Flashing school lights in Bennelong

One of the many reasons why I’m interested in politics is because of the way our governments operate and their role within the wider community.  Our local State Member for Ryde, Victor Dominello, has been calling for the installation of flashing school lights at all of the schools in the Ryde area, and throughout wider NSW, in a bid to make drivers more aware that they are entering into a school zone and the need for them to slow down.  With the support of North Ryde Rotary Club, Victor has been fundraising towards the Flashing School Lights project for more than 6 months now. 

The Club and Victor Dominello have successfully raised quite a large amount of funds which have already led to the installation of two sets of lights at St. Anthony’s Marsfield (my primary school!), North Ryde Public, Holy Spirit, Truscott Street Public, and Kent Road Public Schools.  This has been a most fantastic cause, in particular after the freak accident of 10 year old student Sharveen Sivabalan in May earlier this year highlighted the need for cars to slow down in school zones.

What has amazed me, however, is the fact that it apparently costs the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW up to $150,000 to build and install two sets of lights at a school – whilst Victor and North Ryde Rotary Club have been able to source an individual to build and install a pair of these lights for only $3000.

Surely this is only but one example of why government departments need to be much more efficient in the way they are using taxpayers’ money.  How is it that the local Rotary Club can source flashing school lights at 1/50th of the cost that the RTA pays its contractors?

 The federal government is no exception either.  In recent months, with Rudd’s Labor government implementing an “education revolution”, promises of billions of dollars have resulted in not only a budget blow-out, but documented examples of building projects in schools that their respective communities don’t want.

Governments should not be spending taxpayers’ money inefficiently or wasting it knocking down classrooms and building the same number to replace them when the parents and the communities are against it.  Our local communities demand more common sense in the way our governments operate, and perhaps its time they start listening to what the people are telling them!

Closure of Ryde Hospital Drug & Alcohol Unit

A group of concerned local residents held a meeting on Tuesday night at the Shack in Epping to discuss the potential impact that the closure of Ryde Hospital’s Drug & Alcohol Services Unit might have on the local community. 

Ryde Hospital’s Drug & Alcohol Services Unit provides detoxification, rehabilitation, relapse prevention, and gambling addiction counselling services.  From the discussion that took place on Tuesday night, I understand that the Unit handles some 12 clients per day.

A large number of residents I had spoken with prior to Tuesday night’s meeting seemed very disappointed and frustrated with the NSW Health Department’s decision to close this very important unit within Ryde Hospital, especially because of the support and help that it provided to those individuals whose lives could be significantly and positively impacted through early intervention programs that the Unit provides.

 You don’t need a degree in statistics to make the conclusion that the more people that we are able to rehabilitate off drugs, alcohol and other illicit substances, the more obvious it will be that we will reduce the likelihood of crimes being committed in our society by those desperate to steal cash and valuable items to maintain their habits.  Even at a more basic level, these programs would obviously reduce the reliance that these individuals would otherwise place on the government welfare and health systems if they weren’t rehabilitated.

With my experience in working with local community aid organisations, I was keen to contribute to the discussion that eventuated last night and to offer my thoughts as to how we could lobby for the continuation of these services.  Most people that were present at the meeting were upset that staff who work at the Unit first discovered that their services were being shut down via reports in local newspapers. 

The NSW State Government needs to reconsider it’s rationale for closing down this vital health service – the clients of Ryde Hospital’s Drug and Alcohol Service Unit are not in a position to travel to the alternative service providers at Royal North Shore or Hornsby Hospitals – they either are not physically or financially capable of doing so.  This Unit caters for those residents within the Ryde community and the residents of north-western Sydney and it should continue if the NSW Labor Government is serious about addressing the increasing issues associated with alcohol and substance abuse – both for the sake of the individuals and for the wider society at large.

NWS

p.s. The local State Members of Parliament, Victor Dominello (Ryde), Greg Smith (Epping) and Anthony Roberts (Lane Cove)  sent their apologies.  The local Federal Member of Parliament, Maxine McKew (Bennelong), was a no-show, and did not send her apologies.

Just throwing your hands up in the air……

I was very disappointed to read in the Northern District Times this week that the Federal Member for Bennelong, Maxine McKew, believes it is only her job to “facilitate and encourage” a positive outcome with regards to an integrated transport solution in Epping.

As a resident of Bennelong for more than twenty years, I would have expected my local Federal Member of Parliament to do more than just “facilitate and encourage” – whilst recognising that transport is predominantly a state and local government issue, her attitude concerns me for two reasons.

Firstly, I would argue that, in her role as Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, she can do much more than just facilitate and encourage and should actually be putting forward possible ideas and solutions to this problem – I would have thought that in her current portfolio, she would have been well placed to do so.  Her inability to propose viable solutions suggests a lack of understanding of her portfolio or a lack of willingness to draw on the resources available to her as Parliamentary Secretary to help out the very electorate that she represents.

