Federal Election 2019: Chifley candidates talk local issues
Hear where your candidates for the seat of Chifley stand on the key issues like health and housing affordability this Federal Election.
- Federal Election 2019: Meet your candidates for Chifley
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As voters in Chifley prepare to vote in the May 18 Federal Election, the Advocate spoke to the six candidates for the seat about where they stand on key local issues.
1. Josh Green — Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group)
HEALTHCARE: I would like to focus on drastically reducing the excessive waiting times at the hospital by increasing staff numbers which will also help to alleviate overload experienced by staff.
EDUCATION: I would like to see some new initiatives implemented which will give all students real incentives to be at school and to have a curriculum that has an emphasis on teaching the basics extremely well.
ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE: I am committed to delivering the changes and repairs that are needed for the roads and infrastructure of Chifley.
I successfully got local support in regards to the lift at Rooty Hill station and managed to get the issue asked about in parliament and it is now being delivered.
ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT: Our employment services need to be far more efficient to meet the needs of the public.
I am committed to helping all Australians get training, get help looking for work, and if need be delivering stress-free welfare assistance for those who are struggling.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY: Housing affordability is a challenging issue, and I will ensure that we have a system that is fair for all.
2. Ammar Khan — Independent
HEALTH: As part of my Chifley Ridge proposal, there would be three new GP super-clinics located at Whalan, Emerton and Bidwill.
These would be public-private partnerships with local and overseas doctors who express interest in establishing their own clinics.
I am very supportive of the NSW Government’s two-stage expansion of Mt Druitt Hospital. As a Federal Member I would lobby the Federal Government of the time as well as the private sector in funding further expansion.
EDUCATION: As part of my Chifley Ridge proposal, there would be five new private tertiary colleges that would offer TAFE-equivalent education at very nominal rates (or in some cases, no cost) for our constituents, in return for the private colleges’ receiving licensing rights, private sector funding and use of community built premises at low or no cost.
It would be the duty of these colleges to create a whole new generation of successful entrepreneurs that remain and operate in the local area, thus create an ‘upward spiral’ of new opportunities for the following generations of students.
ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE: My Chifley Ridge proposal’s vertical integration will create significant scope and opportunity to attract, support and more importantly sustain new roads and infrastructure structure in the area.
There are incorporated plans for not just around 50 small to medium community service facilities (such as education, medical, entertainment, religious and special uses) but there will be many more new infrastructure opportunities as and when new facilities make it necessary.
ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT: As part of my Chifley Ridge proposal, there would be potentially thousands of jobs created firstly when construction begins, then again when numerous community facilities are built, and again when large-scale home activities and micro-businesses are introduced for recipients of Centrelink benefits.
Every new home built will be pre-approved for home activities that will encourage people of all ages and capabilities to start their own personal service or micro-business.
Furthermore, my Chifley Ridge plan will require as a prerequisite (and monitored by the committee) that every job created is first offered to a local resident, apprentice, or semi-retiree, before going to the open employment market.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY: Housing affordability would be the best achievement of my Chifley Ridge proposal, both for home ownership and rental accommodation.
The Chifley Ridge masterplan will stipulate housing development of nominal-sized single-storey dwellings, made affordable and environmentally-sustainable through simple and reasonable restrictions.
All property owners, including government bodies and private landlords, will benefit from redeveloping their existing large lots into two or three smaller 250m² lots. And all the resulting new stock — the high quality yet very affordable housing — must first be offered to local renters or homebuyers before the open market.
3. Joseph O’Connor — United Australia Party
HEALTH: At the moment healthcare in the area needs to be improved as there are only a few local hospitals that are massively overworked and understaffed, resulting in long waiting times and sometimes inadequate care and sometimes even misdiagnoses due to stressed and overworked medical staff.
EDUCATION: Education also needs to be improved due to rather low secondary school results in Chifley compared to other areas of Australia.
More focus should also be put towards other educational pathways such as apprenticeships and entering the work force after year 12 rather than heading straight to university
ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT: At the moment there is an ongoing job crisis that is hitting western Sydney particularly hard.
The unemployment is reaching ridiculous levels and a large number of people are forced to take work that is either shift work or casual in nature due to the lack of full-time work opportunities
HOUSING: Sydney has completely unaffordable housing due to an ever-increasing bubble effect.
As such, it’s becoming intensely difficult for first home buyers to enter the housing market and in conjunction with this, rent prices in Sydney are increasing at an exponential rate
4. Brent Robertson — The Greens
HEALTH: The Blacktown Mt Druitt Hospital needs a lot of expansion.
The hospital itself is lacking a lot of facilities — emergency surgery, more staff, more beds, more expansion.
The main focus is the expansion of Mt Druitt Hospital and that will have to do with the needs of the mental health unit and that will mean providing acute beds and subacute beds because all mental hospitals in Sydney are overflowing and can’t cope and are far too small.
Putting a mental health unit on another campus, such as the old Whalan high school site.
EDUCATION: Some of the grounds like Mt Druitt campus are disgraceful and they need manicuring and looking after.
