parliament

Premier's speech at ALP Country Conference last weekend

Penny Sharpe — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:53:34 -0700

On the weekend I attended the annual Labor Party Country Conference. Held this year in Port Macquarie, it is one of the largest grassroots political conferences held in NSW.

Premier Nathan Rees made a speech that if you are interested in how Labor understands and works with it's own history and traditions this one is worth a look.You can check it out here.

The Premier also announced funding for infrastructure in the bush, broadband development, country libraries, country halls and local tourism projects.

What happens behind the ballot box?

Penny — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:56:43 -0600

With the Local Government elections fast approaching, Parliament's Education section is organising a course for the public about what happens ‘Behind the Ballot Box'.

The sessions are free, and include an overview of elections and voting systems around Australia and worldwide; a visit to the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council chambers of the NSW Parliament; a voting simulation and information about the role of parliament and elected representatives in Australian democracy.

Courses will be held on Tuesday 26 August, Wednesday 3 September and Friday 12 September.

To book a place in this course, or for more information, contact the Education Section of the Parliament on 9230 2047 or email education [at] parliament [dot] nsw [dot] gov [dot] au

New NSW Parliamentary Library Research papers

Penny — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:05:04 -0600

The NSW Parliamentary Library has recently released two new research reports: The regulation of lobbying and Education in Country and City New South Wales.

Research papers are prepared by the Parliamentary Library for Members of Parliament and provide an accessible way of understanding issues in relation to legislation before the Parliament and State issues and policies. They can be accessed from the NSW Parliament website.

The regulation of lobbying discusses the regulation of political lobbyists as at 2 June 2008. It takes a comparative approach, looking at current and proposed schemes in Australia and in selected overseas jurisdictions. It explores what is the best and most effective regulatory scheme to safeguard and nurture confidence in the democratic system.

Education in Country and City New South Wales looks at the evidence about differences, in levels of achievement, between country and city students in New South Wales. It also looks at Government responses, and issues such as staff turnover and student retention, particularly in regional areas.

What happened with electricity privatisation this week?

Penny Sharpe — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:10:56 -0600

How NSW ensures continued energy supplies into the future is at the heart of the electricity debate. Who is best (public or private or a combination of both) to provide the energy? Who should pay? What are the costs to the government with any given option? Are there environmental implications to any option that is chosen? How are workers and consumers protected? I have outlined my position in relation to this matter previously.

Since the state conference resolution there have been meetings between the unions, the Labor Party officers and the Government. There has been agreement and movement on some issues, particularly in relation to job security and consumer protections. The outstanding sticking point remains the public ownership issue. I believe that a solution can be found but there needs to be a genuine commitment to get there.

This week in the parliament the Greens put forward a procedural bill to ensure that legislation would be put forward in relation to the transfer of assets. This bill was adjourned until when we next sit.

The Premier then gave notice in the parliament of legislation that is to come forward when parliament again sits. There remains many MP's who either outright oppose the legislation or are very troubled by it. Some are opposed to privatisation, others are troubled by the conflict this legislation has with Labor Party policy as determined by our conference. The left within the party have remained opposed to privatisation on every occasion that it has come up and yesterday moved to have the legislation deferred until the process set out by conference was finalised. This motion was defeated.

Discussions continue.

Caucus Committees

Penny Sharpe — Wed, 23 May 2007 21:37:25 -0600

Caucus committees are one avenue for government MP's to provide feedback and raise issues with ministers. Each Minister has a Caucus committee and it is this forum where Minister's first bring their legislation for discussion and endorsement.

For this parliament I will be on committees covering the following portfolios: Education & Training and Industrial Relations, Attorney General and Justice (this incorporates prisons), Community Services, Housing & Tourism, Women, Medical Research, Cancer and the Environment.

I will also attend the Caucus committee that covers Mineral Resources and Energy.

7th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance

Penny Sharpe — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Posted Monday 20 November 06

Today in parliament house a seminar was held to mark the 7th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The day is an international event that remembers those who have been killed as a result of anti transgender violence.

Kate Walker gave a paper on transphobia and it’s origins. This was followed by the first time showing of a film called A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story.

I participated in a panel. Panelists and audience members discussed a number of issues. Of particular importance was the level of violence, harassment and intimidation that transgender people suffer on a daily basis.

Other issues that were raised were the need for anti discrimination laws, the difficulties experienced when you fall in between state and federal laws (eg in relation to the issuing of passports), the need for early education and the need for public campaigns that support equality.

The NSW Labor government passed laws that provide specific recognition of discrimination against transgender people in 1996. These laws created a new offence of transgender vilification.

Women in Politics

Penny Sharpe — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Posted Tuesday 24 October 06

There was a baby in the Labor caucus meeting this morning. Angela D'Amore was back at work with her son. One of our Minister's has also recently has a child and the Labor candidate for Balmain, Verity Firth has a daughter who is only a few weeks old.

When I was elected last year, my son was one. He spent the first few months in my office a day a week.

No one likes to see "special" treatment for MP's compared to the rest of the community but if we are serious about women with children participating in our parliaments, onsite childcare is desperately needed.

Wrap of Parliament

Penny Sharpe — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Posted Thursday 28 September 06

State parliament rose today. In this session the parliament has passed 39 laws.

