Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over recent years I have held regular ‘town hall’ meetings—I suppose that is what you would call them—to advise my electorate on my activities and also to seek a two-way exchange of views and to have a general discussion. We hold them as regular morning, afternoon and evening federal forums around the electorate. In these days of modern communication where one is able to use email, television or radio amongst various other means of communication, it is still important to eyeball people face to face and to sit down and talk with them and have that very important exchange of views.

The meetings have provided residents with an opportunity to raise issues for discussion or concern and enabled me to report on my activities. Over the years it is interesting to note how the attendance at the meetings tends to wax and wane. Prior to the introduction of the goods and services tax in 2000 we had very large meetings. When elections are close the meetings are large. When there is not a high level of concern about issues or when the electorate is relaxed and comfortable, meeting attendance is not quite as high as it otherwise is. But we also get many people who ring us following this opportunity. We have the general public discussion and then, if any constituent comes along and has a problem of a more personal nature and would like to discuss that problem with me or a member of my staff, we facilitate that.

My electorate is not as big as some others—it is under a thousand square kilometres—but we did have nine public meetings over the last week. They were held at the Kawana Surf Club at Buddina, the Pelican Waters Bowls Club at Golden Beach, the Caloundra Indoor Bowling Club, the Maleny Community Centre, the Kawana Waters Christian Church, the Mooloolaba Uniting Church, the CWA Hall at Buderim, the sales office at Sippy Downs and at my office at the Dolphin Centre, 118 Aerodrome Road, Maroochydore. We are going to have meetings in the new parts of the electorate which, compliments of the Electoral Commission, have been returned to Fisher. We are going to have meetings at Wamuran, Woodford and Kilcoy in the near future. So these meetings are held both in the existing electorate and in the new electorate.

I want to congratulate all of those residents who came along. I very much enjoyed talking with them. I took on board the points that they made. Residents of course at times praised government policy and on other occasions wanted some changes in it, but I think this two-way discussion between elected representatives and the community is always very important. I make this commitment to continue these forums in the future. (Time expired)