Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 15 July, I held a community catch-up at the Westley Village shops and constituents raised a range of issues with me like roads infrastructure, especially Pennant Hills Road, the worst road in Australia. My constituents are delighted to see the Turnbull government working with the Berejiklian government and the private sector to deliver NorthConnex, which will take 5,000 trucks off Pennant Hills Road every day and will change people's lives in such a positive way. NorthConnex will be delivered on time at the end of 2019 and on budget.

My constituents also raised concerns with me about telecommunications. That is why on 18 July I held a community forum with representatives from Telstra and the NBN to update locals on the rollout of mobile telephone towers and the NBN across the Berowra electorate. Berowra's hilly topography often makes telecommunications more of a challenge for my constituents than in other parts of Sydney. To address this, the government has secured three mobile phone towers, including one at Sackville North and two at the north end of the Hornsby shire.

During July, I also received a visit from the Minister for Communications, Senator Fifield. He and I hauled cable in Cherry Brooke to celebrate the fact the NBN was across 20 per cent of the electorate and 50 per cent of the country. I am holding a second community forum with both Telstra and the NBN on 23 August at Dural Country Club and I encourage any interested local residents to attend. Berowra is home to 51 outstanding schools which will benefit from the injection of over $1 billion in federal funding over the next decade. I was delighted to welcome the education minister, Senator Birmingham, to Berowra to see Cheltenham Girls High School and to meet representatives of Mount St Benedict's, two of the outstanding girls' schools in my electorate.

I have the privilege of serving on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue. The committee is inquiring into taxpayer engagement with the tax system. To get a better idea of what tax practitioners in my electorate were thinking, on 17 July I held a roundtable with practitioners to discuss these issues. It was an engaging session with feedback on everything from the ATO's online performance to ideas for more sweeping tax reform.

Over the past few weeks I have been honoured to speak at services at several congregations in Berowra. These occasions provided a reminder of the enduring values of faith, community and service that are so prevalent in Berowra. Thank you to Saint Luke's Anglican Church at Hornsby Heights, the Turramurra Gurudwara, the Iman Hassan Centre at Annangrove and the Glenorie Mission Church. I was also delighted to be asked to serve dinner at the Hornsby Cathedral Catholic Parish community dinner. Each week for the past 10 years, the cathedral congregation has served dinner to those more marginalised members of our community. The dinner emphasises essential values of human dignity, servant leadership and humility. My sincere thanks to the organisers, Curtis and Cristina Crasto, Georgina, Elizabeth and Father Vincent.

I would also like to acknowledge the service clubs I have visited. I was invited to speak at the Berowra Probus Club to celebrate its 25th anniversary with several founding members still in attendance after 25 years. This makes it a special Probus Club, and I would like to thank Bill Hartnett and Alan Milne for their invitation.

In the north-western corner of my electorate is Sackville North on the banks of the Hawkesbury. The local rural fire service brigade is the backbone of the community and its captain, John Turnbull, is a distant cousin of the Prime Minister. Every year, they get together for a Christmas in July celebration and this celebration provided me with a great opportunity to catch up with the Sackville North community. Some weeks later, I attended another Christmas in July celebration at The Dangar Island Bowling Club, a unique community at the other end of the Hawkesbury and received a warm welcome.

On a sadder note, I attended the final dinner meeting of the Beecroft Cheltenham Lions Club, which decided to hand in its charter after 25 years of dedicated service to our community. The club has a proud history. Founded by Beecroft shopkeepers, it pioneered Beecroft in Bloom, a successful local spring festival and organised the Beecroft Anzac Day commemoration services and was responsible for raising over $300,000 for the community, including the provision of a disabled toilet at Beecroft, a kidney dialysis machine for Hornsby hospital and raised money for Karonga school. I would particularly like to acknowledge the work of the outgoing president, John Glasson; Doreen Moore, the secretary, and her husband, John; and Brian and Sandy Bailey. Stalwarts of the club over the years have included Margaret and Hugh Talbot; Trish Long; Malcolm and Frances Michael; John Simpson; Glenys Johnson; Neil, Annie and Kathryn Warwick; Alex Maitland; Elaine Turner; Hazel Green; Lesley Bell; Patrick McCappion; Joanne Sim; Sandra Ross; Jenny Wilson; Roy Marzarno; Scot Gumley; Damien Tudehope and John Wakefield. Our community organisations are the backbone of Berowra.