|
Wednesday 1 September 2010
What
started out as the worlds most boring election
has turned out to be very interesting. All of a
sudden the Federal Independents found they had a
whole lot of “New Friends”. They are asking the
hard questions of the Majors, and it will be
nice to have some democracy restored in our
Federal Parliament. The election result sends a
very clear message of how fed up average Aussies
are with party politics.
August was an extremely busy month of
Parliament. In early August, subjects I covered
included having a fair court system, the lack of
education facilities on the Fraser Coast for
children with special needs, I spoke against the
sale of Queensland’s public assets, asked the
Minister for Health when he would release the
clinical services audit for our local hospitals
and when Maryborough can expect its first
dialysis chairs. Later in August I directed a
Question on Notice to the Minister for Natural
Resources about the untimely and unwelcome hike
of state land lease costs. I also addressed the
unrealistic Draft Weapons Bill, asked the
Minister for Health about access for rural
Fraser Coast residents to health treatment
facilities, brought up council rates, and put in
my bob regarding geothermal energy. Hopefully we
will receive positive and proactive outcomes
from bringing these issues to the attention of
Parliament. All of my Parliamentary activity is
available on my Facebook page – just search for
Chris Foley MP. Otherwise hard copies are
available from my office.
Prevalent constituent issues this past fortnight
include numerous complaints regarding Council
rates, child safety in the area and several
public health issues. On a good note though, I
met with some very enthusiastic people who are
looking at starting a support group for
businesses in Maryborough and help with
employment opportunities.
Some
more good news: we now have at our office the Do
Not Call Register forms. This register was
created in 2007 to enable individuals to opt out
of receiving unsolicited telemarketing calls. We
have plenty so come on in and grab as many as
you like. We also still have some of the “Living
with Water” DVDs if anyone was still hoping to
get hold of one before summer.
Nearly 500,000 Queenslanders have asthma – about
10% of the population. For many, this incurable
disease has a debilitating affect on their
day-to-day activities. National Asthma Week is
1-7 September. This is a great opportunity to
raise awareness about asthma in our community.
Please contact the Asthma Foundation of
Queensland on 1800 645 130 to find out more.
I
had the pleasure of judging the Freestyle Event
at the Fraser Coast Interschool Equine
Competition last Thursday. The Equestrian
Competition, organised by local Tina Leishman,
has grown significantly and there were
approximately 240 riders this year across
various events over the two days. Students from
all over Queensland were invited to attend to
represent their school. The students did such a
wonderful job. Congratulations to the all
winners.
Til Next
Time
Kind Regards
Chris…
Thank you to The
Maryborough Herald for this picture and
Illustrator Jason Ball
j.ball@ozemail.com.au
|
