With only one day until the budget reply speech to Parliament, they are calling on the Coalition to use this unique opportunity to make clear their plans for Canberra.

The Coalition has already proposed a number of cuts that would hurt local workers and families, including:

•  At least 20,000 jobs from the public service in Canberra
• Household assistance payments typically worth over $1000 a year to local families
• The School Kids Bonus – used by 14,000 local families in our electorate
• The Instant Asset Write Off that 34,100 of small businesses in our electorate are eligible to use if they purchase new equipment
• The re-introduction of a 15% superannuation tax on 46,500 of Canberra workers earning below $37,000.  This is worth up to $500 a year to their retirement savings.
• Labor’s fibre to the home NBN now confirmed for roll out in the suburbs of the Inner North and Gungahlin, and the whole of Canberra within 3 years.  The Coalition will make people pay up to $5,000 to get optic fibre all the way to the premises

Given the Coalition’s track record, ACT Labor representatives are concerned the Coalition may also cut:

• The Income Support Bonus payments going to 9321 people in Canberra.  Payments of $210 per year for singles, and $350 to couples – the next payments are scheduled for a week after the election.  The Coalition voted against this cost-of-living help only a few months ago in Parliament.
• The Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme that supports workers who would otherwise lose entitlements if their employer goes bankrupt or into liquidation. Since 2007, 829 local workers have received $8,699,566.73 in entitlements under this scheme

If these concerns about possible cuts are unfounded, then Tony Abbott should use his Budget reply on Thursday to make absolutely clear that he will not take the axe to these programs if elected.

If Tony Abbott is going to be honest and upfront with our community, he needs to assure us that important help for local families and communities won’t face the axe.

If he is not prepared to give that assurance, then he must clarify what is on the chopping block.

Canberra deserves detailed candour in Thursday evening’s budget reply so voters can make an informed choice on 14 September.

Labor have been absolutely clear about our future investment and spending plans – it is there for all to see in Tuesday’s budget.

Media Contact:

Courtney Sloane 0407 905 709 (Leigh)

Madeleine Firth 0422 664 772 (Brodtmann)

Angie Drake 0408 092 016 (Lundy

Meeting with some of the participants of the Settlement Grants Program information session held at the Woden Community Service

It was a pleasure to visit the Woden Community Service (WCS) and meet some of our newest Canberrans.  The Settlement Grants Program (SGP) which has provided a further $270,000 to the WCS to continue to provide this program, is targeted to meet the settlement needs of recently arrived  humanitarian migrants and family stream migrants, as well as dependents of skilled migrants in rural or regional areas with low level english proficiency.

Today’s session which was delivered by the ACT Police, was designed to allow members of the community to meet with other people and ask questions about the role of the police, neighbourhood watch, drinking and driving, our court system and crime prevention.

Clients are also assisted in finding stable accommodation, employment, training and education services, family support, financial stability and community interaction. SGP workers at WCS provide services such as referrals, advocacy, information and casework services to eligible clients.

• National Museum of Sport – A Stand Against Racism 
• Racism. It Stops with me
• Play by the rules

Photograph: Senator Kate Lundy, Noel Hamey of CPSISC, and Sam Sheppard, Owner of Buildmore Group who built the women-only construction project on the Sunshine Coast.

I was pleased to welcome a group of dedicated individuals and organisations involved with the National Association for Women in Construction (NAWIC – of which I am Patron) to my Canberra office this week to provide me with an update on how their work has been progressing, and to present me with a wonderful memento from the Women in Construction project which was completed recently on the
Sunshine Coast.

NAWIC seeks to unite women actively involved in the various areas of the construction industry for their mutual benefit. It also seeks to  promote co-operation, fellowship, education; to contribute to the betterment of the construction industry; to encourage women to pursue and establish careers in construction; and to provide members with an awareness of issues relating to the industry. NAWIC is a great organisation which garners support from a number of other, just as worthy organisations who also support women and construction opportunities – such as the Master Builders Association (MBA), the Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council (CPSISC) and the Buildmore Group, to name a few.

