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Country Labor diaLogue

C O E C T I G C O T R Y C O M M I T I E S O C T 2 0 1 2

SW ationals andLiberals cut $1.7 billion

from SW schoolsBarely a week after pledging support for theGonski Report, the SW ationals EducationMinister Adrian Piccoli announced that theywould be cutting $1.7 billion from all SWschools public, independent and Catholic.

These cuts will affect every

school and every student.

these Cuts

wiLL mean:

Larger class sizes;

Less teachers;

Less computers;

Less textbooks; and

Less support staff.

We need your help to campaign

against these cuts.

First, make sure you can

sign our petition at www.

saveourschools.net.au

Then, visit www.stopthecuts.

com.au to see how you

can campaign in your local

community letterbox a

yer, write a letter to your

local newspaper, talk to your

neighbours about the cuts and

share our page on Facebook

or Twitter.

The cuts

to SWschools

announced

by the SW

ationals

Minister

Adrian

Piccoli

are the sharpest contrast

yet of what Country Labor

and the ationals will do in

Government.

While our Federal Labor

Government has doubled

funding to schools since 2007,

the Nationals and Liberals

in NSW are cutting funding

to every school public,

independent and Catholic.

Labor understands that

education is the great equaliser,

and every child should be

able to achieve their potential,

regardless of where they come

from. Our State and Federal

MPs, Senators and MLCs have

all been out at schools, talking

to the community about these

cuts. Make sure you visit

www.stopthecuts.com.au

to download material for your

local area.Courtney Roche

NSW CONT OGANSE

Message fromCountry Organiser

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T OFrrll STOrGOvrmTS lS Ovr TuplcTO OF T pcFcGwy v cOTu T Sw prlmT.

The roads ministe is no ting to ai

the nee oised to diate the

igha b 2016.

This diet ontadits neos

stateents b the peie and

et peie:

This is et anothe attet b theOFae Stone Goenent to t and

igge ot of thei esonsibiit to

gade the pai igha to eent

fthe tagedies on the oad.

undreds of jobs to go,ofces to close,services under threat

Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Steve Whan,

says the OFarrell Governments decision to amalgamate

Livestock ealth and Pest Authorities (LPA), Catchment

Management Authorities (CMA) and Agricultural Extension

services is about massive job cuts in rural SW, ofce

closures and, in the longer term, the likely removal of vital

agricultural extension services.

There is no doubt that hundreds of jobs and dozens of ofces

threatened. This is in direct breach of the promise made before

the election that there would be no jobs cut from DP and no

ofces closed, Steve Whan said.

am not opposed to considered change to the LHPA model, but

it has to be based on better service, not no service. am greatly

concerned about the idea of rolling Extension Ofcers into these

new agencies. Will they go from being permanent Government

employees to contractors? Will they be expected to source funds

from industry bodies to continue their vital work? All unanswered

questions.

Critically for our whole state, there is nothing in these plans

that talks about how we respond to major animal and plant

emergencies. The Minister is breaking down the network thatresponded to the equine inuenza outbreak and which would be

the rst line of defence against devastating threats like foot and

mouth disease.

The Coalition is absolutelycommittedtonotonlycontinuingthe upgrade of

thePacic Highway,butto actually speeding theprocessuptomakesurethejob is done by 2016.AndrewStoner03.02.2011

Government

tries to claim itnever supported2016 duplication

PACIFIC HIGHWAY LIBERAL & NATIONALPARTY LIES

Steve whansays the romised decadeofdecentralisation noliesin tatters

iththeationals embarkingonthe biggest centralisationinp history.

BarryOFarrell08.03.2011

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Maitland rallies against cutstoeducation, healthand public sector jobs

Member for Cessnock, Clayton

Barr and Labor Duty MLC for

Maitland, Sophie Cotsis joinedlocal residents at a rally in

Maitland to protest the OFarrell

Governments unprecedented cuts

to education, health and jobs.

The rally was organised by the

Maitland Community nion Alliance,

which has repeatedly called on local

Liberal MP obyn Parker to ght

these cuts on behalf of families

and workers.

Local families are up in arms

over the OFarrell Governments

$1.7 billion cut to education funding

and $3 billion cut to the health

system. The Maitland community

is also going to be hit hard by the

OFarrell Governments 15,000public sector job losses.

Hunter hospitals will suffer because

the OFarrell Government is ripping

$3 billion out of the health system.

t will be impossible to quarantine

quality health care from funding cuts

of this magnitude, Clayton Barr said.

The people of Maitland are sending

a very clear message to the OFarrell

Government and obyn Parker thatwe wont stand for huge funding

cuts to education and health.

The OFarrell Government has

launched the biggest attack on

education in NSW in more than

20 years. Every single student in

NSW will be affected by this

$1.7 billion cut to education funding.

OFarrell redirects $8.5 millionfrom regional SW to Star Casino

The OFarrell Government

has redirected $8.5 million

in funding that was meant

for regional SW this year to

Sydneys Star casino. This

was revealed in a budget

estimates hearing.

The budget papers also show the

government has cut the budget

for the failed egional elocation

Grants from $187 million to just

$28 million over four years and

reallocated the money away from

regional NSW.

The egional elocation Grant

scheme was always a dud, with

the Deputy Premier Andrew

Stoner today conrming just 1,232

grants have been taken up, well

short of the 10,000 grants per

year the government anticipated.

The OFarrell Government should

be spending the hundreds of

millions of dollars left over from

the grants in regional NSW like it

promised not redirecting it to the

Star Casino, Shadow Minister for

egional and ural Affairs, Mick

Veitch said.

Barry OFarrell should reinvest

the hundreds of millions of

dollars allocated to the egional

elocation Scheme back into

meaningful assistance for regional

communities.

maitlandmprobynpakeundeessuefoangyesidentsatthe

counityally.

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Do you have a story for Country Labor?

Eddie GrahamDinner 2012

Email your story and photos to jay@nswalp.com

TICKET ORDER FORM6pm Friday 19 October 2012 | Keynote Speaker: Dr Mike Kelly AM MP

Garden Court Restaurant, Botanical Gardens, Wagga WaggaTickets must be presented at the door. Tickets: $60 / $45 (Concession)

Please note that tickets need to be booked and paid for by Monday 15 October 2012

Contact: Emily Johnson on 0406 277 539 or Email: eandp4@bigpond.com

Number of Tickets Purchased @ $60 /$45 Total payment enclosed

Name of Ticket Holders:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Please return this form with a cheque or money order payable to Wagga Wagga Branch ALP and send to Wagga Wagga

ALP, PO Box 5540, Wagga Wagga 2650. Please note that tickets need to be booked and paid for by Monday 15 October.

Name:

Campaigning in our communities

CESSOCKBACELOR OF TE YEAR AWARDSCessnock Branchusedanovel campaigningideaduringtherecentCouncil electionswith CountryLaborMemberMarkLyonscomingthird inthe Cessnock Bachelorofthe YearAwards.CessnockMPClayton BarrandMayorBobPynsentjoined otherCountryLaborMemberstosupport him onthenight.

PORTMACqARIE PETITIOS

SOrganiser andPortMacuarieCountry

LaborBranchPresidentarelle Richpresented

more150signaturesonWorkersCompensation

PetitionstoPennySharpeMLCfor deliveryto John

Robertson.Thesignatureswerecollectedfrom

S membersand Council employeesatKempsey

andambuccaShire Councils.