I was honoured to join Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, The Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott, and Robyn Preston MP - Member for Hawkesbury to attend Hawkesbury Showground and thank the volunteers who helped look after animals during the bushfire emergency earlier in the year.With HDAA volunteers and staff. ... See MoreSee Less
2 days ago
There are twenty-one RFS brigades in the Hawkesbury.
Hawkesbury City Council and NSW Rural Fire Service jointly manage and fund their stations, vehicles and matériel.
Their voluntary service helped keep us safe earlier this year in a time of huge danger.
The least we can do is ensure they are properly resourced.
I was lucky to be present recently as Blaxland Ridge Rural Fire Brigade received a new "Striker" vehicle -- an adaptable all terrain vehicle that can respond quickly and in more challenging terrain.
Robyn Preston MP - Member for Hawkesbury
NSW RFS - Hawkesbury District ... See MoreSee Less
3 days ago
There are zero present cases of Coronavirus in the Hawkesbury, with the last reported on the 16th of April.
The total number of cases reported in the Hawkesbury have been 25 -- (nearly) all recovered.
Everyone is doing their bit. The community is working together to help keep people safe.
The latest figures and heat maps are available at the NSW Health website:
www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/find-facts-about-covid-19#heat-map-covid-19-in-nsw-by-postcode ... See MoreSee Less
1 week ago
We could do with a reminder about the legacy left to us by John Howard's government between 1996 and 2007. Howard was, in my mind our greatest Prime Minister since Robert Menzies:
• He paid off Labor’s $96 billon government debt - saving $8.8 billion a year in interest payments,
• Achieved an average GDP growth rate of 3.6%,
• Increased real wages by 21.5%,
• Oversaw a decline in number of households dependent on government pensions and allowances from 28.5% to 23.2%
• Created over 2.2 million jobs,
• Restored Australia’s AAA credit rating,
• Established the Charter of Budget Honesty and reinforced the independence of the Reserve Bank to manage monetary policy,
• Founded the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA)
• Increased the number of apprentices in training by more than 2.5 times – from 154,800 to 397,400,
• Increased the total revenue for higher education institutions from $8.6 billion to $16.8 billion,
• Increased the number of higher education students from 659,000 to 1,029 846,
• Used budget surpluses after the debt was paid off to establish the Future Fund, providing for the future superannuation liabilities of Australian public servants,
• Instituted Australia's first national literacy and numeracy standards to identify and overcome disadvantage,
• Commissioned development of the civics education program 'Discovering Democracy',
• Topped up funding for government schools from $1.4 billion to $3.5 billion, even when this is the responsibility of the States,
• Oversaw growth in the manufacturing industry which increased manufacturing exports to $81.3 billion in 2006,
• Introduced the Work for the Dole program, helping to get long-term unemployed back into the workforce,
• Increased staffing of the Australian Federal Police from 2,000 to more than 6,000,
• Oversaw an 88% increase in health spending, with more than $51 billion allocated by 2007,
• Oversaw a large increase in the proportion of children receiving immunisation against preventable diseases,
• Establishment (with the States) of Catchment Management Authorities under the Natural Heritage Trust and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality,
• Pioneered a Water Quality Action Plan with the Queensland government to protect the Great Barrier Reef lagoon,
• Set new international standards in the protection of marine areas by expanding from 5% to 33% the proportion of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protected from exploitation,
• Established the National Oceans Office and the commencement of marine protected areas around the entire continental shelf,
• Established the National Heritage Council and the National Heritage list for the effective protection of Australia's national heritage,
• Built the National Portrait Gallery and planned the new Museum of Democracy,
• Built the Alice Springs to Darwin railway,
• Instituted nation-wide gun controls following the Port Arthur massacre,
• Co-ordinated an effective humanitarian response to the Bali bombing, and
• Showed leadership by committing Australian troops to the United Nations mission to restore independence and democracy to East Timor.
Feel free to share this if you think people could do with a reminder. ... See MoreSee Less
2 weeks ago
I was very privileged to be present recently as the Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott MP, the NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers, and Robyn Preston MP - Member for Hawkesbury visited Bilpin to honour the extraordinary service of Bill Johnson Snr and Albert Newton from the Bilpin Rural Fire Brigade.
Listening to these two men, who joined in the late 1940s and early 1950s, talk about their decades of diligent service to our community affected me very much. ... See MoreSee Less
2 weeks ago
As a qualified History teacher, the news that long-classified documents relating to the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975 were being released today piqued my interest.
They are absolutely fascinating. They prove beyond a doubt that Her Majesty the Queen acted with perfect probity during the entire affair, watching with genuine and sympathetic interest for her subjects in Australia, but taking pains to point out that the prerogative powers to sack a government lay with the Governor General, as we always knew they would.
Republicans seeking salacious material to push their cause will be sadly disappointed with this release. But for the rest of us, it's a time-trip reminder of our Constitution's wonderful ability to deal with corrupt and rapacious governments, and to return democracy to the people, whom it bears remembering, upheld the Governor General's judgement.
I strongly commend a reading of the source documents, which are available at the National Archive website
www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/kerr-palace-letters. ... See MoreSee Less
4 weeks ago
