Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the Central Coast and the need for the Central Coast to have a stronger identity and regional recognition. The Central Coast is one of the most beautiful parts of Australia to live in, but unfortunately a lot of our institutions—at government level, at charity level and at business level—are run out of either Sydney or the Hunter. While Sydney and the Hunter are lovely places, the Central Coast wants to develop is own identity. One of the biggest complaints of people on the Central Coast is that our region is never recognised. I think it is important that we look at all the institutions on the Central Coast and see how they can be changed to give a greater regional focus to this beautiful area of Australia. Over 300,000 people live on the Central Coast, yet many of the institutions that look after our region are based in Sydney.

One only has to look at the way in which the people of the Central Coast have embraced the Central Coast Mariners to see how much they absolutely want and desire a regional identity. Some of the things we need to look at changing are at various governmental levels. For a start, we have two councils that divide the Central Coast rather than bring it together. We continually have a pull between the Gosford City Council and the Wyong Shire Council. Rather than working together, because we have these two separate councils, we tend to pull each other apart. The region does not work as one. It works as two, because of the way in which these councils operate. There are also a number of New South Wales government departments that do not recognise the region. The one that most of my constituents complain about is the area health service. We have the Northern Sydney and Central Coast Area Health Service. This does not put the focus on their health issues that Central Coast residents want. It also does not match up with primary health care. We have a division of general practice that is Central Coast based and does a terrific job, but we have a mismatch of health resources.

We have the New South Wales Business Chamber of the Central Coast. They have organised themselves to represent business on the Central Coast, and that is a good thing. We have some institutions, including Surf Life Saving, that have organised themselves to represent the Central Coast. Where this has happened, there has been greater representation as well as greater resources and greater focus for the people of the Central Coast. I am calling for all institutions—be they state, local or federal government, business, charitable or church—to look at organising their structures so that they recognise the 300,000 people who live on the Central Coast and give due recognition to that great region of Australia. (Time expired)