Half-yearly Parliamentary Report.

As we are getting ready to return for the spring session of the Parliamentary sitting period, I wanted to provide you with an update on some of my Parliamentary activities for the year so far.  

CALLING OUT THE ECONOMIC MISMANAGEMENT OF PREMIER PERROTTET

As part of Labor’s Upper House team, I have continued to call out the reckless mismanagement of our economy by the Liberals and Nationals. In Parliament, I highlighted how the Perrottet Government has disgracefully wasted taxpayers' money, including;

  • That taxpayers are set to lose more than $13 billion by the end of this decade because of the establishment and mismanagement of the Transport Asset Holding Entity by the Government.

  • Buying $775 million in worthless personal protective equipment that had to be thrown away as it was unusable, out of date or did not meet the Therapeutic Goods Administration standards.

  • $7.5 million rise in ministerial budgets, which is a blatant attempt to create a slush fund to employ an army of political staff before the next election.

You can watch below or read here.

I also wrote Op-Eds for the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader and the Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser, calling out Premier Perrottet’s waste of taxpayers’ funds and the impact on our essential workers and small businesses.

In May, I moved a motion condemning Premier Dominic Perrottet for giving his Liberal and National MPs a pay rise whilst refusing to pay our essential health workers a fair wage- you can watch here or read the motion here.

Following the introduction of the Government’s Budget, I condemned their attempt to cover up for twelve years of waste and mismanagement. The Liberals and Nationals Budget have us moving towards $182.2 billion in gross debt, our AAA credit rating destroyed, and we have interest repayments that increase at 24 per cent a year. Under Premier Perrottet, NSW is the highest taxing state and the lowest ranked state economy in the country. I highlighted that it’s just more new taxes, tolls, more privatisation, rorts and no investment in local jobs from the Government. I also talked about Labor’s positive plan and vision for our state, under our leader Chris Minns.

You can watch below or read here.

TRAIN NETWORK SHUTDOWN AND THE NEW INTERCITY FLEET

I won a debate in Parliament to ensure that the Liberal and National Government were obliged to provide information on why NSW residents were abandoned by the Government when they suddenly shutdown the train network. You can watch it here or read here.
 
Ray Hadley interviewed me on 2GB and Nine News reported on the information that my order for papers revealed. I also spoke in Parliament about Ministers falsely blaming rail workers and unions for the strike.
You can watch here and here or read here and here.
 
I continually highlighted in Parliament through questioning, motions and debates that the Government has failed the people of this State and our essential rail workers. They decided to purchase Korean trains (the New Intercity Fleet), sending jobs and taxpayers' money overseas and now they have significant safety issues. Our rail workers have rightfully continued to state that they will refuse to operate the trains until the major safety issues are sufficiently addressed. I continued to highlight that the safety of every commuter must be the priority when these trains are put on our network and that the Government should fix the safety issues so the trains can be safely operated. I will continue to stand with the RTBU and rail workers in calling for safety issues to be fixed by the Government.
 
You can see my speech here or read here.
 
Read my questioning here and my other speech here.
 
National Nine News also interviewed me about the defective trains (you can watch here), the story ran on 10 regional networks in NSW including Nine Orange.

HEALTH RESOURCING

In Parliament, I highlighted that the Government has been negligent when it comes to resourcing our Ambulance service. I called on the Liberals and Nationals to step up and urgently resource our Ambulance services properly across the state. I also emphasised the vital work of our paramedics and the Health Services Union. You can watch here or read here.
 
I spoke in Parliament about a damning report into health services in Sydney’s southwest. The Liberals and Nationals have done next to nothing to improve the horrendous state of health services, despite the comprehensive inquiry that took place. This means that patients are facing substantial obstacles to receiving equitable access to health services. I argued that health services in the Camden electorate and surrounds are without adequate resourcing and urgent action is required by the Government. You can watch here or read here.
 
In May, I wrote Op-Eds for the Camden-Narellan Advertiser, Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser and Wollondilly Advertiser that highlighted the strain on health services in Sydney’s southwest. I also wrote an Op-Ed in the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader, where I shed light on Perrottet’s poor resourcing of health services in the St George and Sutherland Shire areas and the need for fair wages for our health workers.

UNIVERSITY WORKERS

I stood with Sydney University workers and the National Tertiary Education Union in supporting their strike action, fighting for improved conditions and wages as staff have been chronically overworked. Staff need to be fairly paid and have job security with adequate protections. I also highlighted the issue in Parliament calling for the Sydney University Management to put an end to the long-term casualisation of the workforce, provide protections from overwork and fair wages to keep up with the cost of living.

You can watch my speech here or read here.

I also spoke on the importance of implementing key recommendations made by an Upper House Committee after their inquiry into the Future development of the NSW tertiary education sector. You can watch here or read here.

COUNCIL WORKERS

In Parliament, I supported the United Services Union in calling for council services to be done by council workers. It is vital for our local communities, as keeping council workers doing council services boosts the local economy of an area. We know that local government is often the largest employer in regional communities, where it is essential that there are secure jobs. Over the years, outsourcing jobs has become an increasing problem in certain councils. I supported the Union’s fight to protect secure jobs for Shoalhaven and Shellharbour Council workers, arguing that jobs should not be taken away from locals and given to a private company for profit. You can watch my speech here or read it here.

I also congratulated the former President of the USU and an absolute giant of the union movement Stephen Birney for receiving the honour of an AM in the Queen’s Birthday 2022 Honours List, announced on the 13th of June. I highlighted that Steve is incredibly deserving of this honour due to his tireless commitment to bettering working people's lives. You can watch here or read here.

RETAIL WORKERS

In Parliament, I advocated for the SDA’s campaign- a fair pay rise for retail workers. Our essential retail workers went to work each day throughout the pandemic to ensure the needs of our communities were met. Whilst we were in lockdowns and when we were without vaccines, so many of our essential retail workers turned up to work to ensure we all had access to our necessities. I argued that with increasing inflation, the wages of these essential workers must go up. You can watch my speech here or read it here.

QANTAS WORKERS

I reiterated my support for the TWU in their fight for Qantas workers that were found to be illegally sacked by a Federal Court. Instead of accepting the illegality of these sackings, Qantas has extended the suffering for these workers by continuing legal action. I will continue to call out the disgraceful actions of Qantas management.
You can watch my speech here or read it here.

The Upper House sat again this week, where the Labor team has continued to hold the Government to account especially on the appointment of John Barilaro as Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas. The Labor MLCs on the Public Accountability Committee are also continuing their work examining the appointment.

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