Secondly, I would have thought that, as the local Federal Member, she would be actively lobbying the NSW Government to try and affect positive outcomes for her constituents.  Perhaps her inability or lack of willingness to do so is more a reflection of her enthusiasm to distance herself from the extremely unpopular NSW Labor government as she seeks re-election in this very marginal seat.

A truly effective Federal MP who cares about their local community and their constituents’ concerns would be taking a much more pro-active role in such pressing infrastructure problems – not this “throw my hands up in the air and give up” attitude that we have all witnessed in Maxine McKew.

Community spirit

Sunday’s great weather was welcomed by two different groups for similar reasons – if it had been raining, it would have been an interesting conversation for those planning the National Tree Planting Day and Hunter’s Hill Council’s annual Moocooboola Festival at Boronia Park.

I took the liberty to enjoy the fantastic weather that we had here in Sydney on Sunday by firstly getting my hands dirty and planting some ten baby seedlings of various trees in nearby Marsfield Park, just opposite Epping Boys High School.  I was joined by approximately thirty people from all walks of life, and it was fascinating in particular to see the number of young people who came out and got stuck into what is a great initiative. 

Despite all the talk in the media about emissions trading schemes, for people at the grassroots (excuse the pun!) level in the community, there appears to be an enthusiastic response towards pragmatic ways in which we can contribute towards reducing our individual net carbon emissions – whether that be by using public transport more often, recycling more waste products or being more environmentally conscious of our actions and the impact that it can have on our surrounding community.  Over a snag and whilst watching a game of footy that was taking place, it was fascinating to speak with people from different professions and different backgrounds and discuss the various views on this issue of climate change and what people thought was an appropriate response.

After participating in this experience of community gardening, I headed over to Boronia Park in Hunter’s Hill for the annual Moocooboola Festival – a celebration of true local community spirit that consisted of more than two hundred stalls, which provided a smorgasboard of smells, sights and sounds! Bands, dance shows and stand up comedy were just some of the activities that kept the thousands of people that turned up and supported the event.  Celebrating it’s 30th year, this festival proved to be a fantastic way for people in the local community to see each other in more relaxed surroundings and provided kids (and some adults) of all ages to have fun in the sun whilst celebrating our truly diverse Australian culture!

These two examples of community spirit reminded me of why Australia really is a lucky country.  My weekend gardening experience reminded me of the importance of our environment, and why we should not take for granted what we have by way natural resources.  Similarly, we shouldn’t take for granted the freedoms that we have as Australians – we should celebrate our ability to congregate and not have to worry about some crazy dictator turning up with the army and ruling our gathering illegal simply because they didn’t like the music we were playing (don’t laugh, they can do this in Iran!)

May they rest in peace

Perhaps in what is becoming a sign of the times, senseless killings today don’t seem to evoke the same level of disgust and revulsion as they might have ten years ago.  Bikies rampaging through our airports and shootings between rival bikie gangs; Islamic suicide bombers blowing up hotels in Indonesia in an attempt to target Western businessmen; hundreds and thousands of Africans starving to death everyday because of malnutrition and civil war- the constant reporting of death in the media, no matter what it’s form, seems to have made us less sensitive to these horrible events.

Last Sunday, the reporting of the deaths of the Lin family in North Epping stunned not just the local community, but anyone that read about or saw the news and heard about this terrible incident was affected.  The absolute shock, the utter revulsion, and the pure hate that many are feeling towards the yet-so-far unidentified perpertrator(s) of these truly brutal slayings has caused a level of emotional community outpouring not seen in many years. 

Perhaps it was the way that the family was needlessly butchered; perhaps it was the senseless deaths of the children; perhaps it was the symbolism behind the death of the local newsagent – a source of familiarity and stability – whatever it was, it seems to have caused the local community and people everywhere to have been emotionally affected.  We can only hope and pray for the remaining girl in the family that she will be able to find peace somehow in light of what has happened.

For a father and a mother who appear to have migrated to Australia from China in the hope of finding a better place for their children; who no doubt shared a dream of success both for themselves and for their kids – that dream is now forever lost because of the insane actions of muderer(s) with no basic respect for human life.  When they are found, many people are hoping that these murderers are locked up and the keys to their cells are thrown away.

May the Lin family rest in peace.

Dumb and dumber

Apologies to all my blog readers for the lack of recent postings – it has been a hectic couple of months – something about a global lfinancial crisis and an economy tinkering on the edge of recession unfortunately means I have to work longer hours!

