1 July 2010

Greens save the street trees?

| johnboy
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The Greens’ spokesperson on stuff people actually care about, Caroline le Couteur, is celebrating getting a motion up to restore funding to the Urban Tree Renewal Program in future budgets.

“We were concerned the Government would delay the Urban Tree Renewal Program, as substantial funding for the program out to 2013 had been removed from this year’s Budget papers,” said Caroline le Couteur, Spokesperson for Territory and Municipal Services.

“However, Greens’ amendments to a motion passed today have ensured that the funding will be restored in the 2011-12 Budget.”

A potential issue is that the Government removed the funding until they got a report from the Environment Commissioner Maxine Cooper on the urban trees.

Once they get that report there’s a possibility it will say what the Government already knew (hence removing the funding this year) and we’re back to square one.

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Gungahlin Al12:44 pm 01 Jul 10

Right – it was hard to tell, and I don’t have a copy of the paper here. If so, withdrawn.

Gungahlin Al12:30 pm 01 Jul 10

A clarification: I’m not sure the voting pattern of the motion but assume it was Greens and Liberals voting for the change.

Apparently the liberals pulled out of the final vote, but the government went with it? (just from my reading of the release)

Gungahlin Al12:27 pm 01 Jul 10

“Once they get that report there’s a possibility it will say what the Government already knew (hence removing the funding this year) and we’re back to square one.”

I’m not sure I see what you are getting at here. But I am one of two community reps on the Commissioner’s Referal Panel for this investigation.

I’m not at liberty to discuss proceedings other than what is already public via the workshops and consultation processes already undertaken by the Commissioner. But I can assure you it is being taken very seriously and done with complete integrity. I very much doubt the report would be a fait acoompli for the government.

As to the Greens success in their motion, if the Commissioner’s report were to be delivered in a few months and it were to recommend ramping up of the replacement program, then isn’t it entirely appropriate that the government has funding there to do just that?

The alternative is that they lose another entire planting season, waiting for funding to do anything.

But it is one thing for the Assembly to pass a motion, another entirely for “the Government” (read: the ACT Labor party) to implement it. They have chosen to ignore the will of the Assembly (and therefore the electorate) a number of times already this term.

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