Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On reflection, after the 2016 election in Gilmore, it has been a journey. Since I was first elected in 2013, it has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride on so many levels, but I would like to say thank you to the Governor-General for his generous and enthusiastic welcome and opening of the 45th Parliament. We have seen changes in many directions, and I take this opportunity to talk about them and commend the local government staff members, mayors and general managers who have assisted in getting projects shovel ready, planned and processed. In addition, I would like to thank the hundreds of residents and community members who have written, emailed or present a discussion on worthy projects that reflect the needs and our region.

When working through the electorate, I initially had part of the Shellharbour municipality within Gilmore and we worked hard on many projects with those residents, from commemorative stones at Shell Cove Public School for Anzac Day 2015 to extra funds for rescue boats at the Shellharbour Surf Club to opening the youth residence in Barrack Heights after the amazing work of Narelle Clay and Southern Youth and Family Services, which was worth in excess of $5.2 million, to the almost $1 million funding for the KidzWish facility to be built in Flinders. In the next month we will be turning the sod at that facility, and Shellharbour council has already donated the land for this very special project.

Then I worked hard for funds for the $2 million for the Triple Care Farm. This detox centre is a unique facility in Australia. It will be run and managed by Mission Australia and is also part funded by the Sir David Martin Foundation. It is special. It is for young people between 16 and 24 when they decide to make the journey of recovery. I simply could not be more proud.

There were many projects where grants were given to improve pedestrian safety, and this included $150,000 for CCTV in Kiama, as part of the 31-camera network in that CBD, and also in the streets of Gerringong; and $300,000 for three different locations in the Shoalhaven—East Nowra, Bomaderry and Sanctuary Point. I am working on getting more CCTV for the shops in Sanctuary Point. We gained additional safety lighting for Kiama harbour and the dark corner in Batemans Bay near the tourist centre. I cannot wait to switch those on and neither can the residents. There is a theme here, and it is about safety and looking after the wellbeing of our Gilmore residents.

We have had a phenomenal success with Green Army projects, with participants gaining a whopping 30 per cent employment or further study results. But the bulk was for employment. Unfortunately this program was not run as effectively in other parts of Australia, and when we tried to get testimonials from our Green Army graduates we had some difficulty, mostly because they are now working, which was the aim of the game.

I look forward to the rollout of the Launch into Work program and the PaTH program. The PaTH program has a unique approach to inspiring young people who have not previously worked and whose family, for one reason or another, have been unable to find work. They learn how to prepare for work through a mentorship arrangement. Then there is an opportunity of a period of subsidised work, and if it works out for both the employer and the PaTH participant then the employer will get a brand-new and prepared employee. If, however, the potential employee feels that this is not going to be right for them then it is not a major chore to get them back onto income support, as it was never removed. In a day and age when employability is difficult to teach, this is a great option.

Our apprenticeship challenge, which we set in January this year, has met with terrific success. Many single-operator businesses have been helped by the Apprenticeship Support Network. We gained 97 official sign-ups by the end of February when our initial target was just 52. We are expecting even more by the end of March.

One example is a plumber, who has been reluctant to take on apprentices for years because the red tape and everything involved was such a hassle. The network has made a real difference. The new apprentice is Dane. He is 16 years old and lives in Kiama. He commenced his apprenticeship on 30 January and will do a Certificate III in Wall and Floor Tiling at Randwick TAFE. The apprenticeship is four years, with three years of block release at the TAFE. The only minus in this apprenticeship is that the local TAFEs do not do wall and floor tiling courses and he has so far to travel.

This aspect of training opportunities at TAFE is quite a universal problem. I wonder if that is because the government of the day back in the eighties decided that if you did not go to university you were getting a second-rate education? I know that qualified tradespeople are earning very good money right now, and we are going to be critically short of qualified tradesmen and tradeswomen. Congratulations to all those tradies in our region who have taken up the challenge to share their skills for our collective future.

There has been a bucketload of funding for road infrastructure in Gilmore. It is a wonderful coastal electorate, with many hundreds of roads. But they are often damaged in the pouring rain after the blistering heat, as only a coastal region experiences. Road funding has come from a number of sources, but my most favourite to fix is the blackspot funding. Blackspot locations are the sites of accidents, some with many frequent minor accidents and others with a sad history of loss of life. It is great to see when work is done on those projects, because I know that it is going to make them safer for my community.

The municipality of Kiama has to date gained more than $1.25 million for such projects. Currently I am working on the grant of $1.4 million for the museum-library upgrade in Gerringong, and the promised half a million dollars in funding is now confirmed for the amenities improvement at Jamberoo. Half a billion dollars has been invested in HMAS Albatross, including $157 million for the Helicopter Aircrew Training System. In the next decade there will be another half-a-billion-dollar investment in this base, which will further enhance its existing infrastructure and defence capability and increase employment in our region.

I have delivered $1.23 million for the Mind the GaP facility, which is a mental health facility at the University of Wollongong's Shoalhaven campus. It is going to be there to improve mental health outcomes across the region and is also a co-location for the new Lifeline call centre. It will have consulting capacity and research capacity. This is a brilliant outcome for our region, as mental health problems are a really significant issue.

It was a great day when we cut the ribbon to open Turpentine Road, a very important link in our region. There had been a $2 million election commitment, an additional allocation of road blackspot funding of around $1.8 million and then almost $3 million of Roads to Recovery funding, so Turpentine Road was a gift to the people of Gilmore from this coalition government. I am now advocating for funding for a number of other roads that are in need all over the electorate.

