Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It will make a huge difference not only to the hall but, as the minister just said, in terms of adding to the economic and social development of the region. That is a really important thing. The other project was at the Ballina/Byron Gateway Airport, operated by the Ballina Shire Council. The airport is an important gateway to the region and has grown considerably—as the traffic through it has grown considerably—over the years. Ballina Shire Council, like Lismore City Council, put up funding themselves for projects. They are absolutely project ready so that, when they put their applications in and go through the assessment processes, they have already done a lot of the groundwork, the grunt work, and the projects are not just ideas on paper. That is really important. I have five local government areas and I work closely with them and with the organisations beyond so that everybody is prepared and ready to take advantage of the opportunities when they come along.

I think that is an important role that we can, should and do play as local members, to make sure we are on the front foot. It does not mean that we will get everything we want, because we all want everything for our own particular seats and regions. But we can be out there leading and supporting, and sometimes leading from behind—it does not always have to be upfront—

Mr Griffin interjecting—

Stop it! So there are different forms of leadership and they are all appropriate—that is my point. It is about working with the communities. That leads me to my question—

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