As the new State Member for Hornsby I was honoured to give my inaugural speech in Parliament.
The speech explored the unique history of the Hornsby Shire. My family first moved to the Hornsby Shire around 1906, which was the year the Shire was founded and was home to just 5,000 people.
Hornsby’s residents at the time worked as fruit growers, farmers, timber-millers and tradespersons. They lived in small villages amongst the bushland.
Our area has been blessed by so many who volunteered their time and gave their money to support the community. There are many great stories which prove this point – whether it is Hornsby Hospital which was built with funds raised by local initiatives in suburbs from Glenorie to Brooklyn, or the farmers and community members who came together with donated trucks and equipment to form the first Rural Fire Brigade (now Galston RFS).
To protect and preserve this community spirit, I used my inaugural speech to call for renewed efforts to support the work of our community organisations, encourage people to engage in voluntary work and improve our parks and community facilities. I acknowledged the many volunteers who take their time – freely and generously – to build those connections and to support our community.
I also highlighted the challenges of after-school care for our kids. Locally, there are schools where after-school care spaces are very limited, and even when space is available, parents still feel pressure to leave work early to pick up children to other activities like football and netball practice, scouts, guides and music lessons.
I called for after-school programs to be integrated with the other activities that our kids are involved with. This requires rules changes to ensure community groups can access school grounds and after-school care centres are able to walk children to nearby parks and facilities.
I outlined a number of policy priorities focussing on improving housing affordability, and utilising technology and data to improve the quality of services at our schools and hospitals.
I acknowledged the responsibility given to me by the people of the Hornsby electorate. I will do all I can to serve you.
