Unfortunately the Member for the South Coast, Shelley Hancock, absented herself from the chamber for the short time that the the presenter of the petiton, Jodie McKay, was given to speak to the matter.  

I am not sure if there was an urgent meeting Ms Hancock had to attend but public transport is a critical issue for those living in and travelling to the South Coast and we would have welcomed her input to the discussion.

The parliamentary secretary for the Illawarra, Gareth Ward, directed comments and questions directly to the gallery and was criticised by the Deputy Speaker. 

He did not offer any constructive ideas to progress public transport in the region apart from talking about more train carriages.

There was no proposal put forward by the Liberal-National government to progress the matter which is very disappointing given the length of time people in the area have already been waiting to see an electric train service along all of the South Coast line.

Unions Shoalhaven will continue to gather signatures for a subsequent petition and continue to lobby for this critical piece of infrastructure in our growing area.

A report in the SCR indicates the Shoalhaven City Councillors have been deliberating over a proposed increase to council staff wages.

Ironically, the increase recommended, costing between $2 and $4 million would be on top of standard annual pay rises afforded to local government workers.

A further report by South Coast MP Shelley Hancock that NSW Public Sector Employees will receive 10 days’ domestic family violence leave per year on top of their already generous leave entitlements. Further reports state council’s salary table has failed to keep pace with remuneration offerings within and outside the industry.

What a load of bollocks. Local government employees already enjoy over generous salary, superannuation and leave entitlements that those in the private sector can only dream about.

The private sector pay increase come from Fair Work Commission decisions based on  negotiated agreements which include productivity and affordability assessments.

It would appear our councillors are prepared to let the ratepayers foot the bill.

In support of my assessment, consider this. Declare all council staff position vacant and advertise them at their existing salary, including all other entitlements, and watch the avalanche of applications come in for same .

As a result councillors can then assess how disadvantaged the current staff are as against their private sector counterparts.

I agree rubbish dumping is a serious problem but it appears the solution to it is seen as too difficult by some. I recall during a council meeting a couple of years ago with regard to rubbish dumping and the Heritage Estates that when I mentioned cameras as a solution I was howled down by Councillor Proudfoot. I mentioned this was the place where old TVs and mattresses go to die and showed photos as proof. At that time motor vehicles still had access to that area although that is now not the case. However, I mentioned the installation of cameras to identify offenders and vehicles, to be followed by prosecution and public naming of these individuals in the same manner as drink driving and drug offenders in order to show all their illegal activities were being recorded, that idea was never considered. That solution should apply to all well-known dumping areas instead of mere signs.signs will not provide an answer as a means of stopping this type of offence.