multiple projects. I note that there are projects including the Eucalypt Place Park project, $82,000; Ferguson Park project, $195,000; the Isaac Best Park project, $53,000, and that is just suburbs that are actually called Bracken Ridge. It is shocking to see the way in which the LORD MAYOR interprets the word fairness. Fairness apparently means that LNP suburbs get multiple park projects while Tennyson Ward gets nothing. That is unreasonable and unfair. I want to change that today with this amendment. The reason that I have chosen this project is because it was one of two lighting projects that has been identified in Bracken Ridge Ward for park, and one of those two projects, funding should be reallocated to the Lagonda Street Park in Annerley. Lagonda Street Park is a through park that connects Fairfield Rail Station with Ipswich Road. It is highly trafficked by foot, by commuters, by schoolchildren going up to Our Lady's, and used very frequently by local residents. It is currently dangerous. The lighting inadequacies are enormous, and it is shocking that this Council has not funded it. Eight years ago, in my first year, I asked for lighting funding for this. That is how long we have been waiting for it. The lighting plan was drawn up in 2009, but the lighting project has never been funded. The plan was drawn up after a resident who lived opposite the park at that time reported a serious assault in the park, and the lack of lighting that leads through a heavily treed area and a small boardwalk over a gully. It is entirely a community safety issue. The lighting in this park has been identified by the Asset Services officers in South Region as the number one lighting project. They say it is dangerous; I say it is dangerous; the residents say it is dangerous. For seven years, I have been campaigning for lighting in this park. It has been promised, and then they have failed to deliver. Today is the time to commit funding to that project and to install the much-needed lighting to ensure that people walking to school, to work or to their homes in Annerley will be safe. That is all this is asking for. Councillor COOPER still has dozens of other projects in this area and several other projects in this line item itself. It is unreasonable that other wards are being so heavily provided with projects and others are being ignored altogether. Safety of our residents isn’t a political issue. If Asset Services officers identify projects as vitally important for the safety of our community, they should be funded. They should be funded. This is simply asking that $82,000 from a lighting project in Bracken Ridge Ward is transferred to a park lighting project in Annerley. Councillor COOPER still has hundreds of thousands of dollars of parks upgrade projects in here, and I feel that it is entirely reasonable and entirely fair that we allocate ratepayers' funds out to ensure that high priority safety projects are delivered. I would ask for everyone in this ward to support this project, because it is critically important. If another incident happens in this park without the appropriate lighting, it will just be horrific for our community, and it is not reasonable that the LNP Councillors continue to neglect it. I urge all Councillors to ensure that they support this item before us today because Councillor COOPER certainly is still getting her fair share of funding. Of the $15 million in parks and playground projects—that is $15 million—all I am asking this Council to endorse is $82,000 for Tennyson Ward. That is it. Otherwise there will be nothing, and I don't think that is reasonable by any stretch of the imagination whatsoever. I don't think the people of Brisbane think that is reasonable. I think if you went and asked Councillor COOPER's residents out in Bracken Ridge Ward whether they thought her getting five or six park projects and Tennyson Ward getting none was fair, they would say that it was unfair. So I would ask all Councillors on the basis of fairness and the basis of community safety to support this reallocation of funding. Chairman: Further debate on the amendment? Councillor JOHNSTON: So all that hassle, and they don't even have the guts to stand up and speak to the motion. Let's be clear: I have moved a motion that we reallocate $82,000 in funding for a lighting project in Bracken Ridge to $82,000 in a lighting project in Lagonda Street Park, Annerley, and they don't even have the guts to stand up and say why they support it or why they don't support it. I can only presume that means they are going to vote it down—vote it down in the most cowardly way by not saying anything whatsoever. That is appalling. Again, we are here with the LORD MAYOR's fairness budget. The LORD MAYOR stood up and said he wants to deliver for everybody. We have heard Councillor BOURKE; he's delivering across the suburbs. Some 95 per cent of his projects are being delivered in the suburbs. Well, they are not out in Tennyson Ward. There is $15 million in funding in this parks project; not a cent of it is going to Tennyson Ward. In this budget item allocation for neighbourhood parks, there is a $5.5 million allocation, and not a cent of it is going into Tennyson Ward. Is there a single other Councillor in this place who is not getting a cent out of the parks budget? Is there? Is there another Councillor who is not getting a single cent? I don't think there is anybody in here who is. What I will say is: it is reasonable that this $82,000 is transferred to a critically important lighting project that is identified by Local Asset Services officers in South Region as the number one lighting project for my area. It has been on the list for seven years, and it is being ignored. I don't want to see another person hurt. So I am simply asking that, from this allocation of $5.5 million, $82,000 goes to Tennyson Ward. Otherwise, they will be getting nothing. If another person is hurt in this area, it will be just appalling.
