Local Government News

Ian Causley
Canberra Connection

Organ donors needed

From April, every Australian household will be sent a letter and organ donor consent form inviting people to register their consent on the Australian Organ Donor Register.

The letter will be co-signed by the Federal Government and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, and is being organised in an attempt to encourage more adult Australians to register to become organ donors.

It is no secret that organ donors save lives, and organ and tissue transplantation can help Australians suffering life-threatening illnesses like heart, liver or kidney disease, and diabetes and cystic fibrosis.

Last year, there were 218 organ donors in Australia, including cricketer David Hookes, who donated his organs when he died tragically in January 2004. However, close to 2000 Australians are waiting for an organ transplant at any time. Sadly, many die on the waiting lists.

It is important for families to discuss organ donation. Research shows us that families are far less likely to object if donation has previously been discussed. The Coalition aims to help make this decision less difficult.

Minister's awards for aged care

The Federal Government is recognising the tremendous work done in the field of aged care by offering the Minister's Awards for excellence in Aged Care 2005.

The Minister's Awards recognise the leadership, commitment, skills and talents of staff working in aged care and aim to help build an even stronger aged care workforce. The awards are also designed to reward innovation and excellence in aged care and to encourage other providers to strive for best practice.

In addition, the awards provide an opportunity for the Federal Government, the aged care sector and the community to pay special tribute to those who work in aged care.

There are seven separate categories on offer and a prize of $10,000 will be issued to each of the category winners to enable them to pursue further education or training in an aged care related field.

I encourage you to nominate someone particularly worthy of this honour currently working in the aged care field. Nominations close on May 6 and information and nomination forms are available either by phoning the Aged Care Information Line on 1800 500 853 or at www.health.gov.au.

ISPs forced to crackdown on child porn

Two weeks ago I discussed the problem of child pornography and the launch of the Federal Government's new Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) website, introduced with the aim of educating and empowering parents whose children use the internet.

I am happy to say that the Coalition Government has taken a further step in the fight against on-line predators by imposing strict new obligations on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to report online child pornography to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

ISPs and Internet Content Hosts (ICHs) will have an obligation to report material they have reasonable grounds to believe is child pornography, or child abuse material, to the AFP, following amendments to the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Criminal Code) this week.

ISPs and ICHs should be left in no doubt that they are now, more than ever, obliged to join the Federal Government's frontline fight against this sickening abuse of children.

Office contacts

Address: PO Box 1119, Lismore, NSW, 2480
Phone: 6621 9909
Fax: 6621 9959
Email: ian.causley.mp@aph.gov.au

Steve Cansdell
National News

Cansdell.com

I am always looking for better ways to fight for you as your local MP. We need to reverse Labor's disgraceful tax slug on small property investors and members of registered clubs. We need to get our fair share of police officers, better funding for our pre schools and we desperately need more funding and doctors for our hospitals.

I am fighting hard on these issues for you. To achieve this I need to communicate better with you, the local residents.

That is why I have now established my own website, www.cansdell.com.

Cansdell.com contains all the latest news from my office including media releases, newsletters, newspaper columns like this one and the speeches I deliver in the NSW Parliament.

There is also a very useful page of contact numbers and email addresses for local police stations, hospitals, elected representatives and councils.

Most important to me is the two-minute online survey, which gives you an easy way of letting me know what state issues most concern you and helps me fight for you in Clarence.

Clarence elections

Bob Carr is finally returning local democracy to the Clarence, with the new Clarence Valley Council elections to be held this Saturday. While I don't presume to tell Clarence residents which candidates to vote for, I would urge you to vote carefully.

Firstly, have a good look at the candidates on offer. Elected councillors will have a significant impact on the Clarence community, so it's worth taking the time to choose the best possible new representatives.

Secondly, make sure you read the instructions on the ballot paper carefully. The Carr Labor Government has made the council election system so complicated that thousands of ballots have to be thrown out because they don't comply with all the rules.

Office contacts

Address: Suite 2, 105-107 Pound Street, Grafton, NSW, 2460
Phone: 6643 1244
Fax: 6642 7574
Email: clarence@parliament.nsw.gov.au