Red Leather #96 - now available

Submitted by Cathy Brown on Wed, 18/04/2012 - 4:19pm

School holidays are upon us. As Parliament finished up for the Easter break, the O'Farrell government put through legislation that:

- Makes is easier to sack public servants by abolishing the previous Labor government's no forced redundancy policy and legislation
- Stops state MPs from having dual roles. This legislation colloquially became known as the get Clover bill. Expect a forced by election in Sydney sometime this year.
- Seeks to allow shop trading on Boxing day, Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and ANZAC Day.

There are a number of bills currently languishing on the notice paper as the Government seeks to deal with the Shooters Party to get through electricity privatisation and graffiti legislation. In coming weeks we will find out whether a deal has been reached.

There is currently a motion before the Legislative Council that seeks the support of members for marriage equality. I expect that this will be debated sometime in May. The debate will be a conscience vote of all members. The NSW Legislative Council is more conservative than it was before the last state election. I will be supporting the motion and working hard to get as many MLCs to do the same. In the meantime there are 3 days left to make a quick and easy submission to the parliamentary inquiry into the Federal marriage equality bills if you support equality. Make a submission today.

Next Week John Robertson is bringing Shadow Cabinet to Penshurst RSL. You can register for the Community Town Hall meeting here.

Website of the week: We’re Family Too is a ground-breaking report that documents the effects of homophobia on same sex attracted (SSA) people from Arabic-speaking backgrounds in NSW.

Video of the week: This ad from the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign has a powerful message to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Speech of the week: John Robertson's speech to the Housing Affordability summit hosted by WSROC.

Regards,
Penny