Authorised by Roger Price MP, Shop 6, 15 Cleeve Close, Mt Druitt
In the News
Parliament to sit 5 days a week
19th December 2007
For the first time since federation, Federal Parliament will regularly sit five days per week.
Mr Price, who has been a long term advocate for more speaking opportunities for backbenchers, has said “these changes will mean that more speaking members will be able to raise more of the issues concerning their electorates”.
The Parliament will sit more days in 2008 than at any time under the Howard Government, allowing for greater accountability and scrutiny.
The Parliament will sit for 82 days in 2008, which will include sittings from Monday to Friday on most sitting weeks.
Under the Howard Government, on average the Parliament sat for 67 days per year.
More sitting days not only improves accountability, it also means the Parliament better structures the consideration of legislation and minimises the need for all-night sittings where critical decisions are made late into the night.
Thank you
28th November 2007
A very heartfelt thanks is extended to all the volunteers who helped put in and do the hard yards to get the party across the line. Without your support and dedication, achieving victory would be close to impossible.
Through this election campaign, Labor was outlining our agenda for the future, plans for Australia’s future - plans on education, climate change, the water crisis, the state of our hospitals, infrastructure bottlenecks and fair and flexible workplace laws.
That agenda for the future now becomes Labor’s agenda for work.
It will cover the challenge of building a world class education system; establishing long term funding arrangements for our public hospital system; commencing the work on building 21st century infrastructure including high speed broadband; action and action now on climate change and water; as well as measures, practical measures, which assist working families under financial pressure, for example on child care.
Let's Make sure Every Vote Counts
12th November 2007
Federal Member for Chifley, Roger Price is reminding voters that they need to complete every square on the green ballot paper in order to avoid casting an informal vote at the upcoming election.
“It would be a real shame for someone to miss out on their vote because of a simple mistake so everyone needs to take care” Mr Price said.
The informal vote for the House of Representatives in Chifley at the 2004 election was 10.1% or 8,043 ballot papers, which was nearly double the national informal vote average of 5.18%.
Unfortunately Chifley has the unenviable honour of being ranked 4th out of Australia’s 150 federal electorates when it came to informal votes.
Federal Labor to Slash Waiting Lists For Elective Surgery
24th October 2007
A Rudd Labor Government will invest $600 million - funded through a $400 million investment from Labor’s Tax Plan for Australia’s Future and $200 million from Labor’s $2 billion National Health and Hospitals Reform Plan - to cut waiting lists for critical elective surgery.
Labor will:
- Invest $100 million in 2008 to conduct an immediate national blitz on elective surgery waiting lists – to help clear the backlog of people who have been waiting longer than the clinically recommended time for elective surgery such as hip replacements.
- Invest $200 million over two years to make systemic improvements to Australia’s hospital system to improve elective surgery throughput in the long-term, including the construction of additional day surgery units.
- Invest up to $300 million in dividend payments to those States and Territories that meet elective surgery waiting list reduction targets within the clinically recommended time by the end of Labor’s four year plan.
Affordable Child Care: A 50% Child Care Tax Rebate Paid Quarterly
22nd October 2007
Under Federal Labor’s $1.5 billion Affordable Child Care Plan, parents will get a 50% rebate for their out-of-pocket child care costs.
Families are already under pressure from soaring mortgage repayments, high petrol prices and the cost of groceries.
With Kevin Rudd’s 50% Education Tax Refund announced last week, the 50% Child Care Tax Rebate gives families in Chifley the help they need from the time children start child care through to when they finish school.
Federal Labor’s Affordable Child Care Plan will:
- Increase the Child Care Tax Rebate to 50% – covering up to $7,500 a year of out-of-pocket costs for every child in Chifley
- Pay the 50% Child Care Tax Rebate quarterly – so parents no longer have to wait one to two years to receive their money.
Howard Government Short-Changing Our Public Hospitals
5th October 2007
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare independent data released today proves the Howard Government has significantly reduced funding on public hospitals.
It has reduced the proportion of its health spending on public hospital funding from 31.5 per cent of its overall health spend in 1996-97 to 27.1 per cent in 2005-06.
The figures overturn the Howard Government’s claim that it is supporting the public hospital system. Today’s statistics paint a damning picture of 11 years neglect.
If the Commonwealth had just maintained its commitment to public hospitals at the level it was in 1996-97 (31.5% of overall health spending), it would be providing an additional $1.6 billion per year for our public hospitals.
