Speech by Councillor Seal Chong Wah, during debate in Brisbane City Council Chambers - Tues 19th Nov 2024

I rise to speak on the Quarterly Financial Report. 

Under this Council, no funding of public services will be left unscathed. 

This is the LNP administration that cut $400 million in council spending in the middle of a budget year. 

The same LNP administration that’s having a fire sale of public land and greenspaces and championing plans to privatise a chunk of Mt Coot-tha Reserve. 

And of course, this is the same LNP administration that raises the bills on ratepayers while giving handouts to wealthy developers.

That's the infamous budget management of an LNP administration.

The newest victim? Young children and families. The Schrinner Council has quietly decided to slash the First 5 Forever program in our local libraries.  

In this Quarterly Financial Report and the most recent Council budget, there is no transparency and virtually no budget information on major programs. In previous budgets the First 5 Forever program was individually costed. This council is now hiding its financial information from Councillors and the public.

First 5 Forever is ‘story and rhyme time’ for babies, toddlers and kids under 5. It gives these kids a place to play, learn and sing with other children, at a time when a child’s brain is developing a million connections a second. For parents, this is a place to borrow books or toys, share stories, and most importantly, connect with other young families when they’re at their most isolated.

These programs are so popular that even now parents struggle to find a spot. But this week, they’ve learned from devastated librarians that around a quarter of all ‘Rhyme Time’ has been cut by this LNP Council.

The Paddington Ward has no public library. But under this change, Mayor Schrinner has cut all weekly ‘First 5 Forever’ sessions from Mt Coot-tha Library. All children’s sessions and half the baby sessions from Brisbane Square. And half the toddler sessions from Toowong library.

LNP budgeting means more parents, children and babies will lose access to this valuable program. 

My Greens colleague, Michael Berkman, has started a petition to reverse this decision. In just 24 hours, we have gathered over 2500 signatures from residents that are furious with the LNP. With most funding coming from the State Government, the Schrinner Council had budgeted this program through to 2026. So why have they pulled this shady move and blind-sided young families?

No announcements. No transparency.  How can we have trust in this Quarterly Financial Report, when we know there is no financial transparency by this LNP council. Our Mayor knows no bounds when it comes to cutting public services. 

I see in this Quarterly Financial Report, that developer fees are continuing to be lower than budgeted for. This is a political decision to cut funding for young families to cover Schrinner’s discounts for rich developers.  This is an austerity budget by stealth -and young families are this week’s victim. 

The precedent set by our Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner is that even if a program, funded by the State Government, is listed in the annual Budget -  it can be cut mid year.

No funding is set in stone when you’re under an LNP government!

Cutting story and rhyme time for babies, toddlers and children, is just one more tally on the board of a Council lacking principle and honesty.