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28 September 2007 - Media ReleaseCanberra Schools to Bring the Kitchen to the ClassroomAnnette Ellis MP, Member for Canberra joined with ACT Senator Kate Lundy today to invite primary schools in the ACT to register their interest in becoming part of Labor’s Kitchen Garden Program with Stephanie Alexander. “The Kitchen Garden Program tackles childhood obesity by getting children growing their own vegetables, cooking and learning about food as part of the school curriculum”, Ms Ellis said. Ms Ellis and Senator Lundy were presenting the book on which the program is based, “Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids” to the Hughes Primary School. Established by renowned restaurateur Stephanie Alexander the Kitchen Garden Program is currently running in a number of Victorian primary schools. Annette Ellis is inviting local schools to register their interest in being part of the program. “Labor will fund 190 primary schools across Australia and I am keen for my local schools to have a chance to be part of this exciting project that introduces kids to great food in a fun setting,” Ms Ellis said. Annette Ellis explained that schools can apply to the program which will provide up to $60,000 to establish kitchen and garden facilities at the school, plus curriculum support through the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation. “The Kitchen Garden Program helps tackle the rising trend in childhood obesity by getting children to grow, cook and eat healthy food at school” said Senator Kate Lundy “As Shadow Minister for Health Promotion, parents are always telling me that they are looking for ways to encourage healthy eating habits. “This innovative program combines physical activity and learning about the environment with healthy eating and adventurous cooking in the kitchen,” Senator Lundy said. “Labor’s Kitchen Garden program makes healthy eating fun for children. They are proud of growing and preparing food for each other,” Senator Lundy said. “Some schools in the ACT, such as Hughes Primary School, already have a vegie garden, but this program may allow these schools to extend their programs further,” ACT Education Minister Andrew Barr said. “Doing this all within a school program is a method that children respond to,” Minister Barr said. “Let’s get this project cooking in Canberra!” Annette Ellis urged. Any parent, principal or teacher who is interested in establishing the program in their school can contact the offices of Annette Ellis, Bob McMullan or Senator Lundy for more information. Media contacts: Ashley Musgrove (Ellis) on 0419 02 0419 and Rachel Allen (Lundy) on 0418 488 295
28 September 2007 - Media ReleaseSupporting Local Sporting ChampionsJoint statement Kevin Rudd MP Federal
Labor Leader
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 | postnatal depression; |
| the high rate of caesarean births in Australia; |
| the gap in health outcomes and services for non-Indigenous mothers and babies; |
| poor rates of breastfeeding; and |
| the lack of birth care options in many places in Australia. |
Federal Labor is strongly committed to improving maternity services:
| we understand how important it is that women not only have a range of birthing services available in their communities, but also that women are provided with information about the options open to them; |
| we appreciate the valuable role played by midwives in the delivery of maternal and child care services; and |
| we recognise that midwives often do not receive the professional recognition they deserve, and that they are often restricted in their ability to practise as primary carers and provide continuity of care to women. |
Labor believes that a range of initiatives are required to improve the delivery of maternal and child health services.
Federal Labor is committed to:
| Improving health outcomes for Indigenous mums and their babies, through our $260 million Indigenous early childhood package, which has a particular focus on greater investment in child and maternal health services including home visiting; |
| Improving health services, including maternity services, for rural communities through the next Australian Health Care Agreements; |
| Reviewing the Medicare Schedule to include midwives in the provision of maternity care and to facilitate the expansion of midwife-led care; and |
| Developing a national maternity services plan to ensure national coordination of maternal services. |
Federal Labor is also strongly committed to promoting the value of breastfeeding and improving breastfeeding rates amongst mothers.
According to last week's House of Representatives Committee on Health and Ageing report, breastfeeding rates in Australia fall well short of the levels recommended by the World Health Organisation and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Labor will closely examine the recommendations of this report and work with state and territory governments to implement them.
Labor understands that providing quality care for mothers and newborns is the key to giving children the best start in life and midwives can play a central role in ensuring this is provided.
Contact: Rachel Allen 0418 488 295
Skilled Stadium will receive a $20m boost for a much needed upgrade as a result of a joint partnership between a Rudd Labor Government and the Victorian Labor Government.
Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister for Sport, Recreation, Health Promotion and Local Government, Darren Cheeseman, Federal Labor Candidate for Corangamite and Richard Marles, Federal Labor Candidate for Corio joined with Victorian Premier John Brumby and State Labor MP’s at Kardinia Park to make the announcement today.