A recent newspaper article whch caught my eye detailed how the NSW state government is intending to sell portions of playgrounds and playing fields of potentially up to 700 schools to property developers as a means of raising cash required to keep this state functioning.  The north-western suburbs of Sydney are not immune to this ridiculous policy – schools including Ermington Public School, Epping Boys High School, Ryde Public School, Marsden High School are all targeted.  It should be noted that these schools are in suburbs which are growing at a very fast pace as they are attractive to families with young children and recent migrants.

I would have thought that in this day and age, where childhood obesity is considered to be one of the most pressing generational health issues identified by experts around the world, one of the last things a government would want to do is to reduce the size of playgrounds and playing fields of primary and high schools and to sell this land as a futile attempt to raise money.  When health professionals are encouraging kids to be more active, we have a state government willing to risk the health of our next generation and generations to come by reducing the available space for kids to exercise!!  Simply unbelievable!!

I think it’s common knowledge that the NSW state government is failing miserably to address the concerns of the people of NSW.  Whilst this issue of selling school land to fill a ‘budget blackhole’ is one that is not only applicable to the suburbs of north-western Sydney, with the combined issues of increasing population growth in our surrounding suburbs and childhood obesity as one of the most challenging and potentially life threatening health issues of our generation, the NSW state government has now clearly demonstrated why it is incapable of improving the lives of the people it currently represents.

Race relations

In Victoria, primarily over the last year or so, there have been an increasing number of violent assaults on Indian international students living here in Australia studying in our universities.  In the last couple of months, these attacks have increased in number and severity, leading to the street protest last week which received much international media coverage.

I think an assault of any kind is unacceptable, but one that is motivated because of race is even more despicable.  I have personally been a victim of assault in a carjacking in recent years, and during the course of that assault, I was subject to racial obscenities; the perpetrators using my ethnicity as an excuse to attempt to steal the vehicle I was driving at the time.  Because of my personal experience of racially-motivated assault, I find abhorrent that these crimes have occurred in Victoria and that similarly, there have been incidents here locally in suburbs around Macquarie University, where Chinese and Indian international students have been targets of similar violence.

I’ve been bombarded by e-mails from friends in India wondering whether or not the media reports both there and here locally have been overreacting or if there is some truth to the reports that Australia is a racist country and it is a society that can’t stand people of different racial and cultural backgrounds.  I have been very quick to dispel those sensationalised reports, and furthermore, have been quick to point out that India should be the last country on earth calling anyone else a racist, for it would only be guilty of  a ‘pot calling the kettle black’, with its inherently discriminatory caste system and well-documented prejudice between Hindus and Muslims in India.

Australia is not a racist country – there is no underlying racist sentiment waiting to explode into a volcano of race-fuelled violence.  These acts of despicable cowardice are acts being carried out by a few uneducated, moronic louts who have too much time on their hands and are willing to break the law to steal money and valuable goods from their victims, using race as pathetic attempt of an excuse to carry out their crimes.  Police should have been quick to acknowledge that race was an element in these crimes, but that it was not the key reason why these crimes were taking place.  The perpetrators of these crimes were targeting Indians because they were viewed as being the most vulnerable – working late night jobs, carrying valuable items and sometimes living in communities not near their universities but where it was cheaper – in the outer suburbs of Melbourne – making them easy targets.

An article was written this week by Akash Arora for Melbourne’s The Age which had some very relevant points in this discussion.  Students and migrants who study in or move to this country can help shape the society that we have and must help contribute to ensure that racists attitudes are not prevalent in their own minds and that their own behaviours are not in their own right quite racist too – a form of ‘reverse racism’, if you will.  Here is one example from Akash Arora’s article that I thought was quite relevant

“I moved to Sydney as an international student in 2003 and found racism lurking more in the immigrants’ psyches than on the streets. A fellow Indian student at the University of Technology, Sydney, once told me he preferred to live a 50-minute train trip from the campus in Harris Park than in the student accommodation provided (for the same price) right next to the campus. When I asked why, he promptly replied: “Because Harris Park has Indian neighbourhood, Indian cinemas, Indian restaurants, Indian shops …” Just one question popped to my mind. Why did he move to Sydney if he didn’t want the Australian way of life?

The problem, in fact, starts here. Many immigrants resist integrating into mainstream Australia. They want the benefits and lifestyle of a Western nation, but without blending with its current.  Over a period of time this creates a cultural rift, first in their lives and then in their minds, which, in the absence of any logical definition, they term ‘racism’.”

Violence in any form is unacceptable – racially-motivated violence is even more despicable.  As a society, Australians must do everything possible to ensure that these criminals are locked-up and not a further threat to our community’s welfare.  Furthermore, international students and migrants cannot use these attacks as an excuse to further isolate themselves from mainstream Australian society, but rather, take this opportunity to ensure that they are further ingrained into our society so that we can show these idiotic morons perpetrating these crimes that they were assaulting fellow Aussies.