Local Government News

Don Page
State Matters

Rail line fight continues in Parliament

Last week, I moved a Motion in the NSW Parliament calling on the Carr Government to keep its promise and continue rail services on the Casino to Murwillumbah rail line.

Whilst we won the debate on content and merit, we lost the vote, because Labor voted on Party lines to close the service.

Minister Costa broke his promise to maintain services on the Casino to Murwillumbah rail line until after a review in December 2004. Since that time, local residents have shown their overwhelming support for the service by writing letters, attending rallies, signing petitions and travelling at their own expense to Sydney on the XPT to protest its closure. The community has been united in its anger over this short sighted and unjust decision.

Local, State and Federal representatives have also united to campaign strongly against the Casino to Murwillumbah rail closure and to support the local community.

An Upper House Inquiry into the line's closure is underway this week and it is hoped this will provide an opportunity for the facts to be properly considered and will encourage Minister Costa to honour his promise to keep the train running until at least December 2004 followed by a proper review.

Schizophrenia Awareness Week

Next week is Schizophrenia Awareness Week. More than 285,000 Australians suffer from Schizophrenia and the condition affects many more indirectly.

Schizophrenia can be genetic and may be inherited, but it can also develop later in life. Schizophrenia Awareness Week aims to raise awareness about mental illness and breakdown the stigma attached to it.

Further information about Schizophrenia Awareness Week is available on the Internet at www.sfnsw.org.au or by calling 9879 2600.

Registering heritage icons

The State Government is currently calling for the community to nominate possible heritage icons for listing on the State Heritage Register.

Heritage items can include buildings, Aboriginal and archaeological sites, and natural items. If you are interested in making a nomination you can firstly check if it has been listed by visiting the heritage database at www. heritage.nsw.gov.au.

Nomination forms for possible listings are available from my office and once completed can be sent to State Heritage Icons Project, NSW Heritage Office, Locked Bag 5020, Parramatta, NSW, 2124.

Tidy Towns Awards

Nomination forms are now available from my office for this year's Tidy Town Awards, which will be awarded in Broken Hill in October.

This year there is a new 'Friendly Town' award, in addition to previous categories including the School's Environment Award, Waste Minimisation Award, Wildlife Corridors and Conservation Award and the NSW Clubs Partnership Award.

As there are many friendly towns in the Northern Rivers area, I encourage individuals, organisations, schools and businesses to consider nominating for this year's awards.

I can be contacted by writing to PO Box 1018, Ballina 2478 or by telephoning my Electorate Office on 6686 7522 or faxing 6686 7470. For those on-line my e-mail address is Don.Page@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Thomas George
Canberra Connection

The fight continues against the loss of North Coast Rail services this week in Parliament, however the deadline of May 17 looms. The ignorance and stance of the Carr Government must prove to north coast residents that this Premier and his government does not care about our region, nor the provision of important, historic and essential services that taxpayers should have access to.

Carr fumbling

I attacked Premier Carr in NSW Parliament last week on his withdrawal of the Casino to Murwillumbah rail service. I asked the Premier to explain why he is treating the people of the north coast as second-class citizens by boasting about his $2.5 billion injection into CityRail while at the same time closing down the Casino to Murwillumbah rail line. Unbelievably, the Premier attempted to shift the focus of the question to the upgrade of the Pacific Highway, not realising that the Pacific Highway does not run the same route as the Casino-Murwillumbah rail line. The Premier continued to fumble in his response, citing inaccurate patronage figures and incorrect costs to keep the service running. While the Labor Member for Tweed, Neville Newell has criticised the figures being quoted by Sydney Labor and supposedly was against the axing of the service, he was conspicuous by his absence and nonparticipation in the debate and vote on retaining this service. The Nationals strongly oppose the closure of the Casino-Murwillumbah rail line. It is a short-sighted and negligent decision by Sydney Labor. The Premier's lack of understanding of the Casino-Murwillumbah rail line is a disgrace. The people of the Northern Rivers will not accept being fobbed off by Sydney Labor and in Parliament today, I will be accompanying Mayors from the region seeking an urgent meeting with the Premier to reinforce the case to have this decision overturned.

