Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I was first elected to parliament in December 2009, I committed to being an advocate for the people of Higgins on local issues as well as national ones. I came to this place with a commitment to improve our local community. I said I would fight to have clearway extensions removed, a police presence returned to Ashburton, Gardiners Creek restored and planning laws made fairer for local residents. Despite opposition from the previous Brumby state government and from the current federal government, I am happy to say that together with my local state colleagues we have worked hard at achieving real outcomes for the people of Higgins.

Within weeks of being elected, the incoming Baillieu government scrapped clearway extensions along shopping strips, allowing small businesses to trade freely. I am proud to have been part of this campaign, along with local traders and residents, the Stonnington council and my state colleagues Michael O'Brien, the member for Malvern, Clem Newton-Brown, the member for Prahran and members of the Southern Metropolitan Region, Andrea Coote and Georgie Crozier.

When the Brumby Labor government slashed the police presence in Ashburton to just one policeman, residents expressed their concern that crime and antisocial behaviour in Ashburton was not a priority. Working with my now state colleague Graham Watt, the new member for Burwood, and then member for the Southern Metropolitan Region David Davis, we mounted a campaign to return a police presence to Ashburton to ensure better community safety. In the recent state government budget this occurred with $500,000 allocated to the Ashburton police station, which resulted in an increase in police numbers from the current solitary police officer to 11 officers, and the weekly opening hours will be almost tripled, from six to 16 hours.

The state budget has also allocated $1.2 million for new police vans, which Stonnington's Inspector Adrian White has said will help target crime and antisocial behaviour in the area, particularly in the Chapel Street precinct. There is still however a need for CCTV cameras in areas like Chapel Street and Toorak Road, where there is a high incidence of crime. When I held a community safety forum in my electorate last year, attended by the now local member for Prahran, Clem Newton-Brown, the need for these cameras was emphasised by local traders and residents. CCTV cameras would be an important and relatively inexpensive aid to discourage crime and antisocial behaviour. They help the police in the apprehension of criminals and they act as a deterrent. Despite my continued representations to the federal government for federal funding for the Stonnington council to install these cameras and provide non-fixed cameras for hotspots, the federal government has refused funding. I will continue this campaign.

The Higgins electorate has a wonderful natural environment, and preserving our natural assets is something that my electorate feels very strongly about. I am pleased that the joint efforts of my federal colleague Josh Frydenberg in Kooyong and my state colleagues Graham Watt and Clem Newton-Brown have resulted in an investment of $350,000 in the recent state budget to improve Gardiners Creek. The project will provide stabilisation work to the riverbank with rock embankments to prevent erosion and restore the river's flora and fauna. Once again, I thank the Baillieu government for listening to local residents.

Although there will always be work to do in ensuring the right balance between planning and development, the Baillieu government has reversed Labor's disastrous VC71 planning scheme changes which would have allowed huge out-of-character developments along every bus, train, tram and light rail corridor across the metropolitan area, including throughout Higgins. Restoring democracy to the planning process and empowering local residents will ensure that inappropriate developments do not detract from the utility of our neighbourhood. I will continue to fight for the electorate of Higgins at all levels— (Time expired)