Legislative highlights include: protection for state workers from Workchoices, no fault compensation for people who suffer catastrophic injury, a change to the oath sworn by new members of parliament, so that they swear to the “Australian People” and to the people of NSW, rather than to the Queen.

John Della Bosca said, of the legislation passed to protect workers in the NSW public sector that industrial relations was:

…an issue that starkly distinguishes the values of the Labor Government from those sitting opposite.These Bills are one plank of the NSW Government's response to the Commonwealth's divisive Work Choices legislation, which is a direct attack on the working conditions and living standards of ordinary Australians.It is an attack supported by the Opposition in this State. The so-called Work Choices legislation offers no choice, no protection, and will lead to confusion and complexity for both employers and employees.

This session of parliament also celebrated 150 years of democracy in Australia’s oldest Parliament. The Lieutenant Governor’s speech outlined the government’s agenda for the coming months. I moved the motion for the address in reply. This gave me the opportunity to respond to the government’s agenda.

The budget was delivered. For me the highlights were the funding for preschools, class size reductions in K-2, disability funding, environment funding and the infrastructure spending for public transport. I am also pleased to be part of a government has the highest paid teachers, nurses and police in Australia.

The Upper House welcomed a new Labor member of the Legislative Council when Peter Breen joined the Labor Party. He said:

I believe that the Australian Labor Party offers me a greater opportunity to promote my human rights agenda than as an Independent or as the sole representative of a minor party in this House. I am particularly concerned about the rights of workers under the Federal Government's WorkChoices legislation. I intend doing what I can in the Labor Party to expose the flaws of this legislation.

Parliamentary debate in the upper house was dominated by the eventual non sale of the Snowy Hydro.

On a more personal level, I have been lobbied on many issues including: medical treatment of prisoners, cancer reduction measures, funding for community workers, government procurement policies, occupational health and safety requirements for employers, preservation of the River Red Gum wetlands in SW NSW, progress on same sex relationship recognition, nuclear power, funding for homeless services, affordable housing, planning issues in Bermagui, access to preschools, Indigenous health, work conditions for teachers, planning laws, access to abortion, changes to ski lodge leases, a charter of human rights for NSW and changes to laws to encourage hemp production for fibre.

I also have been briefed on the situation in West Papua, the movement for democratic change in Iran and (non) democracy in Burma.

I'm off now to the start of functions for ALP state conference this weekend. I'll report back next week.

Estimates Committees Roundup

Penny Sharpe — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Did the Coalition actually do any work over the parliamentary recess?

The past two weeks have seen every Minister attend an estimates committee meeting.

Estimates committees are an opportunity for Legislative Committee members from all parties to examine the expenditure for the upcoming year being proposed by the Government.

In practice they have a very wide brief that means that members can ask questions about any matter within a Minister’s portfolio.

It is a golden opportunity to interrogate a Minister and expose any problems within his or her portfolio.

Six months from a state election the Coalition’s participation was lacklustre, lazy and obviously driven by media reports. There was clear cooperation between the Coalition and the Greens who at various times shared the same questions.

I was also surprised by some of the questions asked by cross benches. On several occasions the questions asked by cross benches were on behalf of a particular single interest organisation.

I participated in the estimates committees that examined Local Government, Fair Trading, Western Sydney, Housing, Education and Training, Treasury, Infrastructure, the Hunter, Community Services, Youth, Transport, Tourism, Sport and Women.

Full transcripts can be seen here. Despite the poor questioning by the Opposition, the Ministers provided a good overview of what they have planned. If you have a particular policy interest the transcripts provide a good overview of what is happening across the portfolios.

Labor members of the estimates committee’s interrogated Ministers on what the Coalitions promise to cut 29,000 public servants would mean for NSW. The answers demonstrated that NSW could not sustain these cuts without a massive impact on frontline services.

The Coalition will have to work much harder if they want to present a credible alternative in March 07. With $20 billion worth of promises based on slashing 29,000 jobs it is clear that their shopping list lacks any coherent plan.

HIV/AIDS –the importance of bipartisanship

Penny Sharpe — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Last night I attended the 21st Anniversary for ACON (AIDS Council of NSW). It was an evening of both reflection and celebration.

Reflection that in 25 years the HIV/AIDS epidemic has infected 70 million people worldwide and claimed 30 million lives. In Australia we have lost 6500 people, 3600 of them in NSW.

Celebration of how communities, and in the Australian context the GLBT community, can build a strong and dedicated community organisation that was prepared to fight the crisis unfolding around them.

Paul McLeay, the NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Health spoke, as did Justice Michael Kirby, Don Baxter from AFAO and ACON’s President Adrian Lovney.

All of them noted that the Australian experience of HIV/AIDS was different. There are many reasons for this but the most important was that Governments both state and federal were prepared to put public health ahead of politics.

In practice this meant a bipartisan approach that included significant funding for prevention, treatment and research. It also included support programs such as needle exchanges and sexual health education featuring the condom as the front line defence.

The bipartisanship that was exhibited in 1985 seems to be on shakier ground in 2006.

25 years into an epidemic that has yet to find a vaccine or a cure, it is a bipartisanship that must endure to save lives.