Club tax hikes cost 36 jobs

A new report on the impacts on the Carr Labor Government's tax increase on the State's Clubs reveals a total of 36 jobs would be lost in the Lismore Electorate by 2010. The report had found that between September this year and 2010 when Labor's new tax regime was phased in, NSW clubs would be forced to axe almost 10,500 jobs. 16 direct jobs are predicted to be lost and this does not include the flow-on effects to secondary industries such as caterers, construction workers and live entertainers. With these in mind, it is predicted a further 13,500 jobs will be lost Statewide and a further 20 jobs will be lost in the Lismore Electorate. Some regional clubs will be forced to close by this unfair tax hike. According to the report other consequences of Sydney Labor's greedy tax hike will be:

• Cuts to clubs' capital expenditure, meaning less investment in club facilities such as fewer playing fields, sporting facilities, entertainment and recreation venues;
• significant increases in the price of meals and drinks;
• increases to membership fees;
• reduced donations to charities and local community groups;
• reduced funding to junior and amateur sporting teams;
• increases to the cost of facility and venue hire.

Primary Industries merger

The Nationals are concerned about the future of regional NSW's Primary Industry support and research services in the face of Sydney Labor's sweeping budget cuts. In merging NSW Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry and Mining into one department, Labor will slash $37 million in the first year and $58 million a year by 2007-2008. It now seems increasingly likely these massive budget cuts will mean a re-centralisation of front-line services away from regional centres. The NSW Coalition is committed to decentralisation, leading the way by moving NSW Agriculture's Head Office to Orange in 1991. Unfortunately Sydney Labor seems intent on ripping services and jobs out of country NSW. Nobody denies there is a certain synergy to bringing the primary industries together under one umbrella - but this should not be done in an atmosphere of cost cutting. Country residents are concerned that merging primary industries into one department just to cut costs would mean job losses, slashed extension services and office closures. Let's not forget that in December 2003, Labor closed one of the State's only two full time agricultural colleges plus the cutbacks at Wollongbar Agriculture Research Station, just to save $1 million a year!

NLIS: Are we ready?

Sydney Labor continues to fail to lay the groundwork for a practical and affordable transition to the National Livestock Identification Scheme (NLIS) on July 1 2004. I have been receiving information that some saleyards, abattoirs and farms are already experiencing problems with NLIS technology. NLIS should boost efficiency and lower costs, not the other way round. If Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, does not urgently address these problems, the current start date of July 1, 2004, might have to be reviewed. The Nationals support NLIS. But we will not force an impractical version of the system onto farmers who have enough financial issues to deal with.

Businesslink

In July last year I directed a question to the Premier in relation to the Carr Government's reform of corporate services and its establishment of NSW Businesslink to provide shared cooperate services to three human service agencies; Department of Community Services, Ageing and Disability and Home Care and Housing. I asked for his guarantee that no jobs would be lost from regional areas affected by this initiative. Fortunately, I have now received advice from The Hon Carmel Tebbutt, Minister for Community Services, that the new Regional Service Delivery Model for Businesslink has been approved, with a continuing presence in Lismore, Newcastle, Orange and Queanbeyan.

Tidy Towns 2004

There is a new award this year, the "Best Western Friendly Town Award", which replaces the business partnership award. The Tidy Towns program contributes value that can be calculated in the millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of hours of community work. The projects carried out not only improve the environment, but improve the standard of living and quality of life for communities across NSW. For more information on the differing categories or how to enter, please contact my office.

I welcome and invite your feedback in relation to any of the above matters, please do not hesitate to contact my office regarding any matters on (ph) 6621 3624, (f) 6622 1403, by writing to PO Box 52 Lismore, e-mail; thomas.george@parliament.nsw.gov.au or www.thomasgeorge.com.au