EBRIEF #39: Special Budget Edition

This week was budget week. Most of you would have seen the media coverage of the budget. What you won't have seen is what happened across every portfolio in the government.

This special edition ebrief gives you access to all the media releases that were prepared for the budget so you can find out what is happening in your particular field of interest.

If you want to read the whole budget speech you can check it out here.

For people in my duty electorates of Sydney, Bega and Willoughby I have provided an overview and my media releases below.

Video's of the week - These are the two videos that cover two different views about the privatisation issue (language warning). The first one featuring John Della Bosca, the second Morris Iemma.

Regards

Penny

PS The parliament also passed the latest round of GLBT law reform. Here is a copy of my speech.

Duty Electorates - Budget Overview

For Sydney, here is the media release. Overview:

$18.4 million for the Art Gallery of NSW for a new fine arts collection storage facility;
$5.4 million to upgrade courts, including JusticeLink, a groundbreaking computer system that will hold live court hearings on the internet;
$6.5 million for the Australian Museum for exhibitions and other works;
$8.3 million for the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust for heritage conservation, improved transport and access and enhanced leisure facilities and visitor services;
$2.3 million towards the City West Community Housing project at Pyrmont;
$757,000 to upgrade Ultimo TAFE's business and information technology building;

Bega media release. Overview:

In addition to the Princes Highway upgrades (the road safety project that you announced recently which will vastly improve road safety for motorists travelling on the highway from Dalmeny to Kianga),

The budget is supporting a number of other projects in Bega, including:

$1.17 million for port development works at Eden;
Stage 3 of the Bega High School upgrade - including improvements to the administration, visual arts, staff facilities, sports courts and car parking;
$3 million for planning for health projects;
$132,000 for court upgrades and the Justicelink project;
$350,000 for the Batemans Bay ambulance station; (Health infrastructure has received $839.5 million across the state and the Ambos stuff looks like a big priority)

Willoughby media release. Overview:

$6 million for the Falcon Street Pedestrian Bridge, underpass and ramp
$2.6 million for improvements to the Lane Cove Tunnel and associated roads;
Funding for upgrades to Chatswood High School; and
$529,000 for equipment and communications upgrades for Fire Brigade facilities.

Media releases by portfolio

Quotes of the fortnight from the Miscellaneous Acts Amendment (Same Sex Relationships) Bill 2008:

The Hon. MARIE FICARRA (Liberal): "... the nature of a same-sex relationship means that both partners share the same gender."

...

"The minority in our community who follow alternative lifestyles should not be allowed to dictate to the majority. Birth certificates with two women's names are an affront to nature and our Christian values."

____________

Reverend the Hon. FRED NILE (Christian Democrat Party): "... I had written a letter, which was published in the Daily Telegraph, in which I said that the Gay Olympics was not necessary. If homosexuals are skilled at athletics or other sports they can participate in the Olympic Games. Homosexuals are not banned from the Olympic Games. Olympians are not considered heterosexual or homosexual. My remark was innocent. In fact, I supported homosexuals by saying they should participate in the Olympic Games."

____________

The Hon. DAVID CLARKE (Liberal): "During the debate, supporters of the bill have referred to studies that purport to show that children raised in homosexual households are in no way disadvantaged compared to those raised in heterosexual households. I take issue with that assertion and I will refer to the findings of studies and authorities that come to the opposite conclusion."

____________

Mr RAY WILLIAMS (Liberal): "This fictitious recording of a parent instead of a father degrades the role of a father and changes our current social and acceptable standards. What message does the bill send to the community? It suggests to people, possibly some very young people, in our society that a child can have two mothers, or even that it is normal and acceptable for a child to have two mothers. "

...

"Any woman could appear to be the partner of another woman for the purpose of creating a baby on their behalf. "

...

"My other great fear in relation to this amendment is that it leaves open a loophole that may create the potential for a type of quasi or pseudo-type adoption and give the green light to, for want of a better word, the trading or supplying of new born children."

____________

The Hon. RICK COLLESS (The Nationals): "On the topic of genealogy it is worth noting that in the stud animal breeding industry the sire and dam of a particular animal must be recorded on its birth certificate for two generations."

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EBRIEF #39: Special Budget Edition