Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to use the opportunity in the grievance debate today to highlight critical local issues in my electorate that require urgent attention. The first is the recent spate of crime in the Tilligerry Peninsula. For a number of years now, residents in the Tilligerry, such as those in Lemon Tree Passage, Tanilba Bay and Mallabula, have been left high and dry on police matters by the New South Wales Labor government. Residents’ requests for more police, 24-hour police stations and greater powers for police have been totally ignored. Their frustrations over vandalism to private property and antisocial behaviour have not even raised an eyebrow from the sitting member for Port Stephens, John Bartlett, or his protege, Aaron Beasley.

It has now been 827 days since the Tilligerry crime forum in February 2004, when John Bartlett attended a public meeting on crime in the Tilligerry. Residents were shocked to hear their state representative tell them that they did not need more police and that the problem was their fault. You can imagine the scenes that this kind of comment generated in a community that for years has been begging the state government for more police resources. What is also very disturbing is that John Bartlett’s protege, Aaron Beasley, does not care either. Aaron Beasley has been busy fighting the Labor proposal for a nuclear power station in Port Stephens, something that will never occur—in fact, the only people to talk up this nuclear power station are Sharan Burrow; the Labor think tank, the Australia Institute; and, of course, the Labor Party.

Crime and violence are at the forefront of concerns of residents in the Tilligerry. This was heightened recently as a result of what could only be described as one of the most destructive acts of vandalism and violence that this area has ever seen. On the Saturday of the long weekend, a group of youths took to the new $15 million Coles shopping centre on Lemon Tree Passage road and smashed around nine windows. They took to the security guard’s car at the shopping centre, smashing its windows and stomping on its roof. Windows were smashed and property was damaged at the NRMA, the Tilligerry Habitat Association, Raine and Horne and the local pizza shop at Tanilba Bay. The local public school was also attacked. All up, it is estimated that at least $100,000 damage was done in this attack.  

Mallabula was also a target, with damage to the toilet block and the local hall and destruction of plants. Over the same weekend, the Raymond Terrace cemetery was targeted, with the smashing of pots, plants and the columbarium wall. These mongrels even stooped so low as to damage and steal photographs of deceased loved ones. Only a week before, Raymond Terrace was the target of property damage at the Marketplace Shopping Centre. Cars, shopfronts, signs and windows were all damaged by the youths. The people who tried to intervene and stop the violence were subject to abuse.

Understandably, our residents have had enough. They are sick to death of the violence, the property damage and the fear. They want to feel safe in their homes and safe on their streets—not terrorised. Elderly residents are distraught at having to brave the streets to go about their daily business. They are tired of hearing excuses from the state Labor government over police matters and the overwhelming lack of police and police resources for this region. Interestingly enough, a Port Stephens crime prevention plan is going before Port Stephens council tomorrow night. This will show that crime is up in the shire—something residents already knew. The report shows that the number of break and enter offences in Port Stephens is above the state average, with 773.4 offences per 100,000 people compared to the state average of 738.3. Offensive conduct incidents have almost doubled from 44.1 to 83.3 from 2001 to 2005. Malicious damage has increased by 5.9 per cent.

You only need to ask the members of the Muree Golf Club in Raymond Terrace if crime is increasing in Port Stephens. This club has been broken into five times since February this year, and four of those break-ins have happened in the last 2½ months, with damage estimated in excess of $50,000. The club is now offering a $2,000 reward for information that leads to the catching of the thieves. Understandably, residents in the Tilligerry are also talking about hiring security to protect property. It is an issue that I am sure they will be discussing at great length during a community meeting this Wednesday night organised by Craig Baumann, the Liberal candidate, and the Tilligerry crime forum. I fully support the calls from the community for more police and 24-hour police stations—and I always have. To put it simply: enough is enough.

Terrorism on the streets of the Tilligerry needs to be addressed today, not after the next election. How long do residents have to wait before the state Labor government takes this matter seriously and starts putting the resources where they are needed? When is Port Stephens going to get its own command? We have some of the best police officers in our patch who work incredible hours and take high risks for their communities, but we need more of them to enable our community to feel safe. That is what they have paid their taxes for. This Labor state government has a lot to answer for in this problem. As a community, we want to see results and not excuses.

Unfortunately, excuses are just what the residents in Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens are getting when it comes to the Myall Way—another critical issue in the Port Stephens electorate. I have spoken many times about the need for a flyover at the intersection of the Myall Way and the Pacific Highway and the state Labor government’s refusal to build the flyover. It is hiding behind an RTA report which claims a flyover is not needed and that it can consider this matter in another 10 to 15 years time. If ever there was a report that was rubbish, it is this one. It is absolute rubbish. There is overwhelming evidence produced by the community that a flyover is the best option for this intersection. Put simply, the New South Wales Labor government does not want to build it.

When you consider the size of the current population, the size of the population during holiday periods and the growth of the area with residential developments, a flyover is an obvious selection. Two flyovers were built for the nearby Karuah bypass, even though the population of Karuah, at 789 people of driving age, is far less than that of the Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens, at 2,380 people of driving age, and does not get anywhere near the volume of holiday traffic that their northern neighbours receive. Bulahdelah, to the north, with its planned bypass, will get two flyovers for a population of 998 people of driving age. The maths proves the point.

What is really disturbing about this project is that a flyover was in the original design. Four New South Wales Labor roads ministers—Scully, Costa, Tripodi and now Roozendaal—have all ignored the community concerns. From the outset, a flyover was thought to be the best option, but now residents are stuck with what is one of the most dangerous intersections that I have ever seen.

Two weeks ago I invited the federal roads minister, Jim Lloyd, to come and see this intersection for himself. In the first half an hour that we were there, we saw three cars driving west along the Myall Way heading towards the Pacific Highway that went the wrong way in a turning lane. They were wanting to turn right onto the highway but were so confused by the intersection they actually went the wrong way down the turning lane. They realised their mistake and did an illegal U-turn or reversed back up the road to try and find the exit they were after.

We were literally pinching ourselves that this was not a staged event to prove a point, but at the same time praying there would not be an accident. The motorists had no idea what lane they should have turned onto, and their actions to try and get into the right lane could have been a recipe for disaster. Right before our eyes, motorists were doing illegal moves to try and negotiate this intersection and to get where they wanted to go.

It is blindingly obvious to everybody except the state Labor government that this intersection is appalling. It is an accident waiting to happen. It is blindingly clear that a flyover is needed now and not in 10 to 15 years time. And where have John Bartlett and Aaron Beasley been on this? They have been absolutely invisible. Time and time again, we are told no to the critical issues to our communities by this state Labor government. It is always the same theme for the Myall Way intersection and the same for the police numbers in the Tilligerry.

The New South Wales state Labor government are ignoring the needs of Port Stephens and they are not taking the safety concerns of residents seriously. They are not solving local problems but keep playing the broken record of promises and excuses over and over again. We need change in New South Wales to deliver better state government to the people of Port Stephens and the people of Paterson. I demand the New South Wales government put people before politics and take action on these matters that I have raised today.