Dear Berowra Resident,
All around us prices are rising. Rents and mortgages, the cost of our food and groceries, our power bills and our petrol.
Australians are facing difficult times. Australians are facing the most financial pressure since the recession of the 1990s.
The rising cost of living isn’t a cause of our economic malaise, but it is a symptom.
The Australian economy is not working as it should – where effort is
rewarded, where progress is achievable, and the future becomes more
certain.
And I think that too often Australians are only being offered temporary fixes, instead of meaningful economic solutions.
You can read a speech that I delivered in Parliament about my thoughts on these issues here.
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At a time when many people in our community are struggling,
I want you to know how I can directly help you as your local MP.
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For the next
few months, as well as giving you useful community information and
keeping you informed about my work in the community and the parliament, I
will use these newsletters to highlight how I can help you to better
access federal government services.
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In this email, you'll find information about:
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My work in our community
- Practical ways that my office can help you with Services Australia
- The scourge of graffiti in our suburbs
- Supporting Our local sporting champions
- Celebrating Lunar New Year
- Celebrating Local Order of Australia recipients
- Highlighting World Cholangiocarcinoma Day
- The NSW Government's planning proposals
My work in the Parliament and the national policy debate
- Housing affordability
- My call for the Minister to sort out the Passport Office
- Success in banning doxing
- Taipan Helicopters and Ukraine
- The continued threat of Hamas
- Welcoming the New Indian High Commissioner to Australia
- Standing up for more palliative care funding
- My appearance on Q&A
My team and I are here to help you. You can contact us on 9980 1822, or via Julian.Leeser.MP@aph.gov.au.
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Practical ways my office can help you with Services Australia
One of the key priorities for my office is to help members of our community access and navigate Federal Government services.
I am hearing more and more about people suffering because the wheels of
bureaucracy are turning far too slowly. When that happens, we are here
to help.
In each e-newsletter for the coming months, I’m going to highlight a different area of services with which we can help you.
I first want to address one of the most common areas where we
help – liaising with Services Australia, which includes Medicare and
Centrelink.
Our office can help you with matters relating to the aged pension,
disability pension, paid parental leave, and any other Centrelink
payment issues, as well as problems with Medicare.
If your payments are delayed or incorrect, and you haven’t been able to
make progress with Services Australia, our office can liaise with
Services Australia to try and get you a better and faster outcome.
For instance, Tahlia from Mount Colah applied for paid parental leave
but, 3 months later, it still had not been approved. My office raised
the issue with Centrelink and, four days later, she started getting
those much-needed payments.
Similarly, David from Berowra came to my office about receiving
unpredictable pension payments which did not match his usual amount he
was entitled to, and which fluctuated often. David had raised this with
Centrelink multiple times but after 7 months had not had a resolution.
Once David came to my team, we escalated his case with Centrelink, who
discovered that the fluctuations were due to an ‘advanced payment’ scam.
The problem was resolved and David began receiving the payments to
which he was entitled once again.
If you contact our office, we will need you to put your concerns into an
email, as we need proof that you have given us permission to liaise
with Services Australia on your behalf.
In that email, we’ll ask you to provide:
· Full name
· Residential address
· Phone number
· Centrelink Reference Number (CRN), if applicable
· Details of the case
· Any relevant documents
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The scourge of graffiti in our suburbs
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We have a beautiful community but recently
I’ve been contacted by residents from Normanhurst, Pennant Hills, and
Thornleigh about the growing amount of graffiti across those suburbs.
When graffiti is ignored, it leads to more graffiti. It’s a proven fact.
That’s why I called together the Police and Hornsby Council and we
travelled through those suburbs identifying graffiti hotspots.
Little things matter. Enough is enough.
If graffiti is on council land, the council generally removes it
promptly but if it is on private property, it is a matter for the land
owner to remove it.
The best way to stop graffiti is to report it as soon as it appears to
Police and property owners so that it can be removed immediately.
You can call the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Police on 02 9476 9799 to report graffiti. Alternatively, you can report the graffiti via the NSW Police Force Community Portal.
Before removing graffiti, make sure to take a photograph so that Police can cross-reference it against their graffiti database.
We live in a beautiful area and we can’t allow it to be over run with graffiti.