At the joint announcement at Skilled Stadium, Senator Lundy announced that a Rudd Labor Government will contribute $14 million, and Victorian Premier John Brumby announced the State contribution of $6 million.
The funding will:
| Increase the capacity of Ross Drew Stand by 3,500 (increasing overall capacity of Skilled Stadium to over 30,000); |
| Improve amenities and accessibility; |
| Expand high performance gymnasium – which will also be used by local elite athletes; and |
| New administration and corporate facilities. |
Labor knows how important it is to work cooperatively with the three spheres of Government to provide the infrastructure that communities need. This is another example of what can be achieved in partnership,” Senator Lundy said.
"This upgrade will ensure that the region can watch live sport and entertainment in a high quality venue”, Richard Marles said."A stadium of national standard in regional Australia is something that the Geelong community can really be proud of."
“In weeks like this week you really see how important the Cats are in our community. This commitment will allow the club membership to continue to grow,” Darren Cheeseman said.
Also today, Senator Lundy and Darren Cheeseman announced that a Rudd Labor Government will make a contribution of up to $70,000 to South Barwon Football and Netball Club for a much needed lighting upgrade.
Contact: Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059
This week the ACT Liberal Senator distributed deliberately misleading political material to Gungahlin residents regarding Labor’s plan for a National Broadband Network.
The material distributed by the Liberal party shows no understanding of the specific difficulties Gungahlin residents have been faced with when trying to access broadband, including the limits on the number of broadband (ADSL) services that can be provided through "RIMs" and the ongoing problem of waiting lists.
In my recent Gungahlin Broadband Survey, 74 per cent of respondents reported that they are not satisfied with the broadband speeds currently available to them. Further, 64.4 per cent of respondents could only access speeds of up to 512kbps. This falls well short of Labor’s 12mbps guarantee.
For the past 11 years the Howard Government has sat on its hands and failed to improve broadband access for many Canberrans, including Gungahlin residents .
Now just weeks before the election, the Howard Government decides to pay misleading lip service to the needs of home-based business and residential users of broadband services. This is insulting to the people who have been tearing their hair out with frustration about lack of quality, affordable broadband for years.
In contrast, Labor’s fibre to the node network will finally fix Gungahlin residents broadband woes.
Labor’s National Broadband Network will:
| Provide fibre to the node access to 98% of Australians that will have deliver minimum speeds of 12 mbps; |
| Provide a standard of service that is as close as possible to that offered by the new network to the remaining 2% of Australians; |
| Give Australians in rural and regional Australia access to the best technologies available, unlike the Governments plan to deliver a two-tiered system where only those in the big cities will have access to fibre to node technology; |
| Keep existing satellite subsidies, to ensure underserved areas receive broadband services. |
Fora more detailed analysis of Labor’s broadband plan and how the Liberals have tried to deceive Gungahlin residents follow this link: http://www.katelundy.com.au/truthaboutbroadband.htm
Contact: Rachel Allen 0418 488 295
The NCA's latest publicity stunt claiming they will explore National Heritage Listing for all of Canberra is confusing and inconsistent with their recent efforts to dramatically alter the Albert hall precinct.
It is unclear whether the proposal is to list all of Canberra, designated areas as defined under the National Capital Plan (NCP) or just the parliamentary triangle.
It is also unclear what the impact would be with respect to the process for proposed amendments to the National Capital Plan. If it applies to designated areas, then all the main roads in Canberra could be covered.
The NCA further confused the matter when they described on ABC radio that the heritage listing will cover the preserved open space described as “hills ridges and buffers” in the NCP.
This is complete hypocrisy because it was the NCA that went to great lengths to insist the route of the Gungahlin Drive Extension DID encroach on the very areas they are now saying ought to be heritage listed.
Another example is the NCA's proposed changes to the Albert Hall and surrounding area. These have been disputed by the ACT Heritage Council and are now the subject of a series of community consultations following a public partial back-down by the NCA.
With these proposals now on the table what is the status of these consultations that the community is engaged with in good faith?
The Stanhope Government has indicated it’s support the Albert Hall to be listed on the National Heritage List but the NCA has remained silent on this.
This half-baked public announcement will cause significant confusion about not just the Albert Hall, but also the Griffin Legacy and leaves the NCA vulnerable to more accusations of it being yet another publicity stunt aimed at improving their poor image.
Contact: Meg Martin 0422 409 614
The failure of our quarantine system under the Howard Government has pushed many equestrian sports enthusiasts to the limit.
