Address-In-Reply

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-106102

Hansard session: Fifty-Seventh Parliament, First Session (57-1)

Address-In-Reply

Debate resumed from 19 June 2019.

Ms MELANIE GIBBONS (Holsworthy) (10:14:02):

Although I am a little bit out of order this morning, I am sure I can pick up from where I left off yesterday. I was talking about the honour of meeting the new Governor, Margaret Beazley, just several days after her appointment. It was an honour also to get to know the last two governors in my role as a member of Parliament. I ran into Marie Bashir during the North Shore by‑election at the polling place where she and her husband, Sir Nicholas Shehadie, voted. I was there helping out my good friend Felicity Wilson. I had with me my then four- or six-month old daughter Audrey who gave the Governor a massive smile. Ms Bashir said, "Oh, look at us! We're friends already." It was a real treat to have her chat to my little one and I was pleased to chat to Sir Nicholas as well.

You Are My Sunshine

Mrs Hurley is a local shire girl, so we have a bit in common, and I also was pleased to get to know former Governor Hurley. He is very interested in beekeeping and we have a great beekeeping facility down our way. I particularly appreciate Mr and Mrs Hurley's love for music. At every event at Government House Mrs Hurley would lead everyone in a song. She did a great rendition of . Similarly, I know that Governor Beazley will create fond memories for us as we develop our association with her.

As I said yesterday, the Governor started her speech by urging us as members of Parliament to never forget the honour that has been bestowed on us and the trust that has been placed in us. To that end, let me start by thanking the people of Holsworthy for supporting me. I love representing Holsworthy. It is an honour to represent my constituents and I respect the trust they have placed in me. It takes a strong campaign team to get us here. I have previously recognised in this place those people but I want to do so again. We can never thank enough those who give up their weekends and nights, who stand on train stations and at street stalls and who support us. The member for Campbelltown, Greg Warren, and I have that in common: Our teams back us; they believe in what we do. It is nice to have that support and it gives us a boost.

I injured my back about December last year and was out of action, walking hunched over, until mid‑February. I had to rely on my team and they were there for me. I am forever grateful to them because for a little while I thought our tight margin might get a whole lot tighter. I was not sure which way it would go and I was flat on my back. I thank my team members for everything they did. I thank in particular Mitchell McMartin, Rhonda Holt, Haris Strangas, Nick Smerdley, Paulene Radley, Arthur Lim, Julia Kokic, Dimitri Konstantinidis, Mazhar Hadid, Tony Hadchiti and Sam Kayal for getting out there weekend after weekend to ensure we spoke with as many residents as possible. I also thank those who helped out on pre-poll and on election day.

I am blown away that some people used their annual leave to assist at pre-poll. We had three pre‑poll sites across the two weeks. I will be forever grateful to the people who were willing to take their holiday leave to stand out in the rain, wind and cold to make sure that voters received a how-to-vote pamphlet. I thank Darren and Rebekah Foxe, Fiona and Ian MacNaught, Russell and Kerry Vickers and their family, Alison McNicol, Macia McInerney, Amar Singh, Xavier De Domenico, Melanie McPherson, Darren Cook, Ryan Webster, Sheik Mohammed Hbous, Robyn Williams, Luke Tomovski, Tracy Cook, Annelie and Julie Thatcher, Sharna Southwell, Michael Ross, Gary Fox, Jim Dimovski, Faith Perryman, Nicole and Stevie Lillis, Jeff Page, Bryson McMartin, Claudio Alosi, Stephen Nicholls, Carlene Radley, Richard Azar, Ameen Dannoui, Mitchell Clout and Shane and Cheryl Johnson and many, many more people whom I do not have time to list. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I have a special campaign team that has been with me for many campaigns. They know how to get it started and make it happen. The team is led by Daniel Nicholls, who has worked with me for about four years. I love Daniel. Daniel took time off from work to campaign. As staff cannot campaign out of our offices, he took his annual leave to make sure I was returned to this role. I will be forever grateful to him. I am grateful also for the work of Alison McInerney, Louise and Justin De Domenico, Tony Hadchiti, Mazhar Hadid, Haris Strangas, Nick Smerdley, Mitchell McMartin and Darren Foxe. This team kept up the motivation and the drive, that's for sure. Although they were not allowed to campaign, as Daniel and I spent more time out of the office on our campaigning they became more and more busy. They were always there with a cup of coffee, a smile and a "buck up" when we needed one.

