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Budget Estimates And Related Papers

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Speakers - Allan Ms Pam
Business - Budget


    BUDGET ESTIMATES AND RELATED PAPERS
Page: 4603


    Financial Year 2002-03: Take-note Debate

    Debate resumed from 3 September.

    Ms ALLAN (Wentworthville) [4.58 p.m.]: I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the Government's very successful budget, brought down in the last session. This morning I set the Parliamentary Library an interesting task: to go back through the media archives for the past couple of months and extract ministerial press releases on the budget. I was not much interested in the shadow Cabinet team, but I was interested in the former shadow Minister responsible for Western Sydney, the honourable member for Baulkham Hills. I wanted to find out also whether that honourable member put out a press release in his former shadow responsibility. Even though the honourable member for Baulkham Hills is no longer on the Opposition front bench and enjoying the privileges of that particular portfolio, he is still making public utterances on behalf of the Opposition on this very issue. In fact, last week's Sydney City Weekly published an extremely interesting outline of the Coalition's strategy on the 15 seats it will win in western Sydney over the next seven months in the lead-up to the next State election.

    Interestingly, however, the honourable member for Baulkham Hills has not issued a press release on what has occurred in Western Sydney in relation to this budget. And I am not surprised, given the absolute wealth of material produced by the Carr ministry on the budget. It was an outstanding budget. Virtually all Ministers took the opportunity, through the media, to promote to the community the great successes of that budget. I do not intend to refer to all of those ministerial press releases, but I wish to refer to a couple of issues that are of importance to my electorate of Wentworthville. As you know, Mr Acting-Speaker, given that you come from south-western Sydney, the electorate of Wentworthville lies between Parramatta and Blacktown. Technically, it could be called a mid-western electorate.

    This year there were a number of budget highlights for the western Sydney region, particularly for the area between Parramatta and Blacktown. My constituency is very happy with the announcements that were made. Firstly I refer to the construction of a new CityRail commuter car park at Wentworthville railway station. The car park will be constructed during the next financial year as a result of an allocation made available in the Transport portfolio. The car park is way overdue, and I know it will be well used and of great benefit to the local community. I think it will be designed along the lines of the Seven Hills railway station commuter car park.

    Major budgetary allocations have been provided for the Parramatta to Rouse Hill bus transitway, which has been a matter of concern for a number of my constituents. Major infrastructure projects often cause some dislocation. As the bus transitway will traverse under Old Windsor Road, a number of homes in my electorate will be directly affected. I think the dislocation may be somewhat greater for my colleagues representing electorates further west: the honourable member for Blacktown and the honourable member for Riverstone. Nevertheless, some 100 homes in my electorate will be impacted by the transitway. I congratulate the transitway consortia, which is working very hard along with members of the local community to ensure that the impacts are minimised.

    The environmental impact statement for the Parramatta to Rouse Hill bus transitway will probably be released before the end of this year, and I look forward to that. Next year, after the necessary environmental planning processes have taken place, the construction of the transitway will begin. The transitway will provide a much-needed boost to transport infrastructure in my electorate. Funding was also allocated in the budget for continued improvements to the M4 and other major roads in my electorate. The electorate of Wentworthville straddles the Great Western Highway and the M4. Even though funding needs to be expended for improvements right along that expanse of highway and motorway, an important part of that infrastructure falls within my electorate, so I am pleased that funding boosts will be provided. Even though the development of that transport infrastructure has been of major benefit to Sydney's west, there is still traffic congestion on that road. It is important that we continue to improve that transport infrastructure to ensure that travelling distances and times are minimised.

    During the past couple of years there have been increased allocations of expenditure in the Education portfolio, particularly for maintenance. A number of schools in my electorate are very old indeed and have needed a constant injection of funds to ensure that maintenance levels are adequate. In recent years much funding has been expended on new capital works. I am delighted that next Monday the Minister for Education and Training will join me at Northmead Public School to officially open the school's hall. Admittedly, the funding allocation came from a previous year's budget, but it is important to ensure that in the years to come we have the opportunity to share with our communities the joy they feel when their long-term goals for capital works are realised.

    A matter in the Education portfolio that is even more directly relevant and current is the announcement by the Minister for Education and Training of a pilot program to consider the impact of smaller class sizes in the early years of education. Mr Acting-Speaker, no doubt you and other members of Parliament have received many items of correspondence from teachers and parents who are very concerned about the size of classes in the K-3 years. Having been a former union official with the teachers union as well as a public school teacher, and currently a parent, it is quite obvious that this is a major issue of concern. Interestingly, it has been an historic issue of concern. Even in the late 1970s and early 1980s infants teachers and primary school teachers were very concerned about class sizes in the early childhood years. Many campaigns were spoken about, and some were commenced, to try to focus the minds of educators and the people responsible for education funding on smaller class sizes in the early childhood years. Mr Acting-Speaker, I think your good wife is a primary school teacher, so I am sure you would know what I am talking about.

