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

When boundary changes were recently announced by the independent Electoral Commission, I received calls from friends, residents, local businesses and community groups based in Epping and North Epping. My family is no stranger to Epping. My mum was a Brownie in the Epping-Eastwood pack of the Girl Guides which met at Epping Baptist Church and she used to swim competitively at the Epping pool in Dence Park. My father was a schoolboy at Epping grammar, which is located on Blaxland Road. My wife, Joanna, grew up in a home on Surrey Street in Epping. So I am really looking forward to representing people in Epping and North Epping in our parliament.

In the past, Epping and North Epping have been represented by two people I admire greatly, John Howard and John Alexander. John Howard has been a mentor of mine for a long time and I'm grateful to him for his counsel on many issues. John Alexander is much loved in Epping and North Epping, and it was great to have him join me as we visited small businesses and locals recently. We visited a bakery which I think epitomises what our community is all about. The bakery is owned by a Cambodian Australian, it has an Italian name and he served me a challah, a Jewish bread, which demonstrates how diverse our community is. JA and I also bumped into a group of women who had finished their Zumba class and got chatting. Before long, I'd agreed to go to Therese's Zumba class. I am not going to re-enact my moves in here, because I'm sure that's unparliamentary, but I can report I had a great time.

Later that day, along with the Liberal candidate for Bennelong, Scott Yung, we had lunch at an Epping institution, Xi Bay, with some of my friends who are leaders of the Chinese community, including Patrick Voon, Simon Chan, Felix Lam and the indefatigable Helen Sham-Ho. They tested my Chinese, and I think I passed. I dropped in a few uses of 'ni hao', 'xie xie' and 'wo jiao'. We talked about the positive impact that the Chinese community has had on our local area and the way Chinese Australians contribute to Australia's multicultural success story. I see that in people like Tracy Yap, who's been the leading real estate agent in the northern districts for over 30 years. Tracey and her son, Danny, are unrelenting in their enthusiasm for our local area.

It would be remiss of me not to mention another well-known Epping establishment, which is my new favourite dumpling restaurant, Hot Dumpling, where I celebrated World Dumpling Day. I have to say I have become addicted to the chicken, garlic and chive steamed dumpling washed down later with a beer at the Epping Hotel.

Another great part of being able to represent our community is getting out and meeting some of the one of the wonderful local sports groups across the electorate. Together with the new state member for Epping, Monica Tudehope, I recently attended Rangers Day, when the community came together to celebrate the achievements of the North Epping local soccer, tennis and netball teams, which have over 1,000 members combined. I was honoured to present the award for football's person of the year to Chris Walsh, whose wife, Nicki, won the same award last year. I also met some of the great people who make the club what it is, including its president Craig Denyer, Matt Walker, Kristen De Gioia and Ben Heard, all volunteers so dedicated to making our community great.

The level of input that people have in our community was again evident at my recent Epping and North Epping leaders forums. I heard from people like Judith Dawes, John and Tricia Whealy, Richard and Anne Ure from the Civic Trust, David Tait from St Albans Anglican, John Sullivan from Epping Uniting Church, Anton Marquez from All Saints Church, Shaun Garvey from North Epping Men's Shed, Ken Douglass from the North Epping bowling club and David Thompson and Peter May from the local Probus club. Their dedication to our community is inspiring.

Despite the great things happening, I'm also hearing some things which are troubling. While doorknocking some professional services businesses around Epping recently, I heard from accountants and financial planners about some of the challenges that people are facing in the local economy. I've been a member of parliament for over eight years, but, to be blunt, I haven't heard such a dire outlook from so many small business operators before. Accountants and financial planners always know what's happening in the economy because they see it in their own clients. They told me of the number of businesses that are closing due to red tape, the reduction in demand, the cost of living and the lack of confidence in the economy caused by this government and its policies and how that is hurting our businesses and costing local jobs.

I am committed to listening to our community and working with others to deliver local outcomes. After talking to Councillor Sreeni Pillamarri, I met with Parramatta Lord Mayor Martin Zaiter and the council's general manager, Gail Connelly. I've also had meetings with Hornsby's mayor, Warren Waddell, and general manager, Steven Head. We discussed some of the local issues which we need to tackle together—issues relating to traffic, development and infrastructure. I've taken away some ideas and I am now working on a plan to help our community.

I know that listening to our community and working together is the best way to deliver local solutions, and that's what I hope to be doing as the member representing Epping and North Epping into the future. I look forward to getting out and talking to more people in the Epping and North Epping communities and getting to really know and understand the many issues and challenges that face that community, so I can be their voice in this chamber in the federal parliament.