It's been a big year in Cook.
In March we mourned the tragic loss of Sergeant Brett Till, who was killed in Afghanistan. Brett is survived by his wife Bree, a local school teacher, his two children Jacob and Taleah and their new baby brother Ziggy Phoenix, who was born in October.
Brett's sacrifice is a reminder to all of us of the price paid by those who defend our country and our values in our name, in our armed services. We owe it to them to uphold these values and do all we can to support those they leave behind.
It was a privilege to trek Kokoda in memory of Brett with my mate Jason Clare to raise money for Legacy and bring together young leaders from our Bankstown and Shire communities. We made it, and were all better for it. Jason and I will be getting our next mateship trek together for 2011, where we will be joined by another colleague, Independent MP Rob Oakshott, when we trek the Sandakan death march.
In the parliament, we had wins on a number of campaigns including an extension of benefits for Brett Till's widow Bree, self funded retirees on the Commonwealth seniors health card, lifting the funding cap for IVF treatments and securing support for the Butterfly kids who will now get their dressings paid for by the Government.
We're still fighting for the F6 as part of a broad coalition of community, business and motoring groups from the Shire and Illawarra we established with the NRMA under Mike Tynan's leadership. We are continuing to raise resident concerns against unfair aircraft noise and our campaign to secure proper recognition of Cook's landing as the nation's modern birthplace, in time for the 250th anniversary in 2020, will move up another gear in 2010.
The Cook Community Classic was a great success raising $85,000 for local charities and community groups, a 400% increase on our inaugural effort in 2008. The Cook Community Awards once again recognised those who do so much to make the Shire such a great place to live. Special mention to Rod Coy, our 2009 Cook Community Medal recipient.
It has been great to serve on the Coalition front bench, first in housing and local government, then also in infrastructure and now in Shadow Cabinet as the Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.
In housing we highlighted the chronic shortage of supply in the private housing market that is driving up rents and prices, making housing unfordable for many Australians, gaining the support of the RBA Governor Glenn Stevens along the way. Our response was to call on the federal Government to force largely Labor state Governments to free up their constraints on land supply and housing development, by tying federal housing and local government funding to reforms in these areas. On this occasion we even got Kevin Rudd to agree but, as usual, he still hasn't done anything.
I also took a strong position on the need for the Government to get their waste and mismanagement of their record spending and debt under control that is putting upward pressure on interest rates. We have now had an unprecedented trifecta of monthly rate rises before Christmas.
Under Labor's polices we also now have the lowest level of bank competition for new mortgages on record. This reduces the pressure on the banks to keep interest rates as low as possible.
With Tony Abbott I had the opportunity to see first hand the failures of the Rudd Government's indigenous housing programme in central Australia, as we toured remote outstations and the town camps of Alice Springs. Also on display was the effect of the Rudd Government's undermining of the Northern Territory intervention.
During our tour we visited the remote outstation school where young Shirley Ngalkin was once a student. Shirley tragically moved to Hermannsburg where she was raped and killed. The subsequent court case became the tipping point for the Northern Territory intervention. A photo of the plaque at the school, in memory of Shirley, now sits in my office as a daily reminder of our collective failures, non-indigenous and indigenous alike, to provide a better future for indigenous Australians, and the need to get it right.
On immigration, the most pressing challenge is Labor's failure to secure our borders. They have walked away from the strong border protection regime they inherited from the Coalition. Another boat arrival is just another day at the office for Minister Evans and Kevin Rudd. Their indifference to these issues is in stark contrast to the urgency and resolve displayed by the Coalition when we were in Government.
The failure of the Rudd Government on border protection means the only way Australians can now send a real message to people smugglers is to elect a Coalition Government.
Our longer term is the challenge is national leadership on a sustainable population policy for Australia. Growth is good, especially for our economy. However, we need to ensure we have an immigration programme and supporting polices in infrastructure development and services, that will maintain and improve our quality of life, and not the reverse.
Our focus must be on skilled migration that builds our capacity as a nation. When in Government, the Coalition more than doubled the skilled migration component of our annual immigration intake to 70%, and dramatically reduced the rate of unemployment amongst new arrivals from around 20% to just 5%. Under Labor, we are now heading in the opposite direction, with cuts to skilled migration and an increase in the family reunion programme.
My thanks to Malcolm and Tony for the opportunity to serve in these areas and for their leadership, often under very difficult circumstances. But thanks most of all to everyone in Cook for giving me the opportunity to serve our community in our federal parliament.
Next year will be big as we go to the polls once again.
In 2010 the Coalition will fight to stop Kevin's Great Big Tax and continue to hold Labor to account for their failure to protect our borders and manage our finances.
We will show Kevin Rudd and Labor up for the counterfeit Government they are and offer Australia real leadership, both here in Cook and across the country.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from my family to yours.
Cheers, Scott
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