MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
The 4549 meeting of the Brisbane City Council,
held at City Hall, Brisbane
on Tuesday 27February 2018
at 2pm
Prepared by:
Council and Committee Liaison Office
City Administration and Governance
[4549 (Ordinary) Meeting – 27 February 2018]
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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
THE ?? MEETING OF THE BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL,HELD AT CITY HALL, BRISBANE,
ON TUESDAY ??
AT 2PM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRESENT:
OPENING OF MEETING:
APOLOGY:
MINUTES:
QUESTION TIME:
CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REPORTS:
ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE
AMEMBERSHIP OF THE OVERSIGHT OF CONSULTANCIES SPECIAL COMMITTEE
BWYNNUM ROAD CORRIDOR UPGRADE – STAGE 1B PROJECT – PROPERTY RESUMPTION
PUBLIC AND ACTIVE TRANSPORT COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – ACTIVE SCHOOL TRAVEL 2017
BPETITION – REQUESTING A SEPARATED BIKEWAY ON VULTURE STREET, BETWEEN SIDON STREET, SOUTH BRISBANE, AND MONTAGUE ROAD, WEST END
INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – PROGRESS ROAD UPGRADE STAGE 4
BPETITION – REQUESTING THAT TRUCKS BE DIVERTED AWAY FROM HAWTHORNE AND LYTTON ROADS, BULIMBA
CPETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL CHANGE PARKING IN LANCASTER STREET, COORPAROO, FROM PARALLEL PARKING TO ANGLED PARKING FROM 51 LANCASTER STREET TO THE INTERSECTION OF LANCASTER AND NORFOLK STREETS
CITY PLANNING COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – PLAN YOUR BRISBANE
ENVIRONMENT, PARKS AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – TRIAL PARK SITES FOR FLYING DRONES
BPETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL PURCHASE PART OF 532BEAMS ROAD, CARSELDINE, THROUGH THE BUSHLAND ACQUISITION PROGRAM
CPETITION – REQUESTING A DESIGNATED PUBLIC AREA FOR THE FLYING OF SMALL ELECTRIC REMOTE CONTROL AIRCRAFT UNDER FOUR KILOGRAMS
FIELD SERVICES COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECTS
LIFESTYLE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – SUMMER POOLS WRAP-UP
FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – PARTNERSHIPS TO SUPPORT EMERGING SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS:
GENERAL BUSINESS:
QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN:
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN:
[4549 (Ordinary) Meeting – 27 February 2018]
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PRESENT:
The Right Honourable, the LORD MAYOR (Councillor Graham QUIRK) – LNP
The Chairman of Council, Councillor Angela OWEN (Calamvale Ward) – LNP
LNP Councillors (and Wards) / ALP Councillors (and Wards)Krista ADAMS (Holland Park)
Adam ALLAN (Northgate)
Matthew BOURKE (Jamboree)
Amanda COOPER (Bracken Ridge)
Vicki HOWARD (Central) (Deputy Chairman of Council)
Steven HUANG (Macgregor)
Fiona KING (Marchant)
Kim MARX (Runcorn)
PeterMATIC (Paddington)
Ian McKENZIE (Coorparoo)
David McLACHLAN (Hamilton)
Ryan MURPHY (Doboy)
Kate RICHARDS (Pullenvale)
Adrian SCHRINNER (Chandler) (Deputy Mayor)
Julian SIMMONDS (Walter Taylor)
Steven TOOMEY (The Gap)
Andrew WINES (Enoggera) / PeterCUMMING (Wynnum Manly) (The Leader of the Opposition)
Jared CASSIDY (Deagon) (Deputy Leader of the Opposition)
Kara COOK (Morningside)
SteveGRIFFITHS (Moorooka)
Charles STRUNK (Forest Lake)
Queensland Greens Councillor (and Ward)
Jonathan SRI (The Gabba)
Independent Councillor (and Ward)
Nicole JOHNSTON (Tennyson)
OPENING OF MEETING:
The Chairman, Councillor Angela OWEN, opened the meeting with prayer and acknowledged the traditional custodians, and then proceeded with the business set out in the Agenda.
APOLOGY:
432/2017-18
An apology was submitted on behalf of Councillor Norm WYNDHAM, and he was granted leave of absence from the meeting on the motion of Councillor Andrew WINES, seconded by Councillor Steven TOOMEY.
MINUTES:
433/2017-18
The Minutes of the 4548 meeting of Council held on 20 February 2018, copies of which had been forwarded to each Councillor, were presented, taken as read and confirmed on the motion of Councillor Andrew WINES, seconded by Councillor Steven TOOMEY.
QUESTION TIME:
Chairman:Are there any questions of the LORD MAYOR or Chairman of any of the Standing Committees?
Question 1
Councillor ALLAN:Thank you, Madam Chairman. My question is to the LORD MAYOR. The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission has now ruled that all unions must be in unanimous agreement with Council’s enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) before all Council staff are allowed to vote in a ballot. Can you update the Chamber on Council’s reaction to this decision? Are you aware of any simple changes that could occur to rectify this issue at the State level?
