PUBLIC TRANSPORT: TRANSPORT CONNECTIONS — HAWKESDALE-WARRNAMBOOL SERVICE

To  ask the  Minister for Planning (for the Minister for Public Transport):  In  relation  to  the  Hawkesdale  to  Warrnambool  school  holiday Transport  Connections  service that  has  recently  been  cut  by  the Baillieu government,  what  arrangements will  now  be made to  provide  the vital public transport required by those living in the Hawkesdale community. ANSWER: I…

INDUSTRY TRAINING ADVISORY BOARDS: FUNDING

My  adjournment  matter this  evening  is directed to the Minister for Higher Education and Skills, and it  deals with the government’s  assault  upon  skills  development across  Victoria  through  this government’s  dramatic  funding  cuts  to  industry  advisory  boards. The Labor government repeatedly  acknowledged the value  of these  advisory  arrangements, recognising that the industry training advisory boards…

South West Institute of TAFE: funding

Last  Thursday  in  Warrnambool  a rally organised by TAFE 4 All was held in front of the electorate office of the member for  South-West  Coast  in the Legislative Assembly, Denis  Napthine.  Students, academics and teachers addressed the crowd, highlighting how their lives will be impacted upon by the cuts  to their  local TAFE. The following…

TIERNEY KEEPS UP PRESSURE FOR FARMER HEALTH CENTRE FUNDS

Member for Western Victoria, Gayle Tierney is continuing to apply pressure on the Baillieu Government to immediately reinstate funding for the National Centre for Farmer Health. In response to the Minister’s answer provided in the last Parliament sitting week Ms Tierney accused the Baillieu Government of passing the funding buck to the Federal Government. “The…

LABOR MP’S STANDING UP FOR BANNOCKBURN EDUCATION

State Labor Upper House Members Gayle Tierney and Jaala Pulford have continued their support for Golden Plains Shire calling on the Government to fund Bannockburn K-12 in Parliament this week. Ms Tierney said the hard work from the Golden Plains Shire has not slowed, but the support from the state government has ground to a…

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES: REGIONAL OFFICES

My adjournment matter this evening is directed to the Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, and it relates to the Baillieu government’s decision to close Department of Primary Industries (DPI) offices in Western Victoria Region.  Over the past weeks and months my electorate office has been very busy dealing with emails, telephone calls and constituents…

BUDGET PAPERS 2012-13

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — I will also make a contribution in relation to taking note of the 2012-13 budget papers. In preparation for my budget response today, I revisited my response to last year’s midyear financial report and the economic and social environment that the state was in at that time. It is true…

PORTARLINGTON: BIGGEST AFTERNOON TEA

I also congratulate Portarlington Community Association and the combined local community groups that held the Biggest Afternoon Tea last Thursday, coordinated by Madge Pinge and Gemma Tobschall. They raised a massive amount of $11 000, and I thank them for their amazing contribution, which will go to the cancer centre in Geelong. The volunteers on…

DONNA CAMPBELL

Last month in Texas, Donna Campbell, a researcher at the Geelong Hospital, was given the international excellence in clinical research award for outstanding leadership. The award was in recognition of Ms Campbell’s work in setting up pharmaceutical research trials and, more recently, the work she has done with GP-based Alzheimer’s disease trials. This is an…

BANNOCKBURN: K-12 SCHOOL

My adjournment matter this evening is in relation to the Bannockburn K-12 school in the Golden Plains shire. The construction of the new early years to year 12 school in Bannockburn, along with the natural gas connection to the township, is the Golden Plains Shire’s highest priority project. It is widely known that the shire…

GORDON INSTITUTE OF TAFE: REPORT 2011

I rise to speak on the 2011 annual report of the Gordon TAFE in Geelong. Last year, 2011, was a very successful year for the Gordon. It was a year in which the Minister for Higher Education and Skills, Peter Hall, launched the new three-year strategic plan. That is outlined on pages 23, 24 and…