Kerry O'Brien and Kate Lundy share concerns that EI will have long-term consequences to Australia's equestrian industries and may affect Australia's equestrian team in the lead up to the 2008 Olympics.
Yesterday was to be the start of the now cancelled Sydney International Three-Day Event.
The events Director, Rose Read, described the event as 'an important stepping stone for individual riders and horses qualifying for the 2008 Olympics'.
There is now the possibility that Australia will field an equestrian team to the Olympics made up solely of overseas-based competitors.
Nationally the equestrian sport has an estimated economic impact of one billion dollars, with more than 70,000 horses and 17,500 participants registered with the Equestrian Federation of Australia alone.
Equestrian participants in NSW and much of Qld have been devastated by the outbreak of EI.
Equestrian Federation of Australia NSW CEO, Wendy Cohen, said 'We have farriers, dentists, riding schools, trainers, coaches and none of these people at the moment can work'.
Even after the all clear is given it will take months for the sport to recover.
It is to the Howard Government's shame that such a significant sport in Australia, and potential gold medals at the Olympics, have been put at threat by the failure of our quarantine system."
Contact: Kerry O'Brien 0419 007 780, Martin Breen (O'Brien) 0407 435 624, Taryn Langdon (Lundy) 0417 148 059
Senator Kate Lundy has condemned Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile for his hypocrisy on constitutional recognition of local government.
Today Mr Vaile reportedly told a local government conference in Queensland that he supported constitutional recognition.
What he needs to do now is explain why he joined Coalition Members who voted against constitutional recognition in the House of Representatives on 17 October last year.
While he is at it, Mr Vaile should explain why Coalition Senators, including National Party Senators from Queensland, voted against constitutional recognition in the Senate just yesterday.
The National Party has long been famous for acting as a lion in the electorate and a sheep in the Parliament.
But Mr Vaile's hypocrisy today takes this behaviour to new lows.
Contact: Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059
For the second time in 12 months Liberal and National Party Senators have opposed a Labor move to support Constitutional recognition of local government.
The latest expression of opposition came during debate on the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Democratic Plebiscites) Bill 2007 - a bill that enjoys bipartisan support.
Shadow Minister for Local Government, Senator Kate Lundy, said that Federal Labor considers local government an important partner in the extension of cooperative federalism across all three spheres of government.
Local government provides essential services for the Australian people and is central to the life of many local communities.
Unlike the Coalition, Labor believes local government should be recognised in our Constitution.
Senator Lundy told the Senate that a number of Coalition Senators had travelled around Queensland over the past several weeks claiming to support Constitutional recognition and called on them to support Labor's move.
Queensland National and Liberal Party Senators were among Coalition Senators who opposed Constitutional recognition today.
Senator Lundy said she was disappointed Coalition Senators had again missed the opportunity to support Constitutional recognition for local government and asked them to reconsider their position.
Debate on the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Democratic Plebiscites) Bill 2007 is likely to continue next week.
Contact: Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059
The Howard Government is under attack for their negligence of sport infrastructure.
Today, 11 key sports joined the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), the Confederation of Australian Sport, and the National Growth Areas Alliance in calling for an investment in community infrastructure.
Senator Brandis should be embarrassed that his Government has had 11 years to deal with the decline in social and community facilities, such as sport and recreation infrastructure and has not acted.
The Howard Government announced 38 specific sports facility grants during the 2004 election campaign. The overwhelming majority of these grants were in marginal Liberal seats, a staggering 22 grants were shared between only two marginal Liberal seats.
Mr Howard has had 11 years to act and has failed to provide sporting clubs with any criteria, process or program to apply for this type of funding.
The facts are that the burden of cost-shifting, ageing and drought affected social infrastructure is too much for many local governments to bear. Our communities have suffered as a result of Howard Government neglect in this important area over 11 years.
Social and recreational facilities are a critical part of community life - and only Labor is serious about addressing their needs.
Contact: Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059
Federal Labor is opposed to forced local government amalgamations anywhere in Australia, including the Northern Territory.
We believe there are other ways other than forced amalgamations to achieve economic and financial efficiencies, including more effective working relationships between local governments.
Federal Labor believes all proposals for forced amalgamations should be tested through the democratic process of a local plebiscite.
Local democracy is important.
That's why Northern Territorians will welcome the opportunity to cast a vote in the upcoming federal election on the CLP's support for nuclear power plants and nuclear waste dumps in the Territory.
