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13533 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Wednesday 8 December 2004 ______ Mr Speaker (The Hon. John Joseph Aquilina) took the chair at 10.00 a.m. Mr Speaker offered the Prayer. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Inaugural Speech Motion by Mr Carl Scully agreed to: That the first item of business be the inaugural speech by the honourable member for Dubbo. INAUGURAL SPEECH Mrs DAWN FARDELL (Dubbo) [10.00 a.m.] (Inaugural Speech): This moment cannot help but be tinged with sadness. I stand here today in the same Chamber where almost two months earlier members farewelled the much-loved Independent member for Dubbo, Tony McGrane. I do not pretend to replace Tony but I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity to carry on his legacy and that his heartfelt wish for the seat to remain Independent has been granted by the people. Be assured that I take this responsibility very seriously—all the more because I knew the person from whose hands the baton has passed. His commitment remains a shining example both now and in the future. No doubt Tony's sudden and tragic death is being felt more keenly through these tough times. We are in the grip of a savage drought, swarms of locusts have decimated crops and last week bushfires swept over 8,000 hectares of farmland around Alectown and Parkes. More than 900 head of stock was destroyed in what some are calling the district's worst fires in almost 80 years. Hardship can be a constant companion in these parts. Yet it would be wrong to suggest our communities are easily trampled by calamity; I am constantly astounded by their resilience and resourcefulness. Within Parkes, Narromine, Wellington, Dubbo and all the towns and villages in between, abides an unquenchable determination to "get ahead". All that is required is the support of forward-thinking State and Federal Governments. For without vibrant rural communities the future prosperity of the whole nation is jeopardised. Having lived both east and west of the sandstone curtain there is one thing I know: we are all in this together. Thankfully our area can boast some recent wins. Last week came the long-awaited announcement of a $10 million police station in Dubbo and $200,000 for an Aboriginal security service. Finally, the way has been cleared for the $3 million Police and Community Youth Clubs [PCYC] redevelopment. The health Minister has confirmed a new hospital will be built in Parkes—a tribute to the unrelenting efforts of the community, Mayor Robert Wilson, the health council and local media. Main Road 354, which runs between Narromine and Tullamore, has received an extra $200,000 in funding and has been renamed McGrane Way—an acknowledgement of Tony's work with the local community and roads Minister Carl Scully. I thank the Minister for his continuing interest in this project and will encourage him—often—to stick with it. I shall soon be knocking on his door over another matter of equal gravity: Main Road 353 in the Wellington Shire. That has been in desperate need of upgrading for some 50 years. Lest other Ministers think they are off the hook, my list is long. It includes, but is not limited to, commitments to passenger and freight rail, improved water supply, better youth facilities, and decentralised Government departments to boost jobs and take the pressure off a State capital bursting at the seams. I have already met with the mayors of the electorate and will continue to hold monthly talks so that the needs of their communities are continually brought before the Government. Let me say it is a great honour to raise these matters in the oldest Parliament in Australia, a building steeped in history and tradition, and yet fitted with all the mod cons of our age such as airconditioning. We might wonder how we ever got on without it. Indeed, it is in stark contrast to the boiler-room conditions experienced in many classrooms at Parkes High School, about 360 kilometres west of here. Unlike the members of Parliament, students and teachers at the school are forced to work in temperatures hovering between 34 and 13534 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 8 December 2004 42 degrees. The lunchtime quadrangle can settle to a stifling 39 degrees in the shade. If students suffer heat stress, and some do, they can be carted off to the sick bay, which, because it is an administration area, is not airconditioned at all. Most members will recall Tuesday last week—a corker of a summer day if you happened to be bodysurfing off Bondi. In the physical education staffroom at Parkes High School it was 40 degrees. At the current rate it could take years to completely aircondition the school, and I urge the Government to fast track the program for the sake of our young people and teachers. The person that stands before you today is somewhat changed. During the frantic three-week campaign I lost six kilograms. I walked much of it off in shopping malls, street meets, market days and climbing in and out of a minibus that took my team around an electorate covering 16,454 square kilometres. I have taken a load off physically but I am conscious of the great weight of responsibility that follows my election. Two issues stand out at this time: health and law and order. Let me tell the House how these issues affect real people. Recently I spoke with a man nearly 80 years of age who has cataracts on both eyes. He lives in a rural town with an invalid wife he cares for and a brother in a nursing home whom he visits regularly. At the moment he must rely on the goodwill of others to transport him around. His driver's licence comes up for renewal in a matter of weeks. Much depends on an eye operation, and he has already been waiting 12 months. As a pensioner he cannot afford the $3,000 to go privately and at last count the operation had been cancelled twice at the local base hospital. Another woman I spoke with has been placed on morphine while she awaits a hip replacement, which is likely to take place at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, hundreds of kilometres from family and friends. A survey by the Australian Medical Association suggests the region is facing more serious shortages as specialists retire and are not replaced. Unless governments get serious about regional health services many small communities will be emptied and an even greater burden will be placed on Sydney's struggling hospital system. Once again, I am heartened to see our communities taking a proactive approach to their health needs. In the Trundle Cafe we came across a petition calling for the appointment of a nurse practitioner to strengthen the community's health services, particularly at a time when they no longer have a doctor. I have already raised the matter with the health Minister and the petition was tabled yesterday. Crime in the region is a constant concern, but innovative programs are making inroads. The Police and Community Youth Club [PCYC] before school breakfast program, which I am involved in, is combating school truancy rates. One student's absences have been reduced from 92 days in 2003 to 19 this year. Support is also needed for the establishment of a "withdrawal room" at schools where students can be taught education rather than be suspended from school for bad behaviour. On the other side of the coin a cluster of businesses in Dubbo has developed their own crime response strategy to tackle theft. The Aboriginal Employment Strategy [AES] has had remarkable success since opening in Dubbo nine months ago, placing more than 120 Aboriginal people in jobs. AES manager, Peter Gibbs, has also shared with me an exciting proposal to encourage more indigenous young people into the police force by establishing a local training base. It is a sad fact that many rural towns with significant Aboriginal populations have not a single indigenous officer in their ranks. Mr Gibbs's vision, which I share, would utilise the existing facilities at the Charles Sturt University campus and the new multilevel police station. These are the kind of innovative programs that will make our region great, if our governments will only support them. On a more personal note, it is often said that Balmain boys do not cry—well Balmain girls are pretty hardy too. I was born in that suburb and grew up in the western suburb of Panania. Mr Alan Ashton: Hear! Hear! Mrs DAWN FARDELL: Thank you. It was a good life filled with love and care, but few luxuries: My love always to my mother, Dot Erwin, and to my father, who passed away in June 2003. I was among the first group of women executives appointed by the Commonwealth Bank, only the third female deputy mayor elected in Dubbo, and the first female MP for the State seat. In that sense it has been a pioneering life. My husband, Leo, has been a great source of inspiration. He left school when he was 12 and went on to build a prosperous earth-moving business. Throughout the campaign, he was a constant comfort and support. The hour was never too late or too early for a scotch and for a campaign debriefing. If only the State Government could legislate a Leo in everyone's life—he is a great support. To our three wonderful children—Jane, Alan and Veronica—who handed out leaflets, answered phones, painted signs, manned polling booths, fed and watered the volunteers and bought the biggest chocolate cake I have ever seen, you are my heroes.