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It has come to my attention that one of my colleagues, the Member for Cook, has made some erroneous claims regarding the use of the name The Shire.
Here in Mitchell we have long known that there is a long list of pretenders to the title of The Shire, which belongs to the Hills District.
Captain Cook may well have landed in this “other shire” first. But more importantly Governor Arthur Phillip, Founder and first Governor of modern Australia quickly realised that the area of Botany Bay and Kurnell was uninhabitable and moved on within a matter of days. Lieutenant Ralph Clark wrote after 5 days in Botany Bay “if we are obliged to settle here, there will not be a soul alive in the course of a year.
Such was the opinion of our founders of the “other shire”.
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The 2009 budget represents a lost opportunity for North West Sydney and all of the ‘infrastructure poor’ outer metropolitan growth areas of our major cities.
The Rudd Government has spent around $52 billion in total, in 2 stimulus packages. This represented a wonderful chance for vital infrastructure to be provided across the country. Obviously for our own community this manifests itself in the form of the North West rail link, which would significantly improve the economic performance of the Norwest Business Park and help sustain the long term economic future of North West Sydney, one of the fastest growth corridors in Sydney and in Australia.
Instead we see that the NSW State Government failed to even lodge an application for the North West and South West rail lines. Further, due to the poor climate in NSW for infrastructure provision and the poor quality of planning, Sydney will miss out on much of its share of any spending. Watch for more wasted money being spent on the endless studies, plans and procedures that Labor are so fond of when in Government. So much for the cooperative federalism Mr Rudd spoke about prior to the election, which was about working with the states to deliver services and infrastructure. This promise appears now to have completely fallen apart.
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It is now apparent that there are a number of sectors being overlooked in both the national discussion about our economy and the Government’s response to the downturn. Nowhere is this more dramatic than in the charity and voluntary sector. From my meetings with local charities it is clear that almost all have seen substantial drops in their income (some up to 50-60%) whilst demand for the services of charity and voluntary organisations has increased dramatically. With this trend set to continue it is important that as a community we rally to our local charities to ensure they can function and meet this increase in demand.
Much of the increase in demand for charities services relates to unemployment or strain on families from lack of employment certainty. With some 39,000 Australians losing their jobs last month, we are certain to see more difficult times ahead for many families locally and nationally. It is a fact that any Government can’t possibly solve all of the problems related to this crisis and charities will be an important part of maintaining our social cohesion while things are tighter in our economy. We as good citizens and neighbours need to play our part.
That’s why I am calling on our generous local community to think of those less fortunate with any money they may receive from the Government at this time. We are so lucky to live in a community that consistently rates amongst the best for charitable donations and giving. Our charities need us to keep helping, especially when times get tough. That’s why I will be donating my stimulus payment of $900 to one of our great local charities, Hills Community Aid.
I urge members of the community in Mitchell to continue to contribute whatever they can afford, no matter how small – whether by giving up time, or by making donations. Every bit, no matter how small or trivial it may seem to you, helps our charities continue their vital work in this difficult climate.
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The Rudd Labor Government’s $42 Billion stimulus package is a panicked short sighted response to the Global Financial Crisis.
Almost all economists agree that the economic crisis has a long way to go. In
seeking to urgently borrow 42 billion and spend it immediately, on low
quality measures, the Government appears to be panicking, firing all
our ammunition off at once.
This
latest package follows the failure of the first stimulus package of
$10.4 billion (some 1 per cent of GDP) which by all reports was saved
and not spent in spite of Mr Rudd’s urgings to “spend, spend, spend”.
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Australia Day is our nation’s biggest celebration and it was terrific to join with the Mitchell community to celebrate all the great things about Australia. We truly are “the lucky country” and it was fantastic to see great numbers of our local community, family and friends out in celebration.
This year there were calls from some to move Australia Day to a more “appropriate” date. I strongly reject this proposition.
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