RED LEATHER
This is my blog: 3-4 posts a week for ongoing conversation about my work and issues of the day.

Happy International Women's Day. As this event grows every year in NSW there were many different events at local and state level. The parliament spent some time talking about IWD and women.

I was fortunate to host the Women in Local Government Awards at parliament house. Congratulations especially to Mayor Jenny Dowell from Lismore and Mayor Jean Hay from Manly whose long time contribution to local government was recognised. 

On Sunday the NSW Government released the Metropolitan Transport Plan. There is an interactive online site called shapeyourstate that provides all the information about the plan, online discussion forums and information about how to make a submission.

The NSW Government yesterday launched the NSW Cancer Plan 2011 - 2015.

Previous plans have resulted in major improvements in cancer prevention, including:

- adult smoking rates have dropped by 4 per cent to 18.4 per cent;

- youth smoking rates have reduced by almost half to 8.6 per cent; and

- cancer mortality rates fell by 12.9 per cent in males and 6.4 in females (last 10 years)

The NSW Cancer Plan 2011 - 2015 focuses on five areas:

- Prevention - such as tobacco control, UV radiation and lifestyle factors like obesity and diet;

- Early detection - smaller cancers detected early result in greater survival rates;

Welcome to the first edition of Red Leather for 2010. The NSW political year begins with a new Premier and an opposition at war with itself over preselections while Barry O'Farrell ducks and runs overseas. 

Transport remains a key focus of the government. The new transport plan is still under consideration by cabinet and is expected to be released before the end of February. In the meantime the government will implement the new streamlined new ticketing system called Myzone. It is a system of integrated ticketing between rail, bus and ferry and caps the weekly fares to $57 per week.  

The Premier and Minister for Transport and Roads today announced a new, streamlined fare structure for our public transport system.

The new fare structure, MyZone, will apply across the entire
CityRail, State Transit, Sydney Ferries and private bus networks in the greater
Sydney region, including the Blue Mountains,
Southern Highlands, Illawarra, Central Coast and the Hunter. 

MyZone is based on how far you travel and
includes:

- MyTrain: Five train fare bands instead of the
current 20+;

- MyFerry:  Two ferry fare bands instead of the
current five;