Mike Baird | Member for Manly - The battles that matter

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The battles that matter

Tuesday, 11 August 2009

For anyone that has the chance to travel overseas, there are two things that hold true. The first is that you are reminded that we truly live in the best city in the world and the second is that nothing appears to change on return.

There is no better example of the latter than the renewed speculation about the leadership of the State Government. In a graphic reminder of the movie "Groundhog Day" it appears the ALP want to shuffle the deckchairs yet again.

It is hard to watch and whatever side of politics you sit there is a deep sense of despair that the State continues to go backwards while this distraction drags on. Even this week we have a potential disaster looming for State finances with Eric Roozendaal facing a battle to hang on to almost $2 billion in GST revenue.

I mean these are the issues the Government should be fighting for, not whether leadership contenders will cut a deal with Joe Tripodi to keep him in cabinet and deliver themselves the Premiership.

I know all sides of politics have moments of introspection but I guess I am pleading to the State ALP to get back to the job of looking after the State. It is too long to the next State election to merely put things on hold.

In stark contrast to the government's ongoing loss of perspective, it was inspiring on Monday to get an insight into the minds of the future leaders of this State. Twenty students from primary schools in the Manly area came to Parliament House for our inaugural Bear Pit Public Speaking Competition.

Each of the 8-11 year olds fearlessly stood where the Premier stands to share their thoughts. Some spoke about a place they love or a person they will never forget; others spoke about why everyone needs a dream, why racism is not funny or why you can't judge a book by its cover.

I say that every speech was heartfelt and showed with passion, that the next generation is already contributing to this great State. These primary school students were a good reminder that the priorities of this State spread well beyond the halls of Macquarie Street!

So for the sake of NSW and our idealistic younger generation, the government must return to the job at hand and give NSW a chance to win the battles that matter.

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Comments (9)

The battles that matter

Hi Mike - your point about the state of the NSW Labor party is well made. However, I must say that the reason we have to put up with these bunnies in government is that the Liberal Party itself has been such a shambles, that it's not been able to dislodge Labor from power. My suggestion to you is that the battle that matters most is to get the Liberal party's own house in order, to provide a credible and electable alternative, such that you can win the next election.

Posted by: Symon Parish at 12-08-2009 08:13

Sydney Infrastructure

Mike
In response to your blog, we do live in a fantastic city, but it is fantastic by virtue of its physical location not by virtue of the man made additions that have been made. I spent July travelling the globe for work and while I am delighted to be home I cannot but compare the infrastructure in Sydney very unfavorably with other global cities.

For example while London is spending over GBP20 Billion on an entirely new train link east to west and an huge update to a north south rail link, in Sydney we are still waiting for any kind of Metro system.

The removal of the Jet Cat and replacement after a month or so with a private solution was a debacle that could only happen in NSW, why on earth wasn't the replacement contract put in place before the Jet Cat was withdrawn.

We continue to soldier on with public owned ferries, buses and trains when surely transferring these into private hands would allow businesses with expertise in public transport to run the services while the government (which is clearly unable to do the job) can concentrate on governing.

The same is true of the archaic power system with power carried to houses on overhead lines rather than in the ground and not to mention broadband connectivity where the speeds I achieve on my home link (which is the most expensive Telstra can provide) are far less than those I achieved in the USA, UK, France and Belgium where broadband is available at a fraction of the cost.

So the city is great but the infrastructure is broken and we do not appear to have a government that has any idea about how to fix it and as you rightly say seems to spend more time on internal politics than issues that matter,

In all of this I am happy to continue supporting you and I admire the job you are trying to do. The one question I have is, realistically how much are you able to influence the government to fix the multiple problems that we have in Sydney and the wider NSW?

