Ken Ticehurst (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to once again express my dismay at the total inaction of the New South Wales Iemma Labor government in addressing the issues that matter to Central Coast residents. Labor is simply not prepared to outlay the necessary infrastructure to support the region’s rapid growth and the Central Coast community is suffering for it. I speak on behalf of the Central Coast residents when I say we are absolutely fed up with our state Labor representatives—Paul Crittenden, the member for Wyong, and Grant McBride, the member for The Entrance and also Minister for the Central Coast—and their blatant disregard for the region. It is time they showed some interest in the concerns of local residents and took some responsibility for the actions of their own state government. If they are not willing to do that, they should stand down from their positions and even resign from the ALP. 

In the five years that I have been the federal member for Dobell the member for Wyong, Paul Crittenden, has not shown any interest in the concerns of his electorate. He treats Wyong Shire Council with the same contempt as he treats the local residents, having ignored 70 per cent of letters sent to him since 2004. That is right, Mr Deputy Speaker, 70 per cent. Most recently, the silence of both members on the issues of the health of Tuggerah Lakes, funding for the Warnervale Family and Community Centre, coal mining in the Wyong valleys, the Wamberal powerlines, the old Pioneer Dairy site and the inadequate state of our roads and public hospitals has been deafening. As an active member of parliament who is committed to making the Central Coast an even better place to live, it is very disappointing to see another local MP take this position for granted.

Thankfully, we have three state Liberal candidates for the coast who are thoroughly committed to the needs of the region. Wyong Councillor Brenton Pavier, who is the state Liberal candidate for Wyong, was unanimously elected to the position of mayor in 2003. This was a first-time occurrence in the 52-year history of Wyong Shire. Even the three ALP councillors voted for the Liberal mayor. When Councillor Pavier was mayor he worked hard on behalf of the ratepayers and lobbied all levels of government for solutions for local residents. Councillor Pavier worked closely with me to secure funding for the dredging of Tumbi Creek.

The federal government ended up providing two-thirds of the required funding for the project because both Paul Crittenden and Grant McBride were not interested in a three-levels-of-government approach. This is state Labor’s biggest problem: they are so concerned with party politics and finger-pointing that they are not prepared to put aside differences and join the local people to get on with delivering local results. State Labor’s latest attempt to lay the blame is to criticise the joint water authority, which is made up of Wyong and Gosford council representatives, for the water crisis on the Central Coast. It shows a lack of local knowledge, as the joint water authority, their elected representatives, comprise Labor Party members; so, essentially, we have the state Labor Party blaming the local Labor Party for water mismanagement on the Central Coast.

Councillor Pavier has a strong record of working for the Central Coast community and I look forward to working with him as the next member for Wyong to secure additional resources for our region. Similarly, we have the state Liberal candidate for The Entrance, Phil Walker and the state Liberal candidate for the Lake Macquarie seat, Ken Paxinos. These representatives are ready to listen and act on the concerns of local residents, and they have a proven commitment to improving the quality of life on the Central Coast—and that is exactly what we need in our community. Sadly, as long as the coast’s local state members are Labor Party representatives, infrastructure needs on the Central Coast and the coast’s relaxed way of life and natural environment will be compromised. As long as Labor is in power, local residents can look forward to conglomerates taking advantage of mining opportunities in the valleys, to the detriment of the Central Coast water supply; the ever-increasing traffic gridlock on the Pacific Highway, The Entrance and Wyong Roads; and even longer waiting times at hospitals while our local state MPs wash their hands clean of their responsibilities.