The Mt Druitt campus at Emerton has been like that ever since I’ve been in the area, which is 37 years. It’s disgraceful.
We need more money per student, a better teacher to pupil ratio.
ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE: The roads, some are pathetic, especially Luxford Rd and in the Bidwill and Shalvey areas.
Luxford Rd is the main road and needs to be improved. It needs a complete overhaul. It’s been patched up. but it’s below standard. One of the shopping centres at Hebersham is horribly run-down.
I would get et in touch with the council and push for more facilities for all the big reserves — Popondetta, Whalan, Tregear and other small grounds. They all needs far more shelter and trees for shade.
ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT: Mt Druitt has among the highest youth unemployment rate in Australia, meaning there is very little employment for young kids on Newstart.
There is very little you can do as so many jobs are going overseas, and with computerisation of factories, it is going to get harder and harder.
It is difficult for people in Chifley and all over Australia to access employment because of mechanisation and a booming population.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY: Housing affordability in Chifley, even with public housing, rents are shooting up and the rest of Sydney is unaffordable.
People are spending up to a third of their income on rent and if they were spending less there would be far more money in the pocket to spend on other things.
More public housing and not selling properties off.
5. Livingston Chettipally — Liberal
HEALTH: The Morrison Government is committed to healthcare across the board.
All local hospitals have had significant increases in funding. Australian Government funding for public hospital services in New South Wales has increased by 59 per cent since we came to office (from $4.3 billion in 2012-13 to $6.8 billion in 2019-20).
The GP bulk billing rate in Chifley is 99 per cent. Last year, over 1,522,600 GP visits were bulk billed in Chifley – 192,897 more than Labor’s last year in Government (2012-13).
EDUCATION: Funding for all 39 public schools in Chifley is increasing by around 52 per cent per student over a decade to 2029, while 7182 local families in Chifley are already benefiting from the New Child Care Package.
ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE: The Morrison Government has announced its record $100 billion congestion-busting program for roads and rail can catch up and take the pressure off our cities.
I will ensure Chifley receives its fair share of funding from that program. We also have the Western Sydney North South Rail Package, Sydney to Parkes Fast Rail Business Case as well $2.14 million to Blacktown Council as part of our Roads to Recovery program to help the council repair local roads.
ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT: Improving access to local employment is not just about building infrastructure but about supporting local small and medium businesses.
About 12,000 local small and medium businesses will benefit from tax relief under the Morrison Government. Stronger small businesses mean more jobs.
Chifley’s unemployment rate is estimated at 7.4 per cent — (down from 9.9 per cent when we took office in September 2013).
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY: 7485 Chifley residents invest in a rental house or flat using negative gearing. Labor would abolish negative gearing as we know it and increase capital gains tax by 50 per cent.
Labor’s Housing Tax would reduce property values, push up rents and damage our economy. With the housing market softening, now is the worst time to do this.
6. Ed Husic — Labor
HEALTH: Easy and affordable access to healthcare is important to so many local residents I talk with.
Which is why I pushed so hard to get modern new equipment at Mount Druitt Hospital, like the MRI.
Even when we finally got the MRI installed, we still had to push the Liberal Government to cover the cost of scans via Medicare.
Until we won that community campaign in September last year, residents were faced with being slugged $500 upfront just to get a scan.
Getting our fair share of health funding remains a priority.
EDUCATION: Making sure that our kids are prepared for the jobs of the future is crucial.
Federal Labor will deliver over $24 million in extra funding for local schools and we supported the establishment of a new university campus in Blacktown via $7 million in committed federal funding.
With Google, I’ve also backed the creation of a tech hub at Doonside High that will provide for half a dozen local schools — and nearly 4000 students — the chance to learn about new technology and gain digital skills.
I also believe firmly in the importance to kids health and sense of community to be involved in sport.
That’s why I was proud to recently announce that a Shorten Labor Government will invest nearly $1.5 million in upgrades to support the expansion of cricket at Whalan Reserve and the resurfacing of courts at Popondetta Park to benefit the Mount Druitt Netball Association.
TRANSPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE: Making it easier for Chifley residents to get to work and home again is a big deal for me.
This week we announced $50 million to progress planning for the next big motorway — the M9 — which will sit east of the M7 and ensure our infrastructure keeps pace with residential growth.
This will also be important in helping open up new economic corridors to create jobs, just as the M7 has helped the growth of the Sydney Business Park that is churning out roughly 60,000 direct and indirect jobs around Marsden Park.
I’ve also successfully lobbied for Blacktown Council to be included in the Western Sydney City Deal — and a Shorten Labor Government has committed to that today, providing extra support to our local council to better plan for our area’s growth.
Federal Labor has committed funds to support the development of new major parking stations at Quakers Hill and Schofields railway stations — making it easier to use public transport.
I won’t rest till we get lifts installed at Doonside railway station. It’s an outrage they haven’t been installed, which is why I have formally complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission on behalf of disabled passengers unable to access the station.
TECHNOLOGY: I continue to speak up for residents wanting access to a modern broadband network.
Through my community forums and local action we’re working to improve broadband speeds in our area.
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