I am forever grateful to my team in the office, particularly Jeff Page and Faith Perryman. Jeff recently retired after about 30 years working for Parliament. For many years he worked in the Table office. Eventually I was able to convince him to come and work in my electorate office. As I have said in this place before, we call him the constituent whisperer. If a person who rang our office was going through a hard time or might have been upset Jeff was able to set them on the right path. He offered them support and always sent them out of our office with a laugh, happy and smiling. I thank him for all the time he has given to us.

Our head office is a well-oiled machine. I thank our State director Chris Stone for his clear head and direction and Nick Westenberg for his energy and drive. Nick is truly talented. I have bumped into him on and off for nearly 20 years. It is nice to see him grow in each role he has taken on. Cameron Dunger is another talented person. He is now in the office of the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning. He gained experience in the Premier's office before going to the Liberal Party head office. We were very lucky to have his skills focused on our local campaign. The President, the Hon. John Ajaka, MLC, is a very busy man. The role of President does not stop because of a campaign. I am thankful for all the time he gave to us.

I thank my family for their patience and understanding throughout the campaign. My partner, Kent Johns, has long been by my side in many campaigns for the last 15 years or so since we first came across each other at Sutherland Shire Council. We have worked together on every campaign since. He has a phenomenal campaigning mind and energy. This time we had a change to our normal routine; we have two little girls at home who also needed us so better time management came into play. Our daughters, Audrey and Elizabeth Johns, are the absolute sunshine of my life. It was a huge investment for us as a family to give up so much of our time while they were so little. But that is how much this role and this opportunity means to me and to us as a family. I hope they will grow to value community service and the need to make a difference and to help others.

I could not have achieved this result without my parents, Rhonda and Scott Gibbons, who were always there when I could not be. They gave me the opportunity to fight for what I believe in and advocate for the Holsworthy electorate in the knowledge that everything was fine and under control at home. We have the right Premier leading the Liberal Party and the State. She is thoughtful, kind, strong and smart. Both as a woman and as somebody who represents a multicultural community, I am proud that she is our first elected female Premier. When the Premier came to visit Liverpool West Public School she asked how many students did not speak English at home. Many hands shot up in the crowd of students. More than half my electorate do not speak English at home. The Premier told them she was just like them. She then asked them how many of them did not speak English when they started school and many hands stayed up. Once again that was the same as her experience. She is a fabulous role model for our community. The Premier leads a very capable team of Ministers who spend a great deal of time in our area. I am thankful to her and to them for their support.

Extension of time

The Governor outlined the Government's plan for New South Wales, and it is a strong plan indeed. As an overview of local projects, the New South Wales Government will be working towards providing more commuter parking at Edmondson Park, Warwick Farm and Leppington train stations; upgrades to Liverpool Hospital; much-needed additional parking at Liverpool Hospital; a new Service NSW centre in the present Edmondson Park area; funding towards Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation [ANSTO] Innovation Precinct; more support for local sporting teams, including Southern Districts Soccer Football Association and Moorebank Rams; planning for the extension of Sydney Metro Southwest from Bankstown to Liverpool; and upgrades to our local schools, such as Prestons Public School and Liverpool West Public School. I am proud that this Government continues to focus strongly on supporting the creation of local jobs and helping businesses thrive and grow. That is why I am particularly excited about the $12.5 million investment that we are making into the ANSTO Innovation Precinct. This investment will help to accelerate medical and technological breakthroughs and also assist in the generation of an estimated 5,000 new jobs. []

The funding will help facilitate the creation of a new world-class precinct for business, scientists and start‑ups at Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation in my electorate at Lucas Heights. The organisation is already working on cutting-edge treatments for cancers and other diseases. Many of our families and friends would have benefited from the work that ANSTO does. The Government's $12.5 million in funding will be delivered over four years to create incubators for nuclear medicine and technology businesses; to give start‑ups access to cutting-edge technology and some of the best science in Australia; to help establish a graduate institute, including 25 scholarships for PhD students; and to drive collaboration between start‑ups, researchers and industry to grow advanced technology businesses in New South Wales. ANSTO is working towards making Australia a global leader in the supply of nuclear medicine. This funding boost from the New South Wales Liberal‑Nationals Government is not just generating 5,000 new jobs over a decade but also helping to boost innovation in the region, with ANSTO's work having the potential to change the lives of thousands of people around Australia and indeed the world.

Transport infrastructure continues to be a main focus of the Government and of my electorate. Most of the issues in my electorate these days concern transport and roads. I am proud the Government has focused on this issue. The number of commuter parking spaces at Edmondson Park train station will triple under the New South Wales Liberal-Nationals Government's plans, with a $40 million investment to deliver 700 additional commuter spaces at the station by about the middle of next year. When the project is complete, 1,100 spaces will be available for customers at Edmondson Park station. When the Government built the South West Rail Link in 2015 we also delivered hundreds of free car parking spaces. Customers are now telling us they need more, and it is obvious they need more. You only have to look around to see how far away the cars are parked and how far people have to walk to know there is a demand. Labor in its election campaign offered about 200 spaces as part of an $18 million project. That would not touch the sides of the need in my community. Our $40 million project with 700 spaces will make a difference for the community. I am incredibly proud to be part of the Government that is delivering this project for our community.