Chairman:LORD MAYOR.
LORD MAYOR:Thanks very much, Madam Chairman, and I thank Councillor ALLAN for the question. Madam Chairman, can I just commence by saying that this Administration respects enormously the amount of effort that our staff put into serving our City of Brisbane. I believe that’s a view that’s shared across the Chamber. Madam Chairman, they are truly dedicated to a Better Brisbane, and we respect all that they do.
What I have been concerned about, however, has been the length of time under which the attempt to be able to get the staff to have a ballot in relation to an offer on the table from this Administration has taken. Now, if we look at the industrial relations laws, Madam Chairman, it was in 1999 that the Queensland Industrial Relations Act allowed for a ballot of workers to proceed if one or more of the unions allowed it to proceed—in other words, expressed their support for a ballot of staff to proceed.
Now, in this scenario, Madam Chairman, we had a situation where we have 11unions covered by our workforce, and eight of those unions said, ‘yes, we are in agreement; we think it is appropriate for the staff to have a ballot, to have their say on the offer on the table from the Administration.’ So, MadamChairman, that said, we would have thought that that would have been a very strong case, a strong situation to allow the staff to have their say. We were hoping that this would have been achieved not this year but last year. In 2017, we were hoping that we would be able to get to a ballot.
Now, in spite of the fact that two of those industrial associations, MadamChairman, the Queensland Services Union and the RTBU—the Rail Tram and Bus Union, Madam Chairman—they are obviously significant employers within Council, so we had industrial organisations covering 85% of our workforce saying, ‘yes, we support the staff being able to go to ballot. But because, MadamChairman, the CFMEU (Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union), the Electrical Trades Union and the Automotive Metals Engineering Printing and Kindred Industries Union, support by the AWU (Australian Workers' Union), elected to hold out, it has meant that we have not been able to go to a ballot for staff.
We fought this very hard in the Industrial Relations Commission. We argued, MadamChairman, that in these circumstances where you have an Administration with an offer, a majority of industrial organisations supporting the staff going to ballot, and yet to be held out by a small number of organisations representing a small percentage of the workforce, MadamChairman, stopping the whole process, we argued that that was not fair, it was not right.
But, Madam Chairman, the reality is that, industrial commissions have to obviously make their judgments and their decisions based upon the law. They saw, having looked at the Industrial Relations Act changes, the Industrial Relations Act 2016 which came into effect on 1 March 2017, the Commission ruled against this Council in regards to the proposition we had put forward.
So it would seem from that, Madam Chairman, now that that has been tested in the Industrial Relations Commission, it would seem to me that the only way to change this for the future is for a change in the legislation. I believe it is commonsense to change it. I don’t believe that it is fair and reasonable for a small number—in fact, forget about three; if just one of the 11 industrial organisations had said, ‘no, you can’t go to a ballot’, then that’s it, it’s game, set and match, if you look at the Industrial Relations Commission’s determination.
So, Madam Chairman, I have written to the State Government. I am not prepared to allow our staff to continue on in this never-never land, MadamChairman, where they were not able to go to a vote. They are still not able to go to a vote, but we elected last week, Madam Chairman, to provide a 2.5%increase to our staff and to have that appropriately back-dated.
Now, Madam Chairman, that’s not fixing the problem. That’s not fixing the problem. That’s EBA—
Chairman:LORD MAYOR, your time has expired.
LORD MAYOR:Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Chairman:Further questions?
Councillor SRI.
Question 2
Councillor SRI:Thanks, Madam Chair. My question is to the LORD MAYOR. Recently published census data suggests that tens of thousands of residential properties in Brisbane are unoccupied on a long-term basis. These are not holiday homes or weekenders but permanently empty dwellings. Meanwhile, thousands of Brisbanites are classed as homeless and many more are living in extreme housing stress on the brink of homelessness.
You’ve previously said that Council can help address housing insecurity by approving more private residential developments, but this obviously isn’t working when investors choose to leave them empty. Does Brisbane City Council take any responsibility whatsoever for the fact that thousands of properties are sitting empty while residents on lower incomes can’t afford secure housing, and what are you doing to address this market failure?
Chairman:LORD MAYOR.
LORD MAYOR:Well, Madam Chairman, the fact that there are a significant number of properties that are unoccupied is, in many respects, good news for those people who are renting properties, because what it means is they have a broader choice; it means that we have a supply which is greater than demand. It has meant that, in some cases—and we have seen this—in some cases the price of that rent has reduced. So there has been, if you like, some relief through supply in the rental market.
Now, what you are talking about, Councillor SRI, is an entirely different matter. You’re not talking about people who want to have accommodation or seek accommodation in that level. You are talking about homeless persons, and there are, as I have said here previously, many reasons why people are homeless. Those reasons are not necessarily always financial.
So, Madam Chairman, I feel like we’ve been over this ground before. I feel like the question is almost a 100% repeat of questions that I’ve had here before. But, MadamChairman, this is something that Councillor SRI and I are going to have to agree to disagree on.
