O’Farrell’s disgraceful attack on judicial independence

In one of the most serious attacks on the doctrine of separation of powers Premier O’Farrell, used his numbers to rush through parliament a motion to disallow 2.5% salary increase to the states judges awarded by the independent Remunerations Tribunal.

Cloaked under the guise of economic and fiscal principal this is clearly an attack on the states judges as petty payback. This decision was rushed through the parliament virtually without debate. I was prevented in making a contribution in quite a dishonest way.

Why the hurry? There is no doubt parliament is entitled to disallow an annual determination of the Remunerations Tribunal. If Premier O’Farrell thought that his decision had merit why not give MP’s time to consider the Tribunals report?

The judges of this state have been subjected to an unprecedented personal attack. The Attorney General instead of protecting the institution of the judiciary has been publishing his opinion that judges are out of touch.

There has been much said and written about the very sad and tragic death of Thomas Kelly and the sentence received by the offender. No words can ever restore to his family the loss of an innocent young man who had his whole life in front of him. The Attorney General requested the Director of Public Prosecutions consider an appeal against the sentence, and that is proper.

Even before the DPP considered the matter the Attorney General in a thought bubble announced yesterday a new law to provided for a 10 year sentence for a “one punch law” should someone be killed as a result of an assault. When 2GB’s Ray Hadley said that would have caused the offender responsible for Thomas Kelly’s death to get a lesser sentence than the offender received, the Attorney General today told parliament he is going to introduce his "one punch law" that will provide for a 20 year sentence. One might ask who is running this state?

The government and its members have been launching personal and unprecedented attacks against judges. The government have no respect for the independence of the judiciary, as they have no respect for the institution of parliament. To Premier O’Farrell the doctrine of separation of powers that is vital to our democracy is a political hindrance. 

To punish judges, or attempt to intimidate them, by rejecting the Remuneration Tribunal’s report, and not allowing even debate on the question is one of the must unfortunate things I have witnessed as a member of parliament.

I told parliament on the 1 May that we as MP’s are trustees of the Westminster Sydney. We are only here temporarily and we have an obligation to pass on the traditions and conventions to those who come after us.

I am afraid Premier O’Farrell just demonstrated to me today he is not fit to be the leader of a government.

Australian Maccabiah Athletes welcomed at Australian Ambassador's Residence Israel

Australian Embassy

Israel

Embassy address: Discount Bank Tower, Level 28, 23 Yehuda Halevi Street, Tel Aviv - Telephone: 03 693 5000 - Fax: 03 693 5002

News

2013

The dominating colours at the Australian Ambassador’s Residence on Wednesday afternoon, a day before the official Opening Ceremony of the Maccabiah, were the proud colours of the Australian Maccabiah delegation’s green and gold. Among the bottle brush trees the golf, tennis, swimming, basketball, soccer, netball, track and field, ten-pin bowling and triathlon athletes enjoyed a respite from their hectic schedule, to attend the welcome reception hosted by Ambassador, Dave Sharma.

The event was also attended by David Southwick, MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Police & Emergency Services, Ron Hoenig, MP, Member of NSW Parliament and by the executive of Maccabi Australia including Lisa Borowick, President, Barry Smorgon, Chairman, Maccabi Australia, Harry Procel, Head of Delegation, Sam Parasol and Jeff Houseman.

Ms Borowick decided to initiate the Embassy staff as professional supporters of the 416 Aussie athletes and provided them with hats and T-Shirts to fortify their commitment.

In his speech to the guests Ambassador Sharma noted the quirky tales that are unique to the delegation such as the rugby team, with five sets of brothers, in a 26-player side, the women’s hockey teams which are also a sibling affair, and of course the romantic story of Bec and Adam Joseph, soccer players who met at the 2005 Games, got engaged at the 2009 Games and returned to 2013 games with their new baby.

Sharma, an avid sportsman himself, who has had no luck in passing on his sports genes to his next of kin, concluded his words with a personal plea to his guests that they use their powers of persuasion to convince his daughters to show some interest in sport.

O'Farrell government plans for Planning reforms, a disaster for everyone.

The O'Farrell Government’s latest attempt to tinker with planning laws were a recipe for disaster for both those who wish to invest in this state and in local communities.

There are no real benefits for communities or developers in these new laws

Leading for the Opposition for the NSW Parliament this week, I described the Government Bills as convoluted, perplexed, botched and inconsistent. 

It provides ways to avoid planning controls to protect the local community, no transparency and no community involvement in the approval process.

Heralding community input will be at the strategic planning phase is just nonsense. The current planning laws provide for this.

The NSW Liberal and National Party promised a complete overhaul of the States Planning Legislation that would provide greater scrutiny, transparency and return local planning powers to local communities (through their councils). The Planning Bills do not do any of that. Local elected councillors will be removed from the process.

The public wants to have a say and wants to be told about the buildings in their neighbourhood and what is happening next door to them.

The new laws will allow buildings and developments to be constructed next door to someone without notification and without consultation. This is the most dangerous planning scheme this State has seen.

I set out in parliament this week why the community lost faith in the state's planning process and the way forward. What I said is here: http://parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/Parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20131029045?open&refNavID=HA8_1

Hopeless EPA needs to have its prosecution powers removed

For many years have I been vocal in my criticism of the state's Environmental Protection Authority who I have considered to be a consistent failure in protecting the community from pollution.