But first let me say that the Shoalhaven has in the last three years received a mammoth amount of road funding: more than $22 million from Roads to Recovery; more than $17 million of blackspot funding—the highest in the last three years; and in excess of $5 million for bridge replacement and heavy vehicle road construction. Most important of all, though, was the $10 million for the planning, engineering and environmental studies needed as a prerequisite for the new Nowra Bridge. I continue to have this as my highest priority for business growth, resident convenience and tourism encouragement.

Some $450,000 secured the construction of the section of the Round the Bay pathway at Orion Beach. What a gem that has proved to be. The Dunn and Lewis centre gained $2 million from an election commitment. The lock-up stage is now complete, and I am advocating fiercely for the last stage of funding to see that wonderful project completed.

The 21-ship berthing facility at the Ulladulla Harbour was an election promise, and the plans are on display. That will be a tourism drawcard. It will provide a safe harbour for vessels, a great place for tourists to visit and—you guessed it!—work opportunities. The bridge over the Candlagan Creek at Broulee was the result of more than $1 million from the coalition government, and there have been thousands of dollars delivered to small community groups to help with purchases like tools for Men's Sheds, boxing gear for the PCYC and playground equipment for community child-care centres.

Yet to be delivered are the funding projects for many of our sporting clubs and facilities. Netball in Ulladulla is in progress; the fencing at the Mariners baseball field is confirmed; the Cougars have an enormous project to work on, including change rooms and meeting rooms as well as improved drainage. I have worked closely with many young people in our region to build skate parks in Manyana, to extend one in Sanctuary Point and to help the organisers of Culburra skate park to follow their dreams. That one will be amazing!

We only gave catalyst funding, but they used that for leverage to get an enormous amount of investment. Well done to Alex McNeilly and the wonderful group of local young people, many of whom are likely able to drive now but who I bet still love to skate: Luke Bennett, Daniel Wood, Charley Hayes, Ryan and Matt Byrnes, Tanaya Rogers, Max Feast and Leon Vukelic, who started this project and had the tenacity to see it through.

Jindelara respite facility for young people with a disability was a dream held by many in the southern Shoalhaven. With a delivery of an election commitment of $358,000 this will now become a reality. Indeed, many youngsters with a disability will also have an opportunity in the Moruya region as Yumaro has been funded for their disability residential facility. The Bay Push is an inclusive playground, also the recipient of funds, and I am working on more for the next stage of the build. Congratulations to Charles Stuart and his committee for their tenacity.

On the larger scale of delivery by the coalition government, many in our region have been frustrated by the existence of mobile phone blackspots. The good news is that there are two towers expected in Gilmore under round 1 of the blackspot program: Kioloa, which is scheduled for construction next year, and Nelligen, which was expected to start earlier this year but is now going to be a co-located facility with an NBN fixed wireless tower. Under round 2 there will be an additional tower at Woodhill, but that rollout has not yet been established. Under round 3 there will be four towers built at Kangaroo Valley, Sussex Inlet/Wandandian/Bewong, East Lynne and Clyde Mountain, better known as 'Pooh Corner' to all those who drive along the Kings Highway and see the teddy bears of the same name clustered in the rock cavern. Our tender process to select the operators which will build the towers in these areas is scheduled to commence around mid-2017. I have to say I worked hard to get these towers allocated to Gilmore, because the beneficiaries are the travelling public, my residents and visitors. The result is that the providers are not able to send a bill to anyone, but everyone in Gilmore knows just how essential these towers truly are. By the end of next year we are expected to have a 90 per cent NBN coverage rate across Gilmore. Of course, this rollout has not been without a few hiccups, but with such a massive infrastructure build no-one could expect that it would be a completely smooth process.

One of the best proposals for my region is the $20 million South Coast jobs package. Everybody knows we have a very high unemployment level both amongst adults and, significantly, amongst our youth. A government at any level is not in a position to actually create jobs. However, with a great tax regime as we are planning to deliver, it can inspire businesses to grow and invest, and this ultimately leads to jobs. The jobs package is a dollar-for-dollar grants system that will help give a kick-start to businesses in our region to either grow, export or even move from Sydney or other areas to our region. They have already got their strategic plan. It is mostly agrarian-based, but there are unusual industries like equestrian in the initiative—such as Terry Snow has built down at Bawley Point with his Willinga complex. There are businesses that are waiting in the wings that just need a little encouragement to relocate, and how exciting will that be!

A great deal has been achieved, but there is still a lot to be done. There are two major roundabouts in the Eurobodalla that need to be funded and upgraded: one in central Batemans Bay near the visitor centre and one at Tomakin, which will upgrade Sunpatch Parade to join George Bass Drive. I am working with the minister for regional infrastructure to deliver an improved and better intersection at Hector McWilliam Drive in Tuross Head.

As I travel around the electorate, local residents talk to me of their perceptions and their problems. Some of these include big-picture issues like making sure multinationals pay their fair share of tax—well, we did that this week—and fixing up child care, which we have done, so it does not stop my people from getting extra work. Other issues relate to the need for a better transport system, which is an issue that affects employment, getting to hospitals and getting health care. We have a strategic plan that we began in 2015 and which has since been added to by another group. We are hoping that it is also seen as part of the project delivery for the $20 million package. We are hoping that this will make a big change to our area, because it impedes on all sorts of employment and health initiatives and is a bit of an anchor for everyone, so we are hoping it improves.

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