Dora Ck bridge, coercive control, fish kills and more on Parliamentary agenda this week
21st October 2022
A very big week in Parliament this week. Here's a quick summary of a few things I thought you'd be interested in (a link to all of my speeches is below). PORT OF NEWCASTLE: Debate on my Port of Newcastle bill will continue on November 8. Both the Government and the Labor Opposition are negotiating some amendments with me. I'm pretty confident we can reach a good outcome and unshackle the port from the dodgy, anti-competitive deal it's been stuck with since the Government sold our ports off. COERCIVE CONTROL: An historic moment in our fight against domestic violence also happened this week with both Houses passing laws to outlaw coercive control in intimate relationships. This is an extremely difficult area of law, but I was able to add several amendments with my Independent colleagues. I genuinely believe these new laws will save lives and I was very happy to support the Government on this one. GAMBLING ADVERTISING: I supported moves to ban gambling advertising, especially to children, but can you believe that the legislation failed because it didn't get the support of the Government or the Labor Opposition? I also used Question Time to ask the Government why it was still allowing betting agencies a free reign when we know the damage it's doing to many in our local communities, including kids. FISH KILL: I also updated Parliament on the progress of the investigation into the fish kills in Lake Macquarie. Hopefully the EPA releases some further findings soon. DORA CK BRIDGE: I've also told Parliament about the dangerous traffic issues caused by the Dora Creek bridgeworks. This work is also having a really negative impact on the shops there and, in my view, hasn't been managed well. I also paid tribute to a few high-achieving locals - our Local Legends! You can read more about those issues and my speeches to Parliament on my website HERE.