The Chairman submitted to the Chamber the motion for the amendment and it was declared lost on the voices. Thereupon, Councillor Nicole JOHNSTON, and the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Milton DICK immediately rose and called for a division, which resulted in the motion being declared lost. The voting was as follows: AYES: 1 - Councillor Nicole JOHNSTON. NOES: 25 - The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR, Councillor Graham QUIRK, DEPUTY MAYOR, Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER, and Councillors Krista ADAMS, Matthew BOURKE, Amanda COOPER, Margaret de WIT, Vicki HOWARD, Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC, Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR, Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES and Norm WYNDHAM, and the Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS and Victoria NEWTON. Chairman: Further debate on Program 1? Councillor MURPHY. Councillor MURPHY: Thanks very much—
Chairman: Order! Councillor MURPHY: —Madam Chairman; I stand to make a reasoned contribution to the debate on Program 1, Clean, Green and WaterSmart City. Before I do that, can I signal my very strong support for the LORD MAYOR's 2015-16 Council budget as a whole, and express my gratitude to the officers—and, of course, Councillor SIMMONDS and his officers—who have worked so hard behind the scenes and have put this budget together. I always say to Councillor BOURKE—I have said it in past budgets and I will say it again—Program 1 is one of my favourite programs because it delivers the on the ground services, the things that people love about Brisbane—the parks, the recreation side of things, the exciting things that kids go out and enjoy in the wards. So it is really good— DEPUTY MAYOR interjecting: I bet you say that to all the Chairmen. Councillor MURPHY: No, I don't, I don't. Moving Brisbane is coming up next, Councillor SCHRINNER, and I will have some things to say about that. I want to talk about some of the headline figures here. There is $168.2 million for parks, gardens and recreation in this budget; $15.9 million for maintaining trees across the city; we have 19 grass cuts per year up from 17 last year, and certainly far up on the numbers that were regular in Labor years. It has $21.3 million for maintaining our bushland areas; $2.6 million for home and business sustainability programs, and of course we continue the purchase of 100 per cent green power, with $4.5 million to ensure that Council's operations are carbon neutral. This is an Administration that sees the need to address the challenge of climate change, and is willing to put its money where its mouth is. But importantly, we believe in taking care of that issue at the back of house, not by imposing a tax on the residents and the businesses of Brisbane as Labor Councillors have advocated for time and time again in this place with their support for Federal Labor's carbon tax. When it comes to changing the energy use and the environmental habits of the residents of Brisbane, we believe in doing so through the carrot, not the stick; not through punitive measures, and that is why we have invested over $2 million in the GreenHeart community engagement program in this budget to encourage Brisbane residents and businesses to change their habits, to become a little bit cleaner and greener every year. I think that is a great program. It is well supported by everyone that I talk to in my ward, and it is certainly well supported by Councillors on this side of the Chamber. I want to talk a little bit about keeping the city clean. In past budgets I have talked a lot about the parks side of things, but I think it would be remiss of me not to advocate just how much this city has changed in the last decade and plus with some of the policies that we have enacted when it comes to keeping our city clean and green. We have $121.7 million in this budget for waste management; $100.8 for drainage maintenance and enhancement, and $9.6 million for graffiti removal and litter prevention. I remember this city in the 1990s. I remember as a kid coming in here to Queen Street Mall and actually seeing how bad Queen Street Mall looked under the Soorley Labor Administrations. It was truly a filthy city. There was garbage everywhere; the pavement was unkempt and ripped up. The gardens needed maintenance— Councillors interjecting. Chairman: Order! Councillor MURPHY: This was a filthy city under Labor Administrations. Chairman: Order! Councillor MURPHY: I really want to give credit where it is due to Councillor McLACHLAN and his team—
Chairman: Order! Councillor ABRAHAMS! Councillor MURPHY: —because they have done a great job in just slowly turning around this city's look and feel, especially in the CBD, but also out in the suburbs. I hear the interjections from those opposite, but the figures here speak for themselves. Just in the last financial year, we have installed another 270 240 litre bin enclosure units. We have had 13 suburbs touched in the eastern region, 12 in the west region, 18 in the north, and 17 in the south, and of course 10 suburbs touched including the CBD in the city. This is a really important metric: overflowing footpath bins have reduced by 50 per cent over the last two years, due to bringing that increased capacity online. That is not a sexy project that Council has done, but it has been so effective in ensuring that those bins are filled with rubbish, not the streets filled with rubbish as they were under Labor. They carp and they moan, but every Councillor on this side of the Chamber knows what it was like in the 90s, walking down Queen