Sam Sheppard (pictured with me in the photo below) is the Managing Director of Buildmore Group and she managed the Sunshine Coast project which saw the construction of a women-only home (visit her website to see pictures of the finished project – http://www.buildmoregroup.com.au

My shirt (as pictured) adorns the signatures of every tradesperson (all women) who worked on the Sunshine Coast house. Well done and thanks to everyone who was involved this wonderful project!

There are so many organisations, both locally and nationally that support women in construction – those who are either moving into construction as a career choice, or who want to move into other related blue-collar industries, or by supporting their training and development for career progression.  If you want to know more about pursuing a career in the building industry you can visit a new website which has been set up by the CPSISC –  http://www.constructmycareer.com.au/.

Did you know…..

A recent survey undertaken by NAWIC has cited, that as a guide, the Australian Government’s Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) states that female employees represent 11.8 per cent of the construction workforce[i], while Engineers Australia reports that more than 10 per cent of its members are female[ii].

More information about NAWIC can be found by visiting www.nawic.com.au

Dr David Headon, Peter Barclay (of King O'Malley fame) and myself inspect the three golden trowels

A couple of Fridays ago, I felt so lucky to be part of a very special Canberra Centenary year event: the re-uniting, for the first time in just over 100 years, of the three ‘golden trowels’ used at the city’s Foundation Stones/Naming ceremonies on 12 March 1913.  The trowels— genuine working trowels on the day back then, and all individually inscribed to their future owners—were wielded with great enthusiasm by the  Governor-General Thomas Denman, outstanding Labor Prime Minister Andrew Fisher and his Minister for Home Affairs, the ‘legendary’ King O’Malley.

Courtesy of the forensic research efforts of my Adviser on national capital issues, Dr David Headon (who spends the other half of his week as the Centenary of Canberra’s History and Heritage Adviser), and his researcher, Barbara Coe, the ‘missing’ two trowels of Tom and Andy were miraculously located—Fisher’s in a private collection in Sydney, and Denman’s in England.

The trowel detective triumph had terrific collateral benefits as well, for it was the catalyst for no less than seven Denman/Burrell family members coming to Canberra in the big March week, including the Lord Richard Denman and Lady Jane Denman. Their presence was a real bonus for a huge few celebration days.

Those of us present at the magical National Library gathering were obviously expecting the heavens to open in some sort of Indiana Jones
apocalyptic light show moment.  It didn’t happen, but with the three trowels still in Canberra, expect the unexpected. Given the extraordinary activities already this year, anything is possible.

What a memorable year for our city this is turning out to be.

Dr Dave Headon explains the obstacles in the reuniting of the three trowelsInspecting one of the trowels with Peter Barclay (or King O'Malley's)

Me and some of the children at Spence Children’s Cottage

This week, I took a morning to visit three Canberra childcare centres – Nicholls Early Childhood Centre, Spence Children’s Cottage and  Baringa Childcare Centre where I was welcomed with smiles and song (in some cases), and lots of chatter and fun.

I wanted to go and visit some of these local centres to talk about the additional $300 million Early Years Quality Fund investment announced recently by the Federal Government. The Fund will allow eligible services to apply for grants to improve quality outcomes for children.  It was also an opportunity to talk to some of the younger staff members and tell them about the history of this campaign, where my involvement started back in 1996 and how far we had come.

The visit to Baringa also coincided with the commencement of consultation between the centre operators and educators on enterprise agreements which will ensure the funding will be distributed to employees in accordance with the Fund’s aim of delivering professional wages in the sector.

Improved wages will start arriving in educators’ pay packets from July 1 this year. Judy Small, Director of Baringa hopes to be the amongst the first to receive a share of this new funding and said that it was important that her educators were looked after.  For too long they have worked for sub-standard wages and now it was their turn to receive some just compensation for the work that they do. This has to be good news for Canberra families because it will greatly assist childcare services to attract and retain the qualified, professional educators they need to continue to provide quality childcare for children.

