Ebrief #50 - 12 December 2008

Welcome to the last ebrief for 2009. This ebrief is the 50th that I have produced since being elected 3 years ago. The ebrief goes to 3000 people. The question is - have you enjoyed reading it? Do you find it useful? Is there anything you would like included - or dropped? It would be great if you could take a couple of minutes to do a short survey to tell me what you think.

For NSW 2008 has been one like no other. We end the year with a new Premier, Deputy Premier and ministry. The Labor government is now focussed on rebuilding the trust of the people and delivering the services that our community needs.

Today is day 98 of the Rees Government. By any measure, he has achieved a lot. All of us on Labor's side of the house know that we have a lot of work to do. This is the commitment for 2009. We wait to see what, if anything the Opposition will put forward in the coming year.

My final video's of the year are not about politics:

- The first is celebrates the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

- This one is about the web and the way we use it - The Machine is Us/ing Us.

- In a year of much seriousness these two are my Christmas greetings to you and your family. Disco Holiday and Dogs with Blogs.

regards
Penny

PS "The year was 1945. The place was San Francisco. The topic was the world."

Congratulations to Ashley Hogan who has written a fantastic book: Moving in the Open Daylight, Doc Evatt, an Australian at the UN, to celebrate both the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the 60th anniversary of Doc Evatt's election as the President of the UN General Assembly.  John Faulkner launched it this week. Here is his speech.

Rees government - the first 98 days

This is a selected list - it is my pick of just some of the work that has been going on:

• the overhaul of our domestic and family violence laws and the delivery of an additional $40 million in funding to support services across the state
• the guarantee that every 4 year old in NSW will have access to 2 days a week of preschool
• the review of Freedom of Information, lobbyist code of conduct and review of political donations (for more info see http://www.efa.nsw.gov.au/)
• the establishment of community cabinets and public forums where people can meet, greet, criticise and advocate on behalf of their communities directly to the Premier and other Ministers
• $63 million for low income families to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and a feed in tariff for people converting to solar power
• the extra $150 million for school maintenance on top of the $800 million already spent per year
• extra money for schools to support kids with disabilities and to support our most disadvantaged communities
• the $85 million building the country package
• the plans for a CBD metro and the free CBD and Wollongong shuttle buses
• the continued roll out of additional services for people with disabilities in our communities
• th decorporatisaton of Railcorp and Sydney Ferries
• the guarantee of a laptop for every student in year 9 - 12 in our high schools.

Still to come and things I am watching closely are the Government's response to the Garling Health Report and the Woods Report into Child Protection in NSW.

Government in Action

Over the past fortnight, Premier Nathan Rees:

• called on banks to pass on the RBA's interest rate cut in full to customers;
• announced the Sutherland Trade School at Gymea TAFE would be enrolling apprentices and trainees from next year;
• called for Expressions of Interest from private operators to run a commuter ferry service between Parramatta and the CBD;
• launched $1 fares for kids on countrylink;
• congratulated the record number of NSW kids who took part in the Premier's reading challenge; and
• introduced legislation to strengthen the powers of ICAC.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Climate Change and the Environment Carmel Tebbutt launched a $1.23 million Koala Recovery Plan, welcomed a report that will put NSW's national parks at the centre of a campaign to make the state one of the world's best ecotourism destinations, released the Macquarie River Floodplain Management Plan, and announced changes to NSW laws in relation to managing contaminated lands.

Minister for Industrial Relations John Hatzistergos urged retailers to make sure the thousands of extra workers employed to cover the pre-Christmas trading period were paid fairly.

Minister for Transport David Campbell called for expressions of interest from private ferry operators to run high-speed services between Manly and Circular Quay; announced the locations for 300 new buses which will begin to hit the roads in 12 months time; and said that a new Chairperson had been appointed for RailCorp.

Minister for Regional Development Phillip Costa announced a commitment to create a new joint Commonwealth-State regional development network to help guide economic growth across regional NSW.

Minister for Planning Kristina Keneally encouraged Local Councils to apply for a share of $1.3 million in grants as part of the 2008/09 NSW Coastline Cycleway program.

Minister for Community Services Linda Burney announced improvements for kids in foster care and their carers.

Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald launched a new organic vineyard in Bathurst; said a Menai takeaway that accidentally served a band-aid in a pizza was one of the latest food outlets to be named on the Government's Name and Shame list for food safety infringements; and announced that the Government was spending $8.3 million to control noxious weeds across the State this financial year.

The Minister also said the Rees Government would extend its support for drought weary farming communities as they head into the dry summer months; and while rain in some areas of the state was easing the drought, the same rains had brought renewed threat of a locust plague.

Minister for Citizenship Virginia Judge honoured volunteers for their service to the community at a ceremony at Parliament House; in her capacity as Minister for Fair Trading announced that pre-Christmas safety checks led to 164 toys being removed from sale in NSW and as Minister Assisting the Premier on the Arts congratulated the 2008 AFI winners.

Minister for Roads Michael Daley launched a new electronic E-toll tag account option, awarded an $84.7 million contract for the final stage of the F5 Freeway upgrade near Campbelltown; and reminded drivers that changes to the licensing system for older drivers would come into effect on Monday 1 December. (For more information about these reforms please view this link).

Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) Jodi McKay announced $9 million in new grants for local cancer researchers and clinicians and welcomed a new report showing that smoking rates among young people have halved in the past two decades.

Minister for Local Government Barbara Perry said now was the time for pet-owners to think about pet safety over the festive season to reduce pressure on animal shelters; and released new data on all 152 Councils across the state.

And

Changes to the State's Workers Compensation laws passed through Parliament, delivering on the Government's promise to increase death benefits.

Penny in Parliament

Adjournment: Indij Readers and Wanja

Second Reading of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Amendment Bill 2008.

Second Reading of the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2008 and the Speech in Reply

Spoke in favour of the Education Amendment (Educational Support for Children With Significant Learning Difficulties) Bill 2008

Second Reading of the Transport Administration Amendment (Metro Rail) Bill 2008

Second Reading of the State Revenue and Other Legislation Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill 2008 

Second Reading for the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Amendment Bill 2008 and the speech in reply

Second Reading of the Superannuation Administration Amendment (Chief Executive) Bill 2008

Second Reading of the Institute of Teachers Amendment Bill 2008

Second Reading of the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment (Benefits) Bill 2008 and Speech in Reply.

Committees wanting to hear from you

• Inquiry into Adoption by same sex couples, closes 13 February.
• Inquiry into New South Wales planning framework, closes 13 February.
• Inquiry into Governance of NSW universities, closes 16 February.
• Inquiry into Homelessness and low-cost rental accommodation, closes 6 March.
• Inquiry into Bullying of children and young people, closes 13 March.

Take Action

Human Rights

The Federal Attorney General has launched the National Human Rights Consultation. Read the Attorney's speech from the launch and get involved by checking out the Calendar of events to find out where and when the Consultation Committee is visiting a venue near you, learning About human rights in Australia and making a submission to the Consultation.

You can also get involved in a range of other activities in conjunction with the National Human Rights Consultation:

Join GetUp!'s call for a Human Rights Act in Australia

GetUp! is campaigning for a national Human Rights Act to permanently protect human rights in Australia. Join their campaign by emailing a submission to the Attorney General.

Make a video about human rights

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) on behalf of the NSW Charter Group is holding a video competition based on the theme - 'Why Australia needs Human Rights Protection'.

Quote of the year

"I am going to give it a red hot go."

- Nathan Rees