Street Mall in this city. It was truly disgraceful. I think that has been one of the biggest turnarounds in getting that rubbish off the streets and into bins, so people can be proud of their city. I want to talk a little bit about the schedules in this program and what they mean for Doboy Ward. We have natural area development. We have $29,000 and $20,000 respectively allocated for Chelsea Road Park and Green Camp Road Park in Ransome. It is important to understand that these properties were purchased with the Bushland Acquisition Levy, a levy that is set aside especially for use for these purposes, not other purposes. Once they come into Council's estate, it is important that we don't just leave them sit there to get weeds or pests or anything like that. It is important that we spend the time and invest the money to ensure that these reserves are developed so that the residents of Brisbane can use them, so that they provide a natural valuable habitat for flora and fauna in those areas. We also have some dog off-leash area refurbishment at 14.3.1 for Preston Road Park at Carina, $63,000 being invested there. This is, as Councillor SCHRINNER will know, because this is right on the border, this is one of the best used dog parks in Brisbane. I will put my hand on my heart and say I think it is actually the most used dog park in all of Brisbane. I am happy to be proven wrong by other Councillors here. We have seen that dog park grow bigger and bigger and bigger every year that I have been a Councillor. They just keep moving that fence further out into the parkland. There are now hundreds of dogs and their owners there every afternoon. It is causing some teething issues with the park, obviously, and of course other things that we are putting in there, like the Minnippi outdoor gym causing a lot of people to come to the park. So some of the upgrades we have done in recent financial years to improve the car park around there have been really important to that. We also have park assets, maintenance and rehabilitation at 1.4.3.1 in the schedules. We have $121,000 there for the Colmslie Beach Reserve which is a reserve that is on the border between Councillor SUTTON's ward and mine. This was, I believe, land that was owned by the State Government for their abattoir operations back in the late 80s and 90s, was handed over the Council as part of Jim Soorley's plan to convert that into a beach park, and it has been a very well loved park by the residents of my ward and the residents of the wider city of Brisbane for years now. Unfortunately, the car park and some of the footpaths to get around Colmslie Beach Reserve are a little bit dilapidated, so this money is a great investment to see those paths upgraded to ensure that that park will remain accessible into the future. At Park Infrastructure Facility and Landscape Upgrades, the number one line item in the budget there is the barbeque upgrade and replacement program. I am probably harking back to the late 90s a little bit in this speech, but we all remember going to the park and using the wood fired barbeques. Well, their time has come and gone. It is important that, where we have barbeques that are well used, they are replaced with electric barbeques as a matter of priority. I will say some people still use them. I had one person in Preston Road Park—and Councillor SCHRINNER, you will be interested to know this—who was actually using one of those wood fired barbeques as a smoker. I didn’t even know you could do that, but he was smoking meat in it. I went over and went, 'What the hell are you doing?' He said, I'm smoking all this meat. You can't get this anywhere else, so I'm doing it here in the park. So there's at least a few people out there that still use those barbeques. So perhaps we can't replace all of them just yet. With respect to Upgrade Neighbourhood Parks, Doboy Ward has been the recipient of six park upgrades under the Upgrade Neighbourhood Parks program at 1.4.3.1. We have Behan Crescent Park, which is another one of those older 90s, 80s style parks. We have a $122,000 upgrade program there. That is a very well loved park by the community, near a dog park as well, so it would be great to see that one upgraded. We have Habitat Drive Park at Wakerley, recently in the last budget was a recipient of a dog off-leash area upgrade, but of course one upgrade begets another, and residents have asked for some exercise equipment after seeing the fantastic work of Council officers installing the outdoor gym at Minnippi. So we have $65,000 for the installation of equipment there. The Ian Page Park is a park with the older style barbeque. There is $32,000 in the budget to upgrade the older style of barbeque there to an electric barbeque, and I thank Councillor BOURKE for his attention to that. The Joe Bradfield Centre Park at Carina, $121,000 there invested to upgrade the facilities. Again, we have another ageing 90s era park that needs replacement. Preston Road Park, $13,000 there. I have to talk to the officers to find out exactly what that one is about. We have Robinson Park at Tingalpa as well. As to waterways health enhancement, New Cleveland Road, $216,000 there. I think it is important to note that the vast majority of flooding that we get in this city is actually creek flooding. It is not river flooding. So every dollar that is invested in waterways health enhancement, or indeed in the waterways vegetation management— Chairman: Councillor MURPHY, your time has expired. Councillor MURPHY: Oh, I'm very sorry, Madam Chairman. Chairman: It is 10.28; the designated time for morning tea today is 10.30, so Councillor MURPHY?
|