Mike 
 
I agree 100% - the community needs MPs who will put their community first, and Ministers who will put the interests of their State above the interests of their mates in their Departments.... Ministers who can inspire the employees of their departments with innovative thinking and appropriate planning to ensure there are the required resources to deliver on those innovations. 
 
It is great to see you providing that leadership in the Manly community!

Thank you for the emails - you ask what do we want, I know I want an new government to RUN NSW not the government we have now. 
 
Joan.

Leadership is something you either have or your don't. You can't learn it. But you know who has it when they inspire you. When nothing is too hard. When you know right from wrong. When you can listen and act against people who misuse power. Manly Council today is as bad as it ever was. One day that will change. And it will be a leader who achieves that.

Thank you for your great interest as a politician, especially regarding your involment with Dalwood. You have proven that all of your efforts are for all the right reasons. It would be great to think that our new Premier is going to act on her passions too. We will have to wait and see.

This is the question that troubles the Liberal Party more than anything else. A Masiah is always needed to lead members out of the wilderness so its not surprising that a new party member should ask this question. What is needed is a clearer and stronger comitment to Party long term objectives. Sell the benefits and the plans, adhere to them for the Country as a whole. Labour in New South Wales is a broken concept taken over by backroom manouvers. 
Wayne Moynham

1. to not take donations from the tobacco lobby 
2. to not take donations from developers 
3. to not take donations from the hotel and club industry 
4. to not take donations from the poker machine industry. 
5. to have his words match his actions when it comes to donations

Hmmm... a toughie. But I'll take a stab at some criteria: 
* Social policy: Put principles ahead of personal preferences - I'm more interested in how social issues are tackled in practice than presuming that it is possible to force people to reform their behaviour by decree. 
* If the community is consulted on a development or planning issue, major changes must be possible. I am sick of "community consultation" and "EIS" being just ticks on the list. 
* Planning for the long term, but action now. If a plan will take 15 years to construct, I want to see enough money allocated to the project to complete it - staged from day 1. 
* Reducing waste in public infrastructure projects. Costs are simply ridiculous. We need tough negotiators and managers to deliver projects to acceptable standards, on time and on budget. Project costs need to be similar to what could be achieved in the private sector. 
* Reducing waste in government consultation costs, both at state and council level. If the public service can't do a regular job, train them to do it. Amalgamate councils. It will need to be forced, but people need to realise that local character will not be lost, and local issues can be given greater attention when common overheads are reduced.

Mike 
Really good article. People like Mother Maggie are intent on helping others rather than on seeking their own promotion. What a contrast with our new Premier!! 
Ambition is healthy, selfish ambition is destructive.  
John

Based on the reduction of ferry and rail services, and suspicions that I have on the bloated costs of public transport, one thing I want from NSW's government is a spine. 
I want the waste removed from the system, and costs under control. What appears to be happening now is that services are being cut because they are too expensive. How is that good for jobs? If we go on this way we'll have all those commuters driving cars making commuting even more painful and slow. 
This will hamstring business and make life hell for all living in the metropolitan area. 
 
I also want good negotiation skills. I do not want to hear that yet another public project cost has 'blown out' by some ridiculous factor, resulting in loss of crucial features. 
 
I want any new land releases to be masterplanned, with facilities and services like mass transport, offices, schools, hospitals, shops, playing fields, universities, industrial areas, LOCAL jobs, medium and high density near transport hubs, parks, leisure facilities and the like preplanned and zoned before a sod is turned, and staged so people can see those facilities grow from day one. I want this to also be done in regional areas: Wagga Wagga, Newcastle, Dubbo - not just Sydney's outskirts.