When the South West Rail Link was first opened the area was basically farmland surrounded by sheep. Now it is a rapidly growing and developing community and it is crying out for a new primary school and high school at Edmondson Park. I am pleased to say that that is a priority of this Government. Plans are underway for that to happen and I am looking forward to making an announcement soon. The Government will deliver about 250 extra commuter car spaces at Warwick Farm station on top of the already 700 available to customers. That is great news for locals, who have been part of the massive growth in the number of people using the Sydney train network over the past few years. It is obviously a popular way to get work and with the new air-conditioned carriages on our line it is becoming an even better option. The Government wants people's commute to work to be pleasant and easy.

I was particularly honoured to stand beside the Premier and the Liberal candidate for Liverpool, Paul Zadro, to announce the Warwick Farm spaces. Paul has been very successful in his life and career and he wanted to offer his hard work and dedication to the Liverpool electorate. Although he was unsuccessful this time, I hope he considers running again in the future. I know he would do amazing things in the electorate. In the area of martial arts, he encourages children and young people to become involved and active in our community and teaches them discipline through the sport. I was very happy to get to know him as the campaign progressed. I also mention that the Government is committed to providing essential funding and support in our education sector. Every school in the Holsworthy electorate will have its maintenance backlog wiped to zero. This will ensure that students enjoy the best possible learning environments. The classrooms are very hot in summer and very cold in winter. Members spend their days in air-conditioned comfort and we should expect that our young people and early learners have the same comfort.

We have made a commitment that the New South Wales Liberal-Nationals Government will clear every maintenance job currently outstanding in all Holsworthy electorate public schools by July 2020. We are wiping the slate clean and ensuring that all outstanding maintenance jobs at our schools, such as carpeting, roof maintenance and painting works, will be carried out. We have spent a lot of time and money already in reducing the backlog that we were left with in 2011 but, as at 30 June 2018, we were still left with a $6.6 million backlog. We have committed to fast-track the work so that we can wipe out that backlog by mid next year.

It is a fantastic result for our local students who will be able to learn and study in the best facilities possible. As I said, we inherited a huge backlog from the Labor Government—across the State about a billion dollars worth of school maintenance needed to be carried out. It is only because of the strong economic management of the Liberals and Nationals that we are in a position to fix the problems that were created and left to us by the Labor Party and to get our schools in the best possible condition. I am glad to see that hundreds of Prestons, Casula and Lurnea families will benefit from the New South Wales Liberal-Nationals Government's record investment in education, with the $10 million major upgrade of Prestons Public School now underway.

Prestons Public School will have 10 new air-conditioned classrooms, a new hall, a library and administration facilities. I am thrilled that this upgrade is being delivered for the wonderful students, teachers and families of the school. I spent some time at the school on election day and was pleased to see that work underway. I know all our voters who walked through the booth at the school were very excited to see the construction work already underway. The school put on a great sausage sizzle that day too; they did a lot of hard work. The queues of people waiting to vote went for miles and the school looked after everyone. I thank the principal of the school, Liz Van Der Muelen, and the P&C for working with me and the Government, particularly with the former Minister for Education at the time, Rob Stokes, to make this project a reality.

The Governor mentioned in her speech the cost of living. I assure the Governor that it is a focus of this Government to provide reductions in the pressures associated with the cost of living. For the first time, self-funded retirees in our region will be amongst the 130,000 seniors across New South Wales who will be able to claim $200 a year to help with their power bills, thanks to a new initiative from the New South Wales Government. This rebate will be available to customers who hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, through Service NSW centres and online. I know the difference that will make on top of the energy rebates we already provide to pensioners. We are happy to say that a new Service NSW centre will be coming soon to our area, with a centre planned for around Prestons or Edmondson Park. The Service NSW centre at Liverpool is the busiest in the State, yet it still has a satisfaction rating somewhere in the high nineties—I believe it is about 98 per cent. The centre looks after everyone beautifully. I thank the Governor particularly for outlining all our plans for the future.

