WELCOME TO YOUR ELECTORATE. YOUR COUNTRY. YOUR WORLD.
Greenway. Where does the name come from?
The federal seat of Greenway. Located