David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

‘On earth,’ I hear the member for Robertson suggest—it is not quite that hot. The centre of the earth is the hottest place, but we do consider ourselves to be at the centre of the universe! But it does get very hot, and air-conditioning is vital. I know of many pensioners in particular who went out and used that money to install air-conditioning in their property. It was a good thing that money came through when it did, because we had a very hot January in Penrith. I know that those people sitting in the comfort of their new air-conditioning, installed as a consequence of the ESS payment, were not swimming in a cash splash, but they were living with some dignity, having also stimulated the local economy.

I met a lady at a function who told me: ‘Go and speak to Mr Rudd and say thank you to him. Say, “Thanks, Mr Rudd; I used that money you gave me to go and fix my teeth. I haven’t been able to get my teeth fixed for 30 years.” ‘Thirty years! She used that money to go and fix her teeth. I am assuming that the local dentist or orthodontist participates in the local economy and I am assuming that that money has generated and stimulated some local activity—contrary to the views of those on the other side.

Before I conclude, I would like to comment briefly on an initiative that I am supporting within my local community. With the latest stimulus package, the $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan, I see tremendous opportunities for my local community to take advantage of the money that has been set aside and allocated. That is why I have been in discussions with many of the local groups within my community to try and initiate a gathering on 25 March this year. We will be meeting at the Panthers club. That meeting will be designed to provide local organisations and local individuals with an opportunity to understand what the stimulus package contains and how they and/or their business or organisation might be able to tap into that package to secure benefits for our local community.

I am organising this event under the banner of ‘Keep Penrith Working’. I have got tremendous support from local business leaders within my community. I have had some meetings with representatives of the Penrith Valley Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Penrith Valley Economic Development Corporation, the Penrith City Centre Association, the St Mary’s Town Centre Management Committee and the Schools Industry Partnership. In particular I recognise the efforts of those on Penrith City Council such as Mayor Jim Aitken, and I recognise him for his leadership, and also the General Manager, Mr Alan Stoneham. I am convinced that working together as a local community we can play some part in securing employment for people within our community into the future. That is why I want to keep Penrith working. I want to get as many local stakeholders as possible together. They could be potential beneficiaries, whether it be from the spending on schools, through the refurbishments and through the repair work that is going to be undertaken under the School Pride policy; whether it is going to be through the Building the Education Revolution, with the benefits that will flow to local contractors and local builders; or whether it will be through initiatives in defence and social housing. It could also be through initiatives in relation to opportunities for natural heritage projects for local environmental groups or opportunities for packaging together programs to assist the unemployed and those that are vulnerable as we brace ourselves for the economic downturn that is beginning to engulf the world. There are so many opportunities and I want to make sure that local groups and individuals are aware of what they are and that, as a consequence of this work that is being done locally, we will see a number of very attractive grant applications being submitted which hopefully in time will lead to us securing some great outcomes for my local community.

Before concluding, I wish to say, in relation to this initiative, that I am very grateful that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Senator Mark Arbib, will be attending the ‘Keep Penrith Working’ gathering. As we know, he is the parliamentary secretary responsible for overseeing and assisting with the implementation of the plan. I am sure that he will receive a lot of good feedback on the ground from local businesses and local organisations about how the implementation of this package needs to provide those opportunities for people in local communities. These are difficult times, they are uncertain times and we hear a lot of bad news. But in the context of all of that bad news I say let us do what we can to work together as a community to make the most of the opportunities that present themselves so that we can keep securing employment for local people and we can ultimately achieve that goal of keeping Penrith working. This is something that I look forward to, and I will update the House on the progress of this matter.

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