THE sitting Liberal MP since 1984, Louise Markus, will not be contesting Greenway, which became notionally a Labor seat after the 2009 electoral boundary redistribution.
Mrs Markus will instead contest the neighbouring seat of Macquarie.
Created when the size of the parliament was increased in 1984, Greenway is named after the colonial architect Francis Greenway.
The re-drawn district of Greenway covers 84square kilometres in the north-west of Sydney, which is only 3per cent of the area covered by the old Greenway.
North of the M7 Greenway includes newer housing estates around Quakers Hill, Parklea, Stanhope Gardens, Glenwood and Kellyville Ridge. The boundary changes radically altered Greenway’s political complexion which has seen the 4.5per cent Liberal margin from the 2007 election replaced by an estimated 5.7per cent Labor margin.
The 2006 census showed that Greenway had the second highest proportion of children under the age of five (8.2per cent).
Candidates
Michelle Rowland,
Australian Labor Party.
Born and raised locally, Ms Rowland is a senior lawyer with law firm Gilbert and Tobin in Sydney.
She lives in the electorate at Glenwood.
She was a director of the Western Sydney Area Health Service from 2000 to 2004 and is a former local councillor and deputy mayor of Blacktown.
Paul Taylor, Greens
The 24-year-old has lived in the Blacktown area most of his life and is now full-time carer for his disabled father.
Mr Taylor said his experiences with the public health system had driven his involvement in Greens campaigns for improvements to local public health facilities in Greenway.
Jayme Diaz, Liberal Party
Mr Diaz is a legal practitioner who is also involved in helping the community’s young people, particularly those from a Filipino background.
(By The Rouse Hill-Stanhope Gardens News)
(Originally Published in the St Marys Star – Link)
LOCAL Greens candidates aim for their party to secure the balance of power in the Senate in the August 21 federal election.
This follows an agreement whereby Labor will direct its Senate preferences to the Greens in return for their directing lower-house preferences to the government.
The Greens’ Paul Taylor will stand in Greenway, Debbie Robertson in Chifley and Suzie Wright in Lindsay.
Mr Taylor is a full-time carer for his disabled father and said his experiences had driven his campaign for public health improvements.
He is also passionate about climate change.
“Make polluters pay, not households,” he said.
“The Greens have proposed an interim carbon tax as a solution to the deadlock on emissions trading.”
Mrs Robertson wants more funding for mental health and dental services, public transport, education, housing and the disabled, protection of workers’ rights and action on climate change.
Ms Wright, a former psychiatric nurse, is a social campaigner and environmental activist with an interest in climate change.
“Voters need to keep the pressure on governments to act honestly, with principle and to ensure that they act on their election promises,” she said.
COMMUNITY pressure is mounting on retiring Chifley MP Roger Price to oppose the Northern Territory Intervention Welfare Reform Bill in Federal Parliament.
The Greens Party representatives and indigenous leaders joined forces to raise community awareness at a public forum in Tregear on Friday.
The former Howard government introduced the NT National Emergency Response Act in remote Aboriginal communities in 2007, which includes the quarantine of welfare benefits where recipients receive vouchers instead of cash.
Federal MPs will vote in the next two weeks whether to amend the laws to affect all of NT and other selected locations across Australia.
Local indigenous leaders and the Greens Party have grave concerns Mount Druitt could be targeted if the bill is passed to include selected areas nationwide. “It would not only affect the large indigenous population in Mount Druitt but also anyone who receives welfare support,’’said the Greens candidate for Chifley, Debbie Robertson.
“It doesn’t address the causes of disadvantage or independence or social inclusion in the community.”
More community forums will be held in Mount Druitt to spread the word. “Not many people understand the full implications where welfare recipients will be told where to shop and what to buy,” Mrs Robertson said.
“They won’t have full access to their benefits and it will be harder to get off income management.”
She urged Mr Price, who is Mount Druitt and District Reconciliation group patron, to oppose the bill or at least speak on the matter in parliament.
“Will he support the constituents who voted for him or put the Labor Party first?” she asked.
The Star contacted Mr Price for a comment but didn’t get a response before deadline.
(By Kylie Stevens – St Marys Star)
