In the News
It has come to my attention that one of my colleagues, the Member for Cook, has made some erroneous claims regarding the use of the name The Shire.
Here in Mitchell we have long known that there is a long list of pretenders to the title of The Shire, which belongs to the Hills District.
Captain Cook may well have landed in this “other shire” first. But more importantly Governor Arthur Phillip, Founder and first Governor of modern Australia quickly realised that the area of Botany Bay and Kurnell was uninhabitable and moved on within a matter of days. Lieutenant Ralph Clark wrote after 5 days in Botany Bay “if we are obliged to settle here, there will not be a soul alive in the course of a year.
Such was the opinion of our founders of the “other shire”.
The 2009 budget represents a lost opportunity for North West Sydney and all of the ‘infrastructure poor’ outer metropolitan growth areas of our major cities.
The Rudd Government has spent around $52 billion in total, in 2 stimulus packages. This represented a wonderful chance for vital infrastructure to be provided across the country. Obviously for our own community this manifests itself in the form of the North West rail link, which would significantly improve the economic performance of the Norwest Business Park and help sustain the long term economic future of North West Sydney, one of the fastest growth corridors in Sydney and in Australia.
Instead we see that the NSW State Government failed to even lodge an application for the North West and South West rail lines. Further, due to the poor climate in NSW for infrastructure provision and the poor quality of planning, Sydney will miss out on much of its share of any spending. Watch for more wasted money being spent on the endless studies, plans and procedures that Labor are so fond of when in Government. So much for the cooperative federalism Mr Rudd spoke about prior to the election, which was about working with the states to deliver services and infrastructure. This promise appears now to have completely fallen apart.
Last month, I joined with the Sydney Hills Business Chamber to host a local Jobs Forum with Steven Ciobo MP, Shadow Minister for Small Business, and Senator the Hon Michael Ronaldson, Shadow Special Minister for State.
Around 130 small business people and representatives from other community organisations came along to discuss the economic situation and have their say on how government policy can be improved with regard to small business and job creation.
A number of innovative and practical options were put forward by participants at the Forum. It was particularly good to see local business committed to keeping jobs in spite of an economic downturn and an increasingly difficult regulatory environment.
Much of the concern of small business focussed around reducing the wasteful duplication of tax, government and bureaucratic process. There was also great concern over a lack of access to finance and lending rates for small business.
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When: |
Monday 4 May 2009 |
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10:30am for the forum at 11:00am |
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Lunch from 1pm |
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Where: |
Crowne Plaza, Columbia Way, Norwest Business Park |
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Cost: |
Forum FREE |
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Lunch $30pp |
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RSVP: |
Essential by Friday 1 May via www.sydneyhillsbusiness.com.au |
Our special guests for the day are Steven Ciobo MP, Shadow Minister for Small Business and Senator the Hon. Michael Ronaldson, Shadow Special Minister for State. These two important Shadow Ministers will be joining me to host the Mitchell Jobs for Australia Forum. The feedback we receive from you as a local business will be taken directly to Canberra and will help build policy for the future.
Ensuring every Australian has the opportunity to work is the single most important objective of Government, and must be the top priority of economic management. The Coalition believes well paid, skilled, secure jobs depend on enterprise, along with low taxes and incentives that make it easy for businesses to invest in people.
Jobs for Australia is an initiative of the Coalition to make sure we leave no stone unturned in our efforts to protect jobs and create new opportunities for Australians. I encourage you and your colleagues to have your say about the jobs crisis at www.jobsforaustralia.com. You can share your experiences and ideas through this online forum.
I look forward to hearing from you with your ideas, and seeing you at the Mitchell Jobs for Australia Forum and at the Sydney Hills Business Chamber Lunch which follows. For more information contact Amy in my office on (02) 9899 7211 or at amy.houston@aph.gov.au. If you are unable to attend the Jobs Forum, please email me direct with your ideas on alex.hawke.mp@aph.gov.au.