If you would like to be part of an anti-graffiti taskforce I’m establishing, please reply to this email.
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Milla Durnell, Savanna Sweeney, Shay Sweeney, Julian Leeser
MP, Jerry Lin, Elyssa Bolger, Maddi Durnell, and Kimi Soong
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We have exceptional young athletes across
our electorate. I’m honoured to support them to achieve their goals
through Local Sporting Champions grants each year.
Those grants help students and their families attend competitions nationally and internationally.
I recently brought together students who received the grant to
congratulate them on their achievements. They competed in sports as
diverse as badminton, softball, orienteering, cricket, and baseball.
Congratulations again to each of those students on their fantastic achievements!
If you have a child who has to travel interstate or overseas for
competitions and you would like to know more about the Local Sporting
Champions program, please contact my office.
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Happy Lunar New Year
Happy Chinese and Korean New Year to everyone who celebrates across our community.
It was great to attend the Cherrybrook Chinese Community Association’s New Year dinner, as I have done since 2008.
The Association contributes so much to our community, including through
its wonderful Chinese language school and its programs for senior
citizens and young people.
It was also great to represent the Leader of the Opposition at the
Australian Chinese Charity Foundation Chinese New Year Celebration
dinner and to attend the Cherrybrook Chinese Community Association
Dinner, to mark this new year.
I was born in the Year of the Dragon, so this year is especially auspicious for me.
I hope the Year of the Dragon brings you prosperity, good health, and happiness.
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Local Order of Australia Recipients
11 exceptional members of our community received Australia Day Honours this year.
I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank them for their service
to the Australian community, and to congratulate them on this
recognition.
Those local recipients include:
- Ms Ellie Cole AM, for significant service to sport as an advocate for diversity and inclusion.
- Emeritus Professor Michael Eyles AM, for significant service to tertiary education, and to science.
- Dr Michael Leigh AM, for significant service to tertiary education, and to Australian-Asian relations.
- Professor Glenda Wardle AM, for significant service to science in the field of ecology and evolution.
- Mrs Nasiba Akram OAM, for service for humanitarian organisations.
- Mrs Penny Becchio OAM, for service to various community organisations, especially the Scouts.
- The late Mr Maxwell Burnet OAM, for service to the community through a range of roles.
- Mrs Maria (Marysia) Nowak OAM, for service to the Polish community of New South Wales.
- Mr Graham Staggs OAM, for service to community health.
- Mrs Adele Staggs OAM, for service to community health.
- Ms Rachael Marlow PSM, for outstanding public service to healthcare, in particular, the delivery of COVID-19 related services.
If you know someone who you believe is deserving of an award in the Order of Australia, you can nominate them here.
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World Cholangiocarcinoma Day
Thursday February 15 was World Cholangiocarcinoma Day.
Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer that attacks
the bile duct.
A local resident, Karen O’Hagen Humphries, is living with Cholangiocarcinoma and is fighting to bring awareness to the disease.
Karen's been instrumental in creating a campaign called Light Australia
Green, with 70 buildings and structures nationwide being coloured green
as a means of creating awareness.
Some of you will have seen that, in our electorate, the Hornsby fountain
and mall were both lit green to build awareness in our own community.
I spoke about Cholangiocarcinoma and Karen’s important work in the Parliament. You can watch that speech here or read it here.
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NSW Government's Planning decisions
While I am for increasing housing supply, decisions about where that
extra housing is located should be left to local communities and
Councils.
Those decisions should not be made by far-away bureaucrats and Labor
politicians who know nothing about our community. And there must be
proper investment in the infrastructure that we need to support that
growth.
I am deeply concerned that the NSW Labor Government's proposed planning
changes will reduce the quality of life and change the character of our
community. I am also concerned that it will lead to more traffic
congestion on already clogged roads, and overcrowded school classrooms
and local hospital wards. I am also concerned about the effects of
further development on the beautiful Hawkesbury River catchment.
If you want to know more about the NSW government's plans and how they affect our community, you can read this explainer from the Hills Shire Council about how the changes will affect our area. You can also read the Hornsby Shire Council's submission to the NSW Government regarding the changes.
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My work in the Parliament
and the national policy debate
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Housing affordability
Housing has slipped out of the reach of a generation of Australians.