    The teachers union, in conjunction with parents, has managed to direct its energies in a focused way into the campaign to reduce class sizes. In the old days it was very difficult to get these singular campaigns going because it seemed that too many educational priorities were being pursued at one time. However, I am delighted that the teachers union and the parents organisations have decided to target this area of education. It is overdue that we have smaller class sizes. No K-3 class should have more than 20 students, but unfortunately class sizes exceed that number in some areas of our State.
    I welcome the Minister's announcement of the pilot program, which will examine these issues. Obviously the program will result in recommendations to the Government that class sizes be further reduced. Historically it has always been State Labor governments that have been concerned about these issues, and about working conditions for teachers and learning conditions for students. I am delighted that teachers and parents have decided that it is an absolute priority to reduce class sizes. I strongly support their campaign, and I congratulate the teachers. I was delighted to receive a batch of cards from the staff of Girraween Public School in which they indicated their strong support for the campaign. I was the school captain of Girraween Public School, so it is my alma mater. I look forward to the outcome of the pilot program in the current financial year. Hopefully it will enable the Government to plan for the reduction of class sizes in the following financial year.

    The Health portfolio has been another beneficiary of this year's budget. When I was the member for Blacktown, Blacktown Hospital was in my electorate. The Wentworthville electorate lies between Blacktown and Parramatta and does not have a public hospital, but I have a whole community that looks to two major public hospital facilities, Westmead and Blacktown hospitals, for their health services. It is absolutely great that following the recent announcement about the future of greater western Sydney health services, Blacktown Hospital will have a much more dynamic role.

    As a result of the increased funding that has been made available in the last State budget the Government has decided to establish a new discrete stroke unit at Blacktown Hospital. We do not like thinking about strokes dispassionately, but many residents in my electorate have had strokes as they have aged and they really need high standard and dedicated care. Under the Government's plan following the increased money made available in the budget, Blacktown Hospital will have 24-hour access to CT scanners, a designated four-bed unit, a specialist team of stroke experts and senior doctors and nurses to co-ordinate care, education and training. The unit will have experts quickly able to diagnose and assess stroke patients and will have access to the full range of diagnostic and rehabilitation services required.

    Blacktown Hospital is fairly new. Although we campaigned to have it rebuilt when I was the member for Blacktown, it was not opened until after I left that electorate. Nevertheless, we have a brand new hospital at Blacktown, with a recent announcement of nearly $3 million to improve medical services at both Blacktown and Mt Druitt hospitals. When I first saw that press release I hoped that it did not mean a lessening of commitment in Mt Druitt and that Blacktown was benefiting at Mt Druitt's expense, but I was delighted when I read more closely to see that both Blacktown and Mt Druitt, which is further west and not quite on my political radar these days, will benefit.

    Westmead Hospital is the other great hospital in my electorate. It is the hospital where my son was born, and I am pleased that Westmead Hospital is going to have a strong birthing profile. That hospital also received a major boost in the recent budget. Westmead Hospital's breast centre, for example, was a particular initiative in the State budget, with $2.3 million dollars being allocated to a new statewide service including research, education and breast screening programs and networking with multidisciplinary breast clinics at Westmead as well as at other major hospitals. We also received a boost for an ambulatory procedure centre, and the western Sydney strategy will bring a major upgrade in teaching services at Westmead Hospital.

    Having grown up in the area and having spent most of my adult life in this district, it is so exciting for me to see money being spent where people live. I know, Mr Acting-Speaker, it has been a priority for you with your involvement at Liverpool Hospital. The days are long gone when Liverpool and Westmead hospitals were the ugly sisters, although that is not being very politically correct these days. That is from the fairytale Cinderella, in case the honourable member for Coffs Harbour has forgotten. Westmead Hospital has been there so long that we have to redevelop it. We have to continue to spend money to make sure that it lives up to the expectations of people in the community.

    We have major initiatives in community outreach health services. The Department of Health has quite recently run a major campaign for free breast screening for women in Western Sydney. I congratulate the department on that campaign. The department would not be able to do it without the funds that have been made available. Direct mailing women of an age category who should be having regular breast screening is an excellent initiative. Health remains a major concern within the community, but at the same time I congratulate the State Government on its injection of money, such as the $12 million for Westmead Hospital, to ensure that we keep getting the services we deserve.

    The other great issue of importance to my electorate remains law and order. Again, I was delighted with the news, not just in the budget but in the various announcements that have been made in the past three months, about the reorganisation and restructure within the police service, the continued guarantee of police services in my electorate and the increase in the number of personnel on the ground. Now it is not unrealistic to see police on bicycles patrolling the central business districts in my local area. That is not something we saw in the years of the Greiner Government. It was not even discussed. At that time all we saw from the police portfolio were desperate attempts to promote volunteers to fund police services, and police community buses being offered to active community groups and sustained through voluntary raffle activity and considerable goodwill. There was no financial support to back them up. We are now seeing increased police numbers. Last Friday there was another graduation from the Goulburn academy. At least a dozen new police are operating within my electorate, fresh from the Goulburn academy.

    [Debate interrupted.]


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