NATIONAL CENTRE FOR FARMER HEALTH: FUNDING

The Hamilton community, along with many other farming communities in regional Victoria, is absolutely disgusted with the Liberal-Nationals coalition government’s decision to cease funding for the National Centre for Farmer Health. The centre, which opened in 2008, was built to address the significant issues associated with farmer health and wellbeing and the safety of our…

GORDON INSTITUTE OF TAFE: FUNDING

Last Thursday the Geelong community told the Baillieu government in no uncertain terms that it will not get away with its systematic destruction of Victoria’s TAFEs. Over 1200 people attended the rally outside the Gordon Institute of TAFE, with many students and teachers addressing the crowd and communicating their anger at the government’s decision to…

GAS: REGIONAL AND RURAL VICTORIA

My adjournment matter this evening is directed to the Minister for Regional and Rural Development and is in relation to natural gas connections to rural and regional townships. The promised natural gas extension to Terang and the increasing delays experienced by the township are causing significant angst. The Terang community has been in limbo in…

NATIONAL CENTRE FOR FARMER HEALTH: FUNDING

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — My question is to the Minister for Health, David Davis. The National Centre for Farmer Health based in Hamilton was established in 2008 after a significant contribution of $1 million was offered by the respected local philanthropist Mr Geoff Handbury. It also secured $2.4 million from the state government. In…

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN VICTORIA

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria Region) presented report, including appendices, extracts of proceedings and minority report, together with transcripts of evidence. Laid on table. Ordered that report be printed. Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — I move: That the Council take note of the report. I am pleased to table the Environment and Planning Reference Committee’s report…

PIONEER ROAD, WAURN PONDS: UPGRADE

I raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Roads in relation to Pioneer Road, Waurn Ponds, near Geelong. The Liberal Party made a commitment of $13.5 million to the community of Waurn Ponds to redevelop Pioneer Road. I have raised this matter with the minister on a number of occasions, and on…

HIGHER EDUCATION: TAFE FUNDING

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — I rise to speak in support of the motion moved by Mr Lenders earlier today. Before I get to the substantive matter, I wish to remind the house that it was only a short time ago — late last year — that the TAFE sector took a substantial financial hit.…

BELMONT PRIMARY SCHOOL: EXPANSION

Last night during the adjournment debate I raised the issue of the much-needed playground expansion at Belmont Primary School and stated this could be done by the education department purchasing a property at 44 Regent Street, Belmont, which is currently on the market. In reply the minister on duty, David Davis, again editorialised and attempted…

BELMONT PRIMARY SCHOOL: EXPANSION

My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Education, and it is in relation to Belmont Primary School and the opportunity for its grounds to be extended. Belmont primary is currently at full capacity and has a long waiting list. The school has wonderful facilities, but it lacks outdoor space for children to…

HIGHER EDUCATION: TAFE FUNDING

Without question, the issue that has occupied my electorate office since the handing down of the state budget earlier this month is the savage cuts to the TAFE sector. The telephone calls and emails from constituents about the impact of the cuts on the Gordon, the South West Institute of TAFE and the Otway Community…

APOLLO BAY P-12 COLLEGE: FUNDING

My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Education and is in relation to Apollo Bay P-12 College. The minister will be aware that in the lead-up to the 2010 state election Terry Mulder, the member for Polwarth in the Assembly, who is now the Minister for Public Transport, made an election commitment…

VICTORIAN CERTIFICATE OF APPLIED LEARNING: FUNDING

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — On a number of occasions I, along with other members of the opposition, have spoken about the disastrous impacts of the Baillieu government’s damaging decision to cut Victorian certificate of applied learning (VCAL) funding for Victorian schools. In early April the front page of the Bellarine Times told yet another…

RICHARD ‘DICK’ WEARMOUTH

I take this opportunity to speak of Richard ‘Dick’ Wearmouth, who passed away on 5 April this year. In 1944, aged 18, Dick began playing football with Footscray Football Club where he won a Gardiner Medal for the best and fairest in the Victorian Football League reserve competition in his very first year. After taking…

