Questions for the PM
WITH Prime Minister Julia Gillard touring greater western Sydney this week, Hawkesbury residents have the opportunity to join the Gazette’s Facebook page for an exclusive Q&A with her.
What topics should she address that affect our region as a whole — a second airport, infrastructure, university or education funding?
Send in your questions for the PM to our Facebook page.
As part of her tour, Ms Gillard has written exclusively for Fairfax Media on her vision for the greater west. Her mission is to win back the west for Labor.
Here is how she intends to do it:
No one community’s story is the story of this region. Penrith isn’t the same as Parramatta, Campbelltown isn’t the same as Castle Hill.
But there are some things we do want for this region as a whole and for every person in Sydney’s west.
We’re not promising to fix every problem – no one can – but we will deliver five important things that will make life easier here and improve the region’s future.
• We will support your job and put Aussie workers first.
• We will bring high speed broadband to your business and home.
• We will make sure your children get a world leading education.
• We will insure you against disability and keep improving health.
• We will help you manage the pressures of modern family life and modern society.
The most important thing any Government can do for a hard working area like the west is to support and create jobs. The Government’s Plan for Australian Jobs does exactly that.
We are supporting your industries to increase exports and win new business overseas – especially by helping them innovate.
We’re backing your firms to win more work at home – to take the opportunity that comes from big mining projects to create blue-collar jobs, especially in manufacturing, right here.
And we are putting Australian jobs first and cracking down on rorts in the 457 visa program.
We’ve also put in place policies to help your small businesses grow – like the small business asset write-off and new access to innovation – because we know being your own boss is the dream of many working people.
Our plans for the future don’t end there.
We are building the National Broadband Network – rolling out fibre to 48 000 homes and business right now in places like Blacktown, Lalor Park, Jamisontown, Penrith and Prospect.
There are more apprenticeships and university places here and around the nation than ever before – trade training centres at schools like Bonnyrigg High and Miller High – and from the first day of school next year we’ll be delivering the improvements your schools need.
This strong, smart region is also somewhere where people cherish the fair go.
On July 1 we are launching the National Disability Insurance Scheme. And we are improving Medicare and delivering better local care, with GP super clinics at Blacktown and Liverpool and the $130 million upgrades of Nepean Hospital.
Maybe most important of all, we want to help the families of this region with the daily pressures of raising children, holding down a job, helping your ageing relatives – and the grind of long daily commutes.
That’s why we’ve delivered paid parental leave, tax cuts, higher pensions and lower interest rates. It’s why we are forcing the states to implement changes to stop your electricity bills continuing to skyrocket – and why we’re delivering record investments in infrastructure.
The people I meet and the places I go this week are all part of my vision for Sydney’s west.
A stronger, fairer, smarter community here – part of a strong, fair, smart nation.
JULIA GILLARD