I feel really priveleged to have been involved in this campaign which has consistently fought for a better deal for early childhood and care educators. A campaign such as BigSteps has only been possible with the kind of dedication and foresight of all of those involved –  I would like to congratulate the educators, United Voice who ran the BigSteps Campaign so well (and continue to do so), and the parents who made it a point to ensure they were involved in this campaign from beginning to where it is today. I would also like to thank Yvette Berry, now a Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly - but someone who played an integral role for many years as the Organiser who kept plugging away at this issue – well done Yvette.

Assembly Member Yvette Berry, Baringa Director Judy Small and myself

Judy, myself, Tess (parent) and Betty (educator) with Tess's two babes

Today is a day to celebrate the contributions and achievements of women, in particular migrant women have not only made in Australia but around the world.

The United Nations theme for International Women’s Day this year is a promise: time for action to end violence against women.

While this is a particularly important year for the United States as they commemorate 100 years since over 5,000 women marched in Washington for voting rights, it was not until seven years later in 1920 that this occurred. Australia was, as most of you are aware, much more progressive on this issue, as we celebrated the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote in 2002.

The exhibition and lunch I attended today was an opportunity to highlight the many untold stories, thoughts, feelings and beliefs of women in our community and around the world.

We know the contribution of women from a migrant background, in particular, is significant. Often coming to Australia fleeing persecution and the devastation of war, their commitment to giving back to the Australian community is profound.

Professor Graeme Hugo’s research commissioned by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship entitled “The Economic, Social and Civic Contributions of First and Second Generation Humanitarian Entrants” also found that more humanitarian entrant women tended to be entrepreneurs than Australia-born women, and that these women were more inclined to target niche markets and mentor others.

The research further suggests that many of these entrants were entrepreneurs before they were forced to relocate and hence brought business skills with them to Australia.

The Gillard Labor Government is proudly continuing Labor’s long legacy of reform to advance the status of women.

We developed the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children with over $86 million already committed to initiatives in the Plan, including funding the 1800RESPECT hotline and website for domestic violence victims and award-winning ‘The Line’ social media campaign encouraging respectful relationships.

We strengthened the Sex Discrimination Act.

Significant investments have been made in housing, with a focus on assisting vulnerable households to access safe and secure housing.

We delivered on our commitment to implement a new National Women’s Health Policy.

We also have a suite of measures to recognise and support marginalised women, including Indigenous women and women with a disability.

In addition to these investments, the 2012 Women’s Statement launched earlier this year by the Prime Minister and Minister Julie Collins sets out our significant reform agenda, aimed firmly at gender equality and building a stronger and fairer Australia.

Late last year the Prime Minister also announced that the Government would instigate an education and awareness campaign, begin new research and data collection and start a review of the current legal framework in Australia in an effort to stop the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation in this country.

The Government has also introduced legislation into the parliament to allow women fleeing honour killings to be able to get refugee visas. The laws will enable the speedier granting of protection visas to those who cannot be returned to their country of origin but who do not fall under the United Nations Refugee Convention.

This legislation will build on the Woman at Risk visa class for female applicants and their dependants who are subject to persecution or are people of concern to the UNHCR. These people are living outside their home country without the protection of a male relative and are in danger of victimisation, harassment or serious abuse because of their gender. This subclass recognises the priority given by the UNHCR to the protection of refugee women who are in particularly vulnerable situations.

Today the Prime Minister also announced a new Australian Government Anti-Slavery Initiative, which seeks to eliminate modern slavery in Australia and overseas.

It is a whole-of-government strategy that seeks to improve procurement arrangements by Government. Specifically, the strategy identifies slavery as an important issue when considering the ethical behaviour of suppliers, issuing revised procurement guidance to reinforce the need for specific actions or behaviours to eliminate the chances of slavery being used in supply chains and strengthening training and development arrangements for Commonwealth procurement officers to reinforce specific legal and policy requirements, including reporting of breaches of policy.

The Labor Government has delivered, and will continue to deliver, practical and tangible reforms to help women in this country reach their potential, and will continue to work for real and positive outcomes for women in Australia.

Happy International Women’s Day!

The offensive rants that have been heard from the mouths of members of the federal Liberal opposition in the last few days seek to undermine Australia’s multicultural society, which we are very proud to have.

Some members of the federal Liberals are suggesting people who are new to our community should be monitored like criminals, with no natural justice principles, and people who might not speak or look they way the rest of us do should have their presence ‘reported’.

