Canberra’s horseracing industry is asking the ACT Government to rezone their land at Thoroughbred Park. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
Tim Costello is right – we’re all about to lose to vested interests.
Labor has abandoned its long-awaited reforms despite over 70 per cent of Australians wanting a full gambling ad ban.
I’m one of those 70 per cent.
I have a 10-year-old and the idea that she may be exposed to gambling ads on YouTube, Spotify and other channels horrifies me.
And it’s not just in the Federal Parliament.
The Tasmanian government backflipped on pokies reform. In NSW, pokies reform has stalled.
Here in the ACT, Labor withdrew its own amendments to reduce pokies and continued to block the cashless gaming system proposed by the Greens Minister, despite academics and harm reduction experts supporting those reforms.
It’s honestly insulting to the community. The lack of action on gambling ads. The backflipping on pokies reform and now, for Canberra, the backing of developments in our city that don’t meet community needs, including affordable housing options for the many Canberrans struggling to pay their bills.
Canberra’s horseracing industry is asking the ACT Government to rezone their land at Thoroughbred Park so they can profit from a $2 billion property development.
It’s a great idea to rezone that land for housing. It’s on light rail and only 5 km from our city’s centre. In fact, we could put a whole suburb there with public and affordable housing, community facilities, schools and parks – something the Greens proposed months ago.
But that’s not the deal on the table.
The only deal on the table is the one by the Canberra Racing Club, which is a joint venture with the ACT Government to add 3000 apartments on the side of their racetrack – no parks, no playgrounds, no community facilities and no schools, despite those in the area already at 94 per cent capacity.
Does this development mean we may see some affordable housing options for people who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads? That’s uncertain.
Despite us living in an urgent housing crisis, Treasury documents released under freedom of information have indicated no homes in this proposal will be affordable. The Labor Government is yet to make a commitment about this one way or the other.
Various people have asked if the government will compare the two options, but they’ve been told no by the Chief Minister’s office.
Labor and the Liberals have actively voted against community consultation, considering various options for the site and publishing the results. This seems unbelievable.
This comes from an industry with declining membership that’s running deficits year after year, that provides most economic value to the ACT through gambling ads (according to a report commissioned by the Canberra Racing Club), and receives 27 times more in public funding than they generate in the ACT betting tax and only donate $50,000 yearly to a local charity despite receiving $8 million of public funding.
And this is all hidden behind closed doors.
You wouldn’t know you’re getting a dodgy deal simply because this conversation is not happening publicly.
But the Greens are trying to change that. You deserve to know what’s happening in your city. You deserve to have a say, and you deserve to know that the people you elected are working transparently and in good faith.
Even the public funding between the ACT Government and the racing industry is done through multi-year deals, which until recently weren’t even published – not through public tenders, grants or annual processes, which most other non-government entities seeking public funding have to do. In fact, each year, the horseracing industry receives more public funding than the Canberra Raiders, ACT Brumbies, Canberra United and all our community sports programs combined.
They’re the only non-government member of a steering committee making recommendations to government about whether to rezone Thoroughbred Park and whether government should enter into a property deal with them. The only public information I’ve found about this process so far came from my parliamentary questions and FOI requests.
So yes, rezoning for housing is a great idea. But it’s all hushed, and there is no genuine community consultation and involvement. The only plan being considered is that of the Canberra Racing Club, which has no experience in property development. So you could ask, what are the chances of us getting a development that will deliver for Canberra’s growing population?
My asks to the Labor Government are simple: let people have a genuine say, plan for the growing community, and show some leadership to ensure there are housing options for everyone in Canberra, not just those who can afford the private market.
Jo Clay is the Deputy Leader of the ACT Greens and a Member for Ginninderra in the Legislative Assembly.
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