Councillor SRI:Point of order, Madam Chair.
Chairman:Point of order; Councillor SRI.
Councillor SRI:Sorry to draw the LORD MAYOR back to the question, but it’s not so much about homelessness but about the fact—
Chairman:No, Councillor SRI—
Councillor SRI:—that properties are sitting empty.
Chairman:Councillor SRI, Councillor SRI—
Councillor SRI:It’s not about—it’s about why those properties are empty.
Chairman:Councillor SRI! Councillor SRI, I remind you of section 51; when I speak, you cease. That is not an appropriate point of order.
LORD MAYOR.
LORD MAYOR:Thanks very much, Madam Chairman. I had heard the question and was certainly coming to that aspect of it. So, Madam Chairman, the one thing that we cannot do in the laws of the land in this nation is to tell people what they can and can’t do with their properties. Certainly there are certain regulations that we can put in place, but, Madam Chairman, one of the fundamental laws of freedom, I guess, is for people to be able to do what they will with their properties within certain parameters, within the fact, particularly in an urban environment, within certain constraints, giving consideration to neighbours and the like.
But, Madam Chairman, we cannot force people. If they elect to have a property, we cannot force them to open that property up to others. I don’t believe we should have that right, quite frankly. You know, there’s been many, many people over the years that have had a second property. Sometimes that property has been handed down to generation to generation for the holiday property. I don’t have one myself, Madam Chairman, but lots of people have over the years. Why should people be denied a right to do that?
So, I don’t quite know what sort of scheme Councillor SRI is proposing here. I’d love to hear it enunciated at some time how that would all work; how we would actually force people to hand over the keys to their property to make this somehow available unwillingly on their part for other people. You know, this is a wonderful world of the utopian—
Councillor SRI:Point of order, Madam Chair.
Chairman:Point of order against you, LORD MAYOR.
Councillor SRI.
Councillor SRI:Claim to be misrepresented.
LORD MAYOR:Well, perhaps so. I’m just saying I haven’t heard, Madam Chairman, how this scheme might operate, and I’d be fascinated by how it would apply, both in terms of its theory and, indeed, its practice, if in fact a practice could be worked out. So, MadamChairman, we have worked under the principle of property rights in this nation for many years. It’s part of the incentive that people have to get out and work hard and make their own decisions relative to that property.
It is not to diminish in any way, Madam Chairman, the fact that we have people who can’t afford home ownership, and that’s why we have been striving to make sure there is sufficient supply for a competitive rental. We have managed to keep prices at an affordable level in terms of home ownership here by comparison to the Sydneys and the Melbournes, Madam Chairman. We’re a long, long way short in terms of the average price of a home purchase here, and long may that be, so that people can get into the housing market.
But where they cannot, Madam Chairman, then at least if they can be provided with a form of rent which is affordable, then that is what we strive to do. But we will always be of a view that home ownership is something that we believe we ought to strive to achieve for as many as possible.
Chairman:Councillor SRI, just to clarify, you can’t claim misrepresentation during Question Time.
Further questions?
Councillor MURPHY.
Question 3
Councillor MURPHY:Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My question is to the Chair of Infrastructure Committee, Councillor COOPER. The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are right around the corner and Brisbane residents and visitors alike will be travelling to and from the Gold Coast throughout. Can you please outline for the Chamber how Council has been working with the State Government to minimise traffic impacts on Brisbane motorists and what other impacts this may have on Council’s road projects during this time?
Chairman:Councillor COOPER.
Councillor COOPER:Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and I thank Councillor MURPHY for the question. There is certainly very much a buzz in the air. The Games obviously start on 4 April. We are advised there will be 6,600 athletes and officials from 70Commonwealth nations and territories expected, so a full house, so to speak. It will be the largest sporting event staged in this country for a decade, and for the first time—I’m excited to say—for the first time there will be an equal number of men’s and women’s medal events being held. So that’s a great outcome.
We, of course, are very proud to be the host of two of the Games venues, with cycling at the Anna Meares Velodrome and shooting at the Belmont Shooting Centre, so some good opportunities for us to see some incredible talent on show.
In terms of the impact on our road network, we are working very closely with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation, known as GOLDOC, and QPS—Queensland Police Service—to ensure that our road network does not become a bottleneck, a choke the movements of our residents and our visitors to our beautiful city. We want to make sure everyone gets a chance to really enjoy the whole experience.
We will be putting a range of measures in place. That will include some nostopping zones on 12 Council-owned roads surrounding the two Games venues to make sure that local residents can get their access as well as supporting access for spectators, athletes and coaching staff. So, the track cycling at Anna Meares Velodrome will be holding two sessions per day and estimates are of up to 4,500spectators per session, so considerable activity around the velodrome. The shooting at Belmont has up to 2,000 tickets allocated per day, and Belmont, of course, is on the TMR road as well as Tilley Road, so there will be a range of measures put in place to make sure that that functions well.