Regards
Richard Atkinson

Posted by: Richard Atkinson at 12-08-2009 08:28

Mercury into the tip

Dear MIke, I was amazed to discover that there is no provision to safely dispose of the massive numbers of mercury filled "green" light globes that have been forced upon us.
I took my first dead globe to a light shop and asked how to dispose of it, knowing it is highly toxic when broken , and hte man threw it inot the bin and said there is NO PROVISION by the govenrments to dispose of these safely.
IN Europe they are being stockpiled by governments because there is nowhere safe to dispose of them and the light shop proprietor believes European countries are looking for 3rd world countries to take them. What on earth are the Greens doing about putting mercury into our landfill? Kimbriki and Belrose would be accepting a huge amount of this poison for our future generations.
Kind regards
Jeanine

Posted by: Jeanine Treharne at 12-08-2009 08:57

The future

Mike,
I've been a Labor voter all my life and, at least until I'm offered a credible ex-planation of precisely how Liberal/Conservative economics is supposed to benefit the great bulk of society, that's how I'll stay - federally. But the antics of the NSW Labor government make me cringe with shame and embarrassment. So it looks as if I'll be voting Green next time - unless you can offer me that explanation of Tory economics, of course.
Bob Guntrip

Posted by: Bob Guntrip at 12-08-2009 09:01

Thoughts...

Mike, look this is great, and...I have heard it before. Beating up on the Government is always an easy game (and made even easier when you have an incompetent Government), but this just won't cut it!. You guys need to lead like you already govern (ride it like you stole it!). You need to lead the debate and make the arguments! What does MIKE stand for, what battles are you going to fight, and what are your weapons of choice?? I am sick of hearing about how this Government has got it all wrong, I want to hear from someone who has some fresh thoughts on how we can make it right! Come on, I dare you to be the first to raise the bar and make the argument...tell me YOUR vision for a better NSW? Start now, practice your thinking, rehearse your vision...because when (I assume so) you are in Government, you will have even more practice trying to defend it...because the opposition WILL throw the same mud you have cast here. It is time to take the moral high ground Mike, time to stand for something and sing it loud...we are waiting!

Posted by: Luke Harvey-Palmer at 12-08-2009 09:12

Government

Dear Mike,
I wrote to the State Gov. over a year ago, suggesting now there was a Labor Natioal Government why where they not pushing for our fare share of GST. No. reply.
I think the Labor ministers have a problem in reading or writing. Haven written to P. Wong and P. Garret re electric car policy four times with no reply.
Your doing a great job, keep up the pressure on the B******.
Regards, Malcolm.

Regards,

Posted by: Malcolm Young at 12-08-2009 10:07

Stand Your Ground..........

Mike you have great ideas, go for it. The State Government is not going to change, you should know that by now, they are in turmoil who is going to be in leadership so what`s new. Just go out there and do your stuff, calling on the opposition to do the right thing is a waste of time and energy, make your mark............. Cheers Mike. Debra.

Posted by: Debra Arena at 12-08-2009 12:45

OVERALL LIB CHANCES OF GETTING ELECTED

Mike - I understand the fervour of seeing the Labor side "infighting" but the fact remains that apart from one or two like you the State Opposition is gaining no continuous traction against the government. Fortunately the labor side continues to shoot itself in the foot and show itself largely incapable and corrupt but there's still a while until the election. Unfortunately the electorate still has little idea of what the Libs would do in government and thus the confidence threshold is low - too low to bank on getting in because Labor ahas shown itself so inadequate.
Besides unity in the Libs there isn't - as demonstrated by the call for change to some of the elders. I have nothing against age or hard work and persistance but honestly some of those whos names have been touted to go have not made much imapct on any of the Labor govts thay've faced. So on performance terms they lack credibility. Right now and knowing I'm increasingly in the minority I still hold that the current Liberal Leadership wont take the next State Election. As a wild card perhaps the lady from a southern seat could win it because she's fresh but has stacks of Institutional and Public Service experience, is well known as a figure and respected. She's also a woman and would bring a fresh team and ideas. No disrespect to you Mike because you clearly will be a leader of the government someday. Nor do I mean disrespect to the Barry O'Farrell - but he keeps failing to read the public's needs, clings to the concept that the govt will hang itself, and not only has no dynamic himself but demands little of that from his team. Without getting on the policy and attack frontfoot how on earth can the public vote for the Libs? regards carlo

Posted by: CARLO bONGARZONI at 12-08-2009 20:55

response to Carlo

Thanks Carlo, appreciate that is your view. cheers, Mike

Posted by: mike baird at 13-08-2009 10:19

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