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (10:32:27):

In reply: First, I thank members on both sides of the House for their contributions to the debate on the motion to adopt the address-in-reply, which I moved and which was seconded by the member for Cootamundra, who is in the Chamber. I thank members representing the electorates of Manly, Wyong, Riverstone, Seven Hills, Gosford, Mulgoa, Port Stephens, Ku-ring-gai and The Entrance. I also thank the outstanding member for Heathcote and members representing the electorates of Campbelltown, North Shore, Wyong and Holsworthy, and other members who have contributed to the address-in-reply.

As I mentioned in my speech a few months ago, this Government is delivering record spending on infrastructure not only in Sydney but throughout New South Wales, as the budget handed down this week shows. Another record spend is in education, with 190 projects currently underway. Two of those projects are in my electorate. Over $55 million has been provided for an extensive rebuild of Penshurst Public School and a major redevelopment of Penshurst West Public School. Those 190 projects cover each corner of the State. As the Treasurer said this week, an extensive list of schools from Milton to Merrylands to Penshurst to Picton are being built or rebuilt.

Many members in this Chamber who have been here over the past eight years would know that one of my passions as a member of Parliament is the rebuild of St George Hospital. I believe that St George Hospital is one of the best hospitals in the State and is in one of the best areas that has one of the best football teams. But the hospital was neglected by the Labor Government for a long time. I remember my first speech in this place when I was up against the former member for Kogarah Cherie Burton. It was as if St George Hospital was in some sort of Bermuda Triangle—it was forgotten, neglected and not upgraded by the Labor Government. A good thing for us and a good thing for the hospital and the community is that after those 16 years of neglect by the Labor Government we are getting on with the job of rebuilding the hospital.

When this Government first came to office in 2011 my promise was to see an expansion, a relocation and a rebuilding of the emergency department at St George Hospital. We have done that with an investment of $41 million. That new emergency department was promised, built, delivered and opened in the Government's first term of office, and it has double the capacity of the previous emergency department. Stage two, which we promised in 2015 with a commitment of $300 million, has delivered a brand-new acute services building, a new intensive care unit, more intensive care beds, and more doctors and nurses, and that was opened two years ago. That will make a total investment in that hospital of more than $700 million—just under $100 million for each year since this Government came to office.

It is a big win for our local community. For once, our local hospital is as good as, if not better than, any of the major hospitals in other area health districts. That is not to say that St George Hospital is not a major hospital; it is. That, in itself, is a great win for our local community. As the Treasurer said, we have never before seen anything like this hospital building blitz—from Liverpool to Lismore, Coffs Harbour to Campbelltown, Gosford to Goulburn, Bankstown to Blacktown, St George to Shoalhaven and Randwick to Ryde hospitals. We are getting on with the job of building and rebuilding many of those hospitals that for many years have been in urgent need of repair.

Our infrastructure investment is now fast approaching $100 billion and not only are we getting on with the job of building in the areas of education and health but also we are getting on with the job of rebuilding many of our much-needed transport hubs, upgrades to railway stations, commuter car parks, WestConnex and light rail, and we have recently opened the Northwest Metro. These are big-ticket items in transport that will transform the way people travel throughout Sydney and across New South Wales.

There is a record spend on infrastructure by this Government, which is something that the Opposition did not do in over 16 years in government. I recently had the pleasure of opening the multimillion dollar health training facility at St George TAFE, Kogarah. I was joined by the Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education, Geoff Lee, to tour the new nursing and aged-care facilities. It is the biggest capital spend in probably 30 years at St George Hospital. The member for Liverpool will remember the former member for Barton the Hon. Gary Punch and it was probably a little over 30 years ago that he opened the brand new library he funded at St George TAFE. The new health training facility at St George TAFE cost $4.2 million and is the biggest funding announcement for the TAFE since the former member for Barton funded and opened a new library on that site.

This is part of the Government's ongoing investment in capital works projects across the TAFE network. It is something those opposite forgot about many years ago. Health and wellbeing are amongst the fastest growing courses in TAFE NSW. This is reflected locally in my community where enrolments have been surging in recent years. The new facilities have been built to reflect current industry practice and deliver a much-needed increase in local training capacity to match the growing demand in the St George area. This forms part of the Government's significant commitment to redevelopment of St George Hospital in order to meet a strong demand for a skilled health workforce. I am proud to be part of a government committed to expanding training opportunities across Sydney and New South Wales, not just in health but in many faculties. This particularly applies to the St George area.

This multimillion dollar investment will help to equip students with the real world skills they need to excel in the health sector. As I mentioned in my address-in-reply speech, a number of transport projects have been delivered in my electorate. When I became the member for Oatley the Oatley train station was frequently used but highly inaccessible with 37 stairs to the platform. Until I became a parent five years ago I did not realise that Mercedes Benz-manufactured baby trollies are very heavy. The Government got on with upgrading both Oatley and Narwee train stations.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.