For example, Liberal Senator Abetz suggests that if you want a cohesive society, the Government should alert the police of when someone moves next door and has problems with their English, or has come from a background of hardship. To Senator Abetz this is, as he stated, a “good idea”.

These “ideas” do nothing but create mistrust and division in our society. We are an inclusive society that has benefitted greatly from migration for generations. Tony Abbott’s Liberals are now shamefully seeking to cause fear and unrest in the community by exploiting an isolated incident, which is now before the courts.

The Opposition Spokesperson for Immigration, Scott Morrison, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Eric Abetz, insist on driving a divisive wedge into the Australian community.

Rather than tackling the big policy challenges, we yet again see perpetual negativity and inflammatory, divisive comments coming from the Liberal Party under Tony Abbott.

In contrast, Labor values are of democratic freedom, rights, responsibilities and mutual respect for others. The Gillard Labor Government is committed to a socially inclusive society and this is reflected in our multicultural policy.

Labor believes in the strengths our multicultural character offers all Australians and that investing in the successful settlement of migrants and humanitarian entrants is both wise and smart: morally, socially and economically.

The Federal Labor Government’s Multicultural Policy acknowledges and celebrates the benefits that a diverse community brings. It is important to remember that Australia has settled millions of people from almost every corner of the globe, and in doing so we have maintained a socially cohesive society. This has kept our economy growing and made us culturally rich and dynamic.

Our approach to multiculturalism has been built over many years. It has been underpinned by practical settlement strategies – including migrant resource centres, multicultural youth organisations, English tuition and cultural orientation programs.

As a Labor Government we want our Australia to be based on participation and inclusion. Our country benefits from policies and programs that capture and harness our diversity.

The Liberals have a proven track record of inability when it comes to securing jobs in Canberra. Rather than all the attention being on the Liberal party factional pre-selection war, its time they both came clean on what a Tony Abbott-led Government has planned regarding job cuts in Canberra.

Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and their colleagues have all been throwing figures about, some saying 12,000, and some saying 20,000 regarding public service job cuts. Whatever the figure might be, Gary Humphries himself has suggested Canberra is going to be facing ‘very heavy pressures’. Senator Humphries has gone onto say that his position on the opposition front bench and his closeness to other future ministers might serve to protect Canberra from the severity of their planned cuts for Canberra.

This suggests two things: firstly, that Senator Humphries doesn’t think Zed Seselja can protect Canberra jobs as well as he himself might. Hence by definition, it warns of the storm that is coming to Canberra under a Liberal Government.

Both Humphries and Seselja need to let Canberrans know exactly how many jobs are on the chopping block for our city.
History has proven that it really doesn’t matter who runs as the Liberal Senate candidate in Canberra, the axe will always fall when there is a Liberal Prime Minister.

If we cast our minds back to 96/98 when Liberal Senator Margaret Reid represented the ACT under a John Howard led Government, we can see history in action . Even with her position of seniority, (Senator Reid was later elected the first female President of the Senate) she was incapable of intervening with any effect as job after job was axed by her party in Government.

What’s worse, is the Howard Government went into the 1996 election promising to axe 2,500 public service jobs. What actually happened was the single biggest betrayal to the people of the ACT ever by a Federal Government when some 32,400 public servants were sacked from 1996-1998. All Senator Reid could do was to sit back and watch as the Canberra public service was butchered by her Liberal Government.

We must not forget the fall out for the ACT economy – the great financial pain to our region, both in the public and private sectors. People were pessimistic and the air of gloom was felt across the board. There was a slump in the housing market for years. Many people were forced to sell their home well below the value and were financially ruined. The ACT was placed in a recession, and the Liberal Party’s finger prints were all over it.

So whether the figure of jobs to be slashed stands at 12,000 or 20,000, neither Seselja nor Humphries will be able to shelter Canberra from the storm which is coming.

Tony Abbott has his crosshairs locked on Canberra jobs and the Canberra Liberals – whether it be Humphries or Seselja – won’t be able to do a thing about it. Neither deserve to be rewarded with your vote.