Graffiti Blitz Team
Mr Speaker, parts of Canberra are in serious decline and are decaying. You only need to leave this building and walk across the road to see graffiti-plastered shopfront windows, boarded-up shops and lease signs. A year ago, I tabled a report into graffiti management, after a self-funded study tour of local councils in New South Wales and Victoria, and I came away impressed by how active, practical and determined many of those councils were in tackling graffiti.
They did not just shrug their shoulders. They did not hide behind the question of whether a wall was publicly or privately owned. In places like Blacktown, Sydney, Wollongong, Queanbeyan, Melbourne, and the Yarra council in Melbourne, the approach is very clear: if there is graffiti in high-traffic, public-facing areas, remove it quickly, because that is how you restore pride. That is how you deny vandals the reward of seeing their tag staying up for weeks, months or even years, when it comes to this place.
Canberrans are speaking. Businesses, families and residents are telling us they feel less safe, they see more disorder and they want to know why the government does not seem to hear them. Businesses in the city centre and parts of Braddon already pay the City Centre Marketing and Improvements Levy. That money should be visibly reinvested back into the city, into cleaner streets, safer public spaces, better lighting, faster graffiti removal, and practical support for businesses that are tired of carrying the cost of government neglect.
The Canberra Liberals will establish dedicated graffiti blitz teams to target Civic public and private buildings that face onto public spaces. We will work with businesses, property owners, community groups and volunteers, including organisations like Graffiti Busters, to provide the supplies, the safety equipment, the training and the coordination needed to clean up our city. This is not just about removing paint; it is about sending a message that Canberra is cared for, that people are being heard and that, under a Parton Liberal government, we will restore pride, order and confidence in our city.