I live in one of the older and less desired suburbs. But I have a front, back and 2x side yards. I even have enough room for a gorgeous little courtyard that I like to call my fairy garden.

There is an enormous green space and connecting footpaths when I walk out of my back gate, and not 1 but 2 parks for children within close proximity of each other. And take another 50 steps and there is a bridge over the quiet road for the safety of children that leads to the Primary School with another 2x bonus ovals, basketball courts and playground.

The amount of people that have mentioned that 2, possibly even 3 townhouses could be fit onto this property and a packet of money is just sitting here, waiting to be made, makes me a little sad.

The Greens didn’t fight to keep our suburbs like this. So when I’m gone, that’s probably what will happen to the property.

We have so much land in Australia. And our City’s Architect had a vision that was so pure that they decided to put it into local law to protect it, so that we wouldn’t end up being tempted to sell what is or was the very heart of our beautiful Canberra. Open spaces. Large yards. Wide roads. Roundabouts are used where possible, instead of lights, no buildings to be over 6(?) stories, (If I remember correctly), and no billboards allowed to decrease vista-pollution. Our tallest buildings were one in Woden and the Woden Valley Hospital. That was it. I lived in the 1st “fancy” apartments to be built in Belconnen, called the Miramar Apartments. I was on the top floor, with a beautiful balcony. No elevator. It was only 3 stories high. We didn’t need it any higher.

Not everyone could live next to Belconnen Mall and the surrounding ammenities. And that was ok. Because we caught buses if we didn’t drive, and they ran great. Except on Sundays. Lol.

My point is that we have enough land for everyone to enjoy a home, without us having to make a concrete jungle out of entire suburbs so that people don’t have to catch the bus to the mall.
All so that developers can make quick cash on quick & dodgily built in most cases, apartments & homes.
But why would our government allow this? Why would they take away our green spaces to give these companies money?

First of all, they’re selling off government land to try and recoup some of the money that they spend while in office, to give the illusion that they can balance the books. If it’s because they say that we need more public housing, then why are there always new suburbs. Entire suburbs being built, yet the government waiting list for emergency housing can be up to 2 years.

Up to 5 years, if you need to move because of work, or your child has to go to a school that’s too far for them to walk/ride and sometimes the buses are full and just drive straight past them at the bus stops. So you have to drive them and use extra petrol money which is an enormous burden on an already tight budget. So up to 5 years is the wait for a house. Good luck.

But I thought we were building entire suburbs? Surely seeing as it’s government land, they would use as much as is needed to look after our most vulnerable? No. They’re doing it for pure profit. Smashing as many homes, townhouses and apartments as the developers can squash into one suburb, with schools and shops promised at a later date. As per usual.

So why would our politicians allow this? And why wouldn’t the Greens stop this?
Let’s face it, there’s money or campaign “donations” going to certain parties or Ministers to have allowed suburbs where you cannot even fit 2 cars on the road at the same time, side by side. There aren’t any front yards. There aren’t any side yards for that matter. Most free standing homes, have a garage right next to their neighbour’s garage, and you could barely fit a broom between them if you lost a frisbee down there. And there are minimal Government homes purchased/built by the government.

Why? Greed. At the cost of what? Our environment and the vulnerable people in our city that have nowhere to live.

I used to use the fire trails to walk to the shops and always spot some interesting wildlife. A koala, some Roos, with a Joey or 2 if I was lucky. A Kookaburra, blue tongues, always skinks. A snake, once in a while. And the streetlights in summer’s night, would be so covered in Christmas Beetles that they barely shone.

Now, I have to visit animal sanctuaries to see our own native wildlife that was a part of my home, my surroundings, growing up. We have allowed for our city to be ruined in under 1 generation.

I never even got to enjoy it all with my children.
They still don’t believe that it wasn’t rare for a Roo or 2 to be in one of the streets and word of mouth would reach us and we’d hop on our bikes. No, no pics. We didn’t know that it would be a rare occurrence when we grew up.

I don’t know if the laws expired or a particular government changed them. But I do know that I kept voting for the Greens blindly.

We didn’t have the internet to research as we do now. So I cannot believe that people still fall for their rubbish. They’d vote for a pay rise for ministers before they’d protect the beauty that our city used to hold. Maybe they don’t remember. Maybe they don’t care. Maybe they’ve lost their passion and have been institutionalised. Maybe they have an enormous yard and a house at the coast. It’s easy to lose your morals and fighting spirit when you can buy your own happiness. Our Earth, Our Beautiful City doesn’t seem to matter to them so much now.

I remember when The Greens just wanted to be taken seriously and for people to listen to them before it was too late.

Well a lot of us were listening and paying attention the entire time. You just lost your voice and your moral compass. You’ve diluted the Party name.

Just look around. Look at the carefully planted rows of trees next to busy streets that cannot be used by wildlife. Their roots breaking through the pavement in protest.

Just close your eyes.
Listen to the construction site noises in the background, making you money. You can’t hear the fauna, because you’ve strangled out most of the flora.

Your party name stands for naught.