SHIRE OF MELTON: EARLY CHILDHOOD INFRASTRUCTURE

My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development and is in relation to early learning infrastructure in the shire of Melton, which is at the eastern end of the electorate of Western Victoria Region. I have been made aware of recent applications that the shire has made for…

HOUSING: FIRST HOME OWNER BONUSES

My member statement is in relation to the first home builders bonus. A recent report was commissioned by the McKell Institute, and it found that two-thirds of Geelong residents under the age of 35 will never be able to achieve homeownership due to the costs of purchasing a home. Quoted in the Geelong Advertiser of…

TOYOTA AUSTRALIA: JOB LOSSES

My adjournment matter this evening is directed to the Premier. It deals with a very serious matter, and that is a matter I raised earlier today in relation to Toyota. Without repeating my members statement, I refer the Premier to the contents of my members statement so that he is acquainted with the background and…

TOYOTA AUSTRALIA: JOB LOSSES

I have, in one capacity or another, been associated with the vehicle industry in this state for some 25 years. It is an industry that prides itself on having world best practices and has some of the most sophisticated industrial agreements in this country. Voluntary redundancy instead of compulsory redundancy has been the norm in…

HOSPITALS: WAURN PONDS

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — My question is to the Minister for Health, David Davis. I ask: does the minister stand by his statement that the construction of a new public hospital at Waurn Ponds will have commenced by the end of this parliamentary term? Hon. D. M. DAVIS (Minister for Health) — I thank…

SEA VIEW HOUSE, PORTLAND: FUTURE

My adjournment matter this evening is directed to the Minister for Health, David Davis. It relates to Sea View House in Portland. As the minister would be aware, issues around the future of Sea View House have been the basis for community concern for at least the last 15 months or so. I have read…

HELEN DAVIS

I rise to pay tribute to Helen Davis, who passed away last week. Helen was a lifelong union and community activist. Helen’s working life in Victoria started at Mistral Fans, where she became a shop steward for over 300 people, serving them for more than eleven and a half years. Then in the early 1980s…

REPORTING DATE

By leave, I move: That the resolution of the Council of 5 April 2011 requiring the Environment and Planning References Committee to inquire into, consider and report on environmental design and public health in Victoria within 12 months be amended so as to now require the committee to present its final report by 31 May…

BARWON VALLEY SCHOOL: RECREATION FACILITIES

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — My adjournment matter this evening is directed to the Minister for Education and relates to recreational space at the Barwon Valley School in Geelong. A concerned parent of a young man attending his last year at the school recently wrote to the Geelong Advertiser expressing concerns about the lack of…

MENTAL HEALTH: ADVICE LINE

The Baillieu government’s decision to shut down Victoria’s only dedicated 24-hour mental health advice line is nothing short of a disgrace. At a time when governments should be supporting vulnerable members of our community, the Baillieu government has seen fit to abolish, without consultation, a very important support service for those Victorians suffering mental illness.…

COMMUNITY STONEWALLED ON TORQUAY HIGH SCHOOL

After 15 months of complete and utter debacle by the Baillieu Government on the new Torquay Secondary School, the Torquay community’s question of when their new school will be ready continues to remain unanswered. Speaking in Parliament today, Member for Western Victoria, Gayle Tierney has again raised the concerns of Torquay families after receiving numerous…

SCHOOLS: TORQUAY

After 15 months of complete and utter debacle by the Baillieu government on the new Torquay secondary school, the Torquay community’s question of when its new school will be ready remains unanswered. To say that the school community in Torquay is frustrated with the Baillieu government’s lack of communication and information would be a gross…

RAIL: MARSHALL STATION

My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Public Transport, and it is in relation to the Marshall railway station, which is located south of Geelong. It is the last train station from Melbourne for services that do not continue through the south-west to Warrnambool via Colac. Each week 138 services stop at the Marshall…

