Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The best thing about being able to talk about what the Morrison government has delivered this year is that I get to talk about what I've delivered for my community of Lindsay. Throughout the challenges this year, the bushfires—

An honourable member: You've only got five minutes!

I know. It's an endless list. But the reason I'm doing it is because I'm always fighting for what my community needs and what they deserve. It's like the upgrade to Dunheved Road: we had $63½ million committed as part of my election commitment. That was delivered, but our community deserved the full upgrade to that road. So the Morrison government came in as part of the budget and fully upgraded that road for people in my community so they can get to where they're going and home again safely and quickly. That is just one of the things that we have delivered this year in the electorate of Lindsay. We delivered it together; it wasn't just me, it was our community working together. We've worked together when it comes to jobs and we've worked together when it comes to health. As the Prime Minister said today it's a united national effort and it's been very much a united local effort too.

As I said, we had Dunheved Road, but we've also delivered on safety for our community. Everyone in Lindsay loves the Nepean River. We walk around that river daily—families walk around the river, young children ride their bikes and we have a great men's group which uses the river too. I know that our community deserves to be safe, so I committed $1 million to be invested into the safety of our community on that river, and that was delivered.

We're also delivering congestion-busting infrastructure. This is because of Western Sydney airport coming in—a great opportunity for our community in Western Sydney that is being delivered by the Morrison government. We also have that great rail link from St Mary's all the way to the airport, and a science park being built. These things are about opportunities for our young people, something I am completely passionate about—ensuring that our young people who are growing up have the skills and the education to take on those jobs of the future that are coming into Western Sydney. We are delivering on that as well.

We're also delivering for our small and medium-sized businesses. The biggest feedback I get when I go out and about in Lindsay is that JobKeeper was an absolute lifesaver and a lifeline for them. Over 5,000 businesses in Lindsay accessed JobKeeper. And it's not just me saying that; I have people telling me that, including Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre. Luke Hepburn is the general manager of the centre, and he said: 'Witnessing all the local trades that have engaged in our renovation program'—from an election commitment that I delivered—'means that we've been able to keep people employed. We were on JobKeeper, and those people have been able to keep their jobs.'

Across Lindsay and Western Sydney, something that I'm always really excited to talk about is the way that we're delivering for Australian manufacturing. I had a petition signed by many people across our community, our small businesses and our manufacturing businesses to drive manufacturing into Western Sydney. I believe we have the key to the new era in manufacturing. I established an advanced manufacturing task force, bringing experts in manufacturing, small businesses, higher education, schools and TAFE together to work out how we can ensure we are at the heart of Australian manufacturing. From Baker & Provan in St Mary's, to Grant Engineered in Penrith and Plustec in Emu Plains, the list goes on. We have a strong manufacturing industry, and they know that we're supporting them and that we're delivering for them—over $1 billion in delivery for Australian manufacturing by the Morrison government. As we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, we're backing businesses like these to do what they do best: create local jobs for local people.

Over the last five months, 650,000 jobs have been created across Australia. This year in Lindsay we've delivered infrastructure, we've supported jobs through the pandemic and we've backed manufacturers while helping Australians most in need. We've done this, but it's been a hard year for us in Lindsay and we've gone through much together. Most importantly, I want everyone to have a safe and happy Christmas and the best new year. (Time expired)

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