Contact: Walt Secord 0412 234 827 or Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059
Back on November 14, 2005, I issued a statement expressing grave concern about the conduct of a number of departments plans to prevent or revoke leave for public servants planning to attend a union day of protest. (See attached)
Today it has been reported that the Federal Court have determined that in advising federal departments, the Department of Employment & Workplace Relations acted in a party political manner and denied employees freedom of association when they refused them leave to attend the National Day of Protest.
I welcome this decision by the Federal Court as it vindicates the concern and frustration expressed to me at the time by public servants feeling as though their rights as citizens were being oppressed. It was conveyed to me at the time that many public servants who did choose to attend were made to feel very uncomfortable by management.
The hypocrisy of the Howard Government is there for all to see as there is no talk of the Howard Government penalising its own political minions for this breach of their work place laws.
I call on the Howard Government to rule out an appeal immediately and admit they required senior public servants to act in a party political way in breach of the public service code of ethics.
Follow this link to find my first medial release on this issue: 14 November 2005 - Howard Government uses threats and bullying to sabotage community IR protest
Contact: Rachel Allen – 0418 488 295 or 02 6230 0411
A Rudd Labor Government will provide $2.8 million over five years to roll out RecLink programs across Australia.
RecLink is the highly successful organiser behind the Choir of Hard Knocks, a choir of 50 homeless people based in Melbourne which captured the hearts and minds of millions of Australians in an ABC documentary earlier this year.
The choir is one of 30 sport and cultural programs RecLink provides in Melbourne to improve the lives and opportunities of Australians suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, social disconnect and homelessness.
Today, Labor's Shadow Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek MP, Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister for Sport, Recreation and Health Promotion, and Bill Shorten, Federal Labor Candidate for Maribyrnong attended the RecLink AFL Grand Final at Windy Hill, Essendon to see first hand the result of the RecLink AFL program.
Labor believes that the power and benefits of sport and culture should not be limited to Victorians burdened by mental illness, addictions and other problems.
As the RecLink President, Adrian Panozzo, puts it:
"Melbourne – often referred to as the Sporting Capital of the World – is an examplar of the power and benefit of sport and recreation. Connection, community, identity, purpose, challenge, achievement, friendship and support are just a few of the cast offs of involvement in a sporting or recreational activity or event."
Labor wants to see RecLink work its magic in all other states and territories too.
This is why a Rudd Labor Government will give RecLink $2.8 million, to build on existing programs and nationalise the RecLink model.
The funding will mean that RecLink programs can be set up in every state and territory for the first time, and link up more than 200 community agencies.
This announcement follows on from Labor’s other commitments to enhance social inclusion.
Labor is funding RecLink programs as part of its commitment to help disadvantaged Australians re-engage with life and their community.
It has the support and assistance of many prominent Victorians, including Kevin Sheedy (just retired Essendon coach), Will Minson (Western Bulldogs player) and Andrew Gaze (national basketball hero).
RecLink is a tremendously successful model of how self-esteem and purpose can be found by linking disconnected people through enjoyable and meaningful activities - it deserves federal government support so all Australians who need a hand up have the chance to be involved.
For more information please contact: Mary Wood (Plibersek) on 0438 983 908 or Taryn Langdon (Lundy) on 0417 148 059
News this weekend that another major equestrian event has been forced to cancel highlights the cost of the Equine Influenza (EI) outbreak to the whole equestrian community in NSW, Queensland and the ACT.
The Canberra International Horse Trials committee has announced that its major competition - scheduled for 29-30 September - would not go ahead.
The Canberra event is part of a national horse trials calendar that has been thrown into disarray by the EI outbreak, undermining Olympic preparations and jeopardising the livelihoods of thousands.
ACT Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation, has watched the Canberra event rebuild from the ashes after a bushfire destroyed most of its cross country course in 2001.
Senator Lundy visited the event in 2006, when the volunteer committee was proudly hosting its first internationally recognised event.
This year it was set to take another step, up to the highest level of international competition outside of the Olympics and World Cup.
The event would have attracted around 300 horses and 1000 people to Canberra for the weekend, many of whom would have stayed in hotels, eaten in restaurants and even spent a few extra days in the ACT to check out Floriade.
The loss of this economic, as well as sporting, benefit is further evidence of the widespread impact when Australia's quarantine system breaks down.
Labor has called on the Howard Government to immediately establish an independent inquiry into how its quarantine system failed to prevent EI from entering Australia.
The equestrian community is paying a high price for this failure and deserves some answers.
For further information, Contact Taryn Langdon on 0417 148 059
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