VICTORIAN FAMILIES STATEMENT

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — I too will make a statement on the government’s 2011 Victorian Families Statement, and I will begin by talking about what matters to families. I am going to concentrate my remarks on two paragraphs that are contained in section 1. The report describes how families are quite different from each…

JIM MELBOURNE

I take this opportunity to congratulate our most recent Stawell Citizen of the Year, Jim Melbourne, who was awarded this great honour on Australia Day this year. Jim Melbourne is a long-time resident of Stawell with a particular passion for history. Under Jim’s guidance the Stawell Historical Society is now considered to be the best…

EMPLOYMENT: GEELONG

My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Ports, Dr Napthine, and it is in relation to the Geelong port. On 27 July 2011 the minister was in Geelong to officially launch a discussion paper released by the coalition government on the relocation of the roll-on, roll-off car trade from Melbourne to the…

VICTORIAN HONOUR ROLL OF WOMEN: INDUCTEES

I also take this opportunity to mention the significant number of women from Western Victoria Region who were recently inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. I congratulate them as they join the ranks of other important women from the region such as Vida Goldstein, Henrietta Dugdale, Fanny Brownbill, Josie Black and Jill Smith.

BELLARINE AGRICULTURAL SHOW

On Sunday I had the pleasure of attending the 2012 Bellarine Agricultural Show. Unlike the past few years, the rain held off and a good time was had by all. Livestock and horse competitions were fiercely fought, only to be matched by the high quality of horticultural and cooking exhibits. Traditional handicrafts were displayed and…

EMERGENCY SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2011

It is a pleasure to rise this morning and speak on the Emergency Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2011, which amends several acts, including the Country Fire Authority Act 1958, the Metropolitan Fire Brigades Act 1958, the Victoria State Emergency Service Act 2005, the Emergency Management Act 1986, the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority Act 2004, the…

RAIL: NORTH SHORE STATION

On 17 February this year the Geelong Advertiser revealed that the Baillieu government has scrapped the money set aside by the previous Labor government to upgrade North Shore station, Geelong’s only interstate railway station, which services the Overland. North Shore station was one of three Victorian stations the previous Labor state government chose to redevelop…

GAS: TERANG SUPPLY

My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Regional and Rural Development. It is in relation to the extension of natural gas to Terang in western Victoria. Prior to the last state election the member for Polwarth in the Legislative Assembly, Mr Mulder, who is now the Minister for Public Transport, promised the…

POLICE: GEELONG AND SURF COAST REGIONS

Police in the Geelong region do a marvellous job, but they can do only so much. In 2011 just over half of all offences committed in Geelong and the Surf Coast were committed by young members of our community. More than 80 per cent of thefts from motor cars in Geelong were committed by young…

EMPLOYMENT: GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE

Over the past 15 months the people of Victoria have come to know the Baillieu government as a government that is very idle, that is big on reviews but that holds little interest in actually getting things done. This might be understandable for the first six months when trying to get a new government in…

POLICE: GEELONG REGION

My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, and it is in relation to the government’s promise to deliver extra police officers to the Geelong and Surf Coast region. I have raised this matter in a number of forums over recent months, but I feel compelled to raise it again…

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY: GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE

This afternoon I raise the Baillieu government’s decision to increase the price of car registration and stamp duty for non-luxury cars from December 2011. When Australian manufacturers, and in particular those in the automotive industry, are facing difficult times this decision is indicative of a government that lacks the knowledge to support manufacturing in Victoria…

BAILLIEU GOVERNMENT FAILS ON POLICE PROMISE

Member for Western Victoria, Gayle Tierney has slammed the Baillieu Government for 14 months of inaction on increasing the number of police in Geelong. Ms Tierney said the Coalition campaigned on a law and order platform in Geelong promising more police but has failed spectacularly and after 14 months of absolute neglect the region is…