In Sydney, it now takes an average of 9.4 years to save for a deposit
for an apartment and a staggering 15.7 years to save for a house
deposit.
And when you have saved the deposit, the average mortgage holder spends 17.2% of their income servicing a mortgage.
The situation in Sydney is worsening compared to the rest of the
country. In 2010, the difference in median dwelling values between
Sydney and Melbourne was $12,000. In October last year, that difference
was $343,000.
What’s the difference? It’s the lack of supply in Sydney, arcane
planning laws, green NIMBYs and the unwillingness of state and local
governments to work together in the community’s interest.
We need a real debate on housing in this country—one that’s focused on
supply, demand, housing laws and state government taxes and
charges.
You can read my speech in Parliament about this issue here, or watch it here.
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Australians deserve better from the Passport Office
I have received emails from dozens of constituents over the years telling me how the passport office has let them down.
There are big consequences for travellers if the Passport Office fails
to process their passport in time. But there are currently no
consequences for the Passport Office.
That isn’t good enough.
I spoke about this problem in the Parliament, calling on the Minister to
fix the Passport Office and scrap the planned increase in passport
prices. You can watch that speech here or read it here.
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Success in banning doxing
Values matter because they inform our decisions and our culture.
We must stand for them, and when they are under attack we must defend them.
That’s why a fortnight ago I called on the Government to ban doxing
after the names, addresses and private details of 600 Australian Jewish
artists and small businesspeople were released online by Left Wing Green
Activists.
Many of those artists have experienced harassment and death threats.
Doxing of anyone is an action that is fundamentally undemocratic, as
that seeks to unleash fear and intimidation.
I am pleased that within 24 hours of my call, the Prime Minister agreed to ban doxing.
This will protect Australians of every background from online harassment and potential violence that is the result of doxing.
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Taipan Helicopters and Ukraine
It is imperative that Australia continues to stand with Ukraine.
This week marks the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as the start of Ukraine’s heroic resistance.
Recently, in the Australian newspaper, I called on the government to end
its half-heartedness towards Ukraine - in particular, to give Ukraine
the Taipan helicopters that Australia is not using. I also wrote about
the imperative of small and mid-sized democracies standing together.
You can read that piece here.
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The continued threat of Hamas
I recently spoke in the Parliament about the continued threat of Hamas.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation that we have listed as such in Australia
I believe the Hamas attacks were more than an attack on Israel. They
were an attack on our shared democratic ideals, and our democratic
ideals are always defended by people of goodwill.
You can read my speech here, or watch it here.
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Welcome to the new Indian High Commissioner
As the co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of India, I was delighted
to welcome the new Indian High Commissioner to Australia, His Excellency
Mr Gopal Baglay.
Berowra has over 8,500 Australians of Indian origin, who make a wonderful contribution to our community.
Mr Baglay has served as High Commissioner or Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Russia, the United Kingdom, Nepal and Pakistan.
It is a sign of the importance of the relationship that the Government
of India has sent such a seasoned diplomat to Australia. Australian has
sent similarly senior officials to India in the past, including the Hon
Barry O’Farrell AO and Australia's present High Commissioner to India,
Mr Philip Green OAM.
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NSW Government's bad decision to cut palliative care funding
I have always been a supporter of increased access to palliative care. I
was pleased when the Perrottet Government announced a record $650
million in palliative care funding.
But I have become very concerned at the decision of the NSW Labor Government to cut $250 million of funding for palliative care.
In a nation as prosperous and successful as Australia, no one deserves
to be in pain. But sadly this decision will cause suffering to more
patients across NSW.
The cuts include a 50% reduction in the forward estimates for pediatric
palliative care. Even though the number of children requiring palliative
care is increasing globally. Another example of the lack of
consideration for the very real human impacts of these cuts.
If you believe that palliative care funding should be restored, you can sign this petition, which is being coordinated by my colleague and Berowra local, the Hon Susan Carter MLC.
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Q&A
Recently I appeared on the first Q&A for the year.
The theme was trust – I spoke about supermarkets, the government’s
failures on border protection, the cost-of-living pressures facing
Australians, the internet, the Middle East war and even Taylor Swift!
You can watch this episode of Q&A on iView, or by clicking here.
Kind regards,
Julian Leeser MP
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