I hold it responsible for the ground water and mercury contamination in this area. Its record of using its power to protect people from the vested interests is poor. Recently in parliament I referred to their failure to prosecute a serious environmental offender. You can see some of what I had to say on YouTube at the following link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpVAThgEA0w

Serious environmental offences should be give to the Director of Public Prosecutions to bring these people to justice in the form of gaol penalties.

Botany Bay City thanks volunteers

Ron Hoenig MP, Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge

I was delighted to attend the Botany Bay City Council’s annual Thank you Dinner for Volunteers on Thursday evening at the Lakes Golf Club in Eastlakes.

It was truly overwhelming to see how many great volunteer groups and participants we have in this great local city of Botany.

The evening was all about recognising the wonderful people who give up their time for the benefit of others, who are selfless and want to make the community a great place to live in.

I believe volunteering is a great way to meet people, you get to know your local community, learn new skills, learn more about yourself, and help others who are less fortunate by contributing to a cause or a group that can make a real difference to someone or many people.

I would like to sincerely thank the following groups for their contribution, time and dedication; Meals on Wheels, SES, Access Committee, Senior Citizens Advisory Committee, Botany Historical Trust Executive and the local knitting group.

I was inspired to learn that most of the volunteers from one organisation were also volunteers for another organisation. These men and women are true heroes and our community would not be same without them.

I had the opportunity to present Ben Keneally, Mayor of Botany with a framed certificate that has been recorded in the NSW Parliamentary Hansard dedicated to the late Ms Nancy Hillier who was an environmental activist who fought on issues that were important to the community. Nancy also volunteered her time to many organisations; one of her favourite was the Botany Historical Trust. The certificate will be placed in the George Hanna Memorial Museum and Mascot Library.

I also made a presentation to Ms Jacqueline Milledge former President of the Botany Historical Trust. Jacqueline been a tireless worker for the trust and, despite enormous pressures in her role as a Local Court magistrate, she has given her time, energy and knowledge to documenting, preserving and celebrating the city of Botany Bay's fine history. I wanted to pay tribute to Her Honour and thank her sincerely for her service to the community.

I would like pay tribute to Botany Bay City Council for putting on this event, it is so important to recognise the tremendous work of volunteers and what inspiration they bring to our community.

 Ron Hoenig MP,  Caterina Taviani (Meals on Wheels)

Randwick Botany Little Athletics Season Opening

Ron Hoenig MP with Tony Vecillio OAM

Attending the Randwick Botany Little Athletics official opening of their 46th season at Hensley Field was a terrific event. It was very exciting to see hundreds of local children participating in competitive sports and having a good time; it was certainly a great example of community spirit

Not only was it the Little A’s official opening, it was also the March Past day where all the children from the tiny tots to under 17’s proudly marched from the 100 metre start line to the finish line of the track.

I was honoured to present the awards for Boys Captain, Boys vice-Captain, Girls Captain and Girls vice-Captain and congratulate the new leaders in their new role.

It is certainly an achievement of how long Little A’s have been going, 46 seasons and still going strong, this may be due to the dedicated and passionate leadership it has. Over the years competitors in Little A's have shown much promise and the club has a championship status that cannot be challenged.

I had the opportunity in presenting Tony Vecellio, OAM with a community recognition certificate that has been recorded in the NSW Parliamentary Hansard. Not only is Tony the President of Randwick Botany Little Athletics Centre; he is also described as its guiding light. Tony has served Randwick Botany Little Athletics for more than 40 years as its president, bringing much positivity and drive.

I would like to thank everyone that came along including all the competitors, marchers and volunteers. I would also like to thank the Mayor of Botany Bay City Council, Ben Keneally and Councillor Christina Curry for also coming along, presenting awards and showing their support to such a wonderful community organisation.

Mayor Ben Keneally, James Bassil (Boys Captain), Declan O’Connell (Boys vice-captain), Ron Hoenig MP, Stephanie Grujoski (Girls vice-captain), Taylor Minslow (Girls Captain), Councillor Christina Curry

Waterloo Public Housing Estate a disgrace - should be an embarrassment to the O'Farrell government

Ross Smith, Ron Hoenig MP, Sophie Cotsis MLC at Waterloo

This week I invited The Hon. Sophie Costis MLC, Shadow Minister for Housing to accompany Ross Smith, a People Precinct Representative, and I to see first hand the disgraceful living conditions that my constituents have to put up with in their Housing NSW tenancies in Waterloo.

I initially organised this tour so I could speak with my constituents' again. I wanted to ask whether there had been any improvements since my last visit and my many complaints to Housing NSW. I wanted to  get a first-hand account of any concerns or issues that were impacting on them.

As we walked through Raglan, Cooper, Wellington, Cope, George and McEvoy Streets I continually saw evidence of severe neglect and decay.

My constituents that are Housing NSW tenants are relegated to third world living conditions as evidenced by broken down fences, putrid garbage bays, rubbish strewn yards, syringe littered lawns and broken sewer pipes.

To see broken sewer pipes with toilet paper and faecal matter in a back yard of a block of flats, broken glass and syringes with mothers preventing their children from going outside to play is heart wrenching.

Talking to people, inspecting the inside of their mould infested units was just terrible One family cannot use the second bedroom for their two children because of the mould. Her children have to live in the living room. They had tried to fix it themselves, painted the room themselves and the mould goes through the paint. Housing NSW just refuse to help them.

The most inspiring part of our visit was to see how resilient these tenants are in the face of such terrible conditions.

They continue to strive to make the best of their living situation even in the face of such adversity.

I have vowed to keep fighting until these Housing NSW tenancies are given the attention that my constituents rightly deserve. The O'Farrell Liberals should hang their head in shame.