Last year I organised a community forum on stem cell research. Anyone interested in this topic might like to read the notes I made from the forum. The speakers were Dr David Turner from the School of Medicine at Flinders University, and ethicist Dr Craig Taylor, also of Flinders University.
Posted in The Big Picture, National Issues | Post a Comment »
On Friday I will be speaking at a conference on world affairs, organised by the University of Melbourne. The theme of my talk will be that, despite a common conception of Australia and other western democracies as ‘Christian’, these nations are nothing of the sort. Thus the influence of Christianity in the policy formulation in such countries is vastly overrated.
Posted in The Big Picture, International Issues | 1 Comment »
In Parliament this week I proposed legislation to impose fines for anyone who puts advertising material in letterboxes marked ‘No Junk Mail’. The legislation will impose a penalty on the person who puts advertising material in the letterbox, and the distributors of the material. The legislation exempts advertising mail for political, religious or charitable purposes.
Posted in Local Issues, The Big Picture, State Issues | 2 Comments »
The Common Ground housing project was officially launched this week. This is a project inspired by Adelaide Thinker in Residence Rosanne Haggerty whose Common Ground Community in New York City has proved so successful in finding homes for homeless people. The housing project in the new Franklin Street bus station development will provide homes for 38 homeless and low income earners by Christmas. While I commend the Government on this initiative, there remain another 30,000 people on Housing Trust waiting lists. The annual report of the Dept for Families and Communities proudly boasts that 452 new dwellings were added to public housing. Yet this year’s Auditor-General’s Report confirmed that the Housing Trust sold 3,385 properties during the same period!
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After a number of derailments and equipment failures, the Minister for Transport announced that the State Government would take back control of TransAdelaide, the State’s rail operator. TransAdelaide was established by the former Liberal Government as part of its privatisation of public transport. Under the new scheme, TransAdelaide will concentrate on providing rail services, while the Government will run the planning and maintenance of all rolling stock. I agree TransAdelaide certainly needed to be shaken up. They handled the challenges of Oaklands Crossing, in my electorate, very badly.
Posted in The Big Picture, State Issues | 1 Comment »
| November 24, 2007 | ||
| 8:00 am | to | 6:00 pm |
Polling booths will be open from 8.00am to 6.00pm. Polling booth locations can be found by visiting the Australian Electoral Commission’s website at www.aec.gov.au or by phoning 13 23 26. A list of local polling places also will be published in The Advertisr on Friday 23 November.
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In Parliament today I introduced legislation calling for allowances paid to Councillors and Mayors to be based on the number of residents in their council or ward.
At the moment councils can decide on what they pay their elected members, as long as it fits within a broad minimum and maximum amount set by Local Government regulation. Under my formula Adelaide metropolitan Councillors and Mayors would receive an allowance directly related to the number of residents in their council or in the ward they represent.
This is far more equitable than the current system where the size of the council is not considered, only a minimum and maximum base amount. A Councillor on a small council such as Walkerville, with less than six thousand electors, will not have the same workload as someone elected to Onkaparinga Council with more than 118,000 electors.
My legislation could have the added benefit of encouraging smaller councils to look more seriously at voluntary amalgamations.
Posted in Local Issues, The Big Picture, State Issues | 1 Comment »
Legislation introduced into State Parliament today increased the school leaving age to 17. All 16-year-olds will have to be in school, training or work until they reach their 17th birthday. I supported the legislation, but the real challenge will be to provide quality education in schools that is relevant to 16-year-olds. I also questioned why, in the same legislation, the Government increased the fine from $200 to $500 for parents who allow their children to wag school.
Posted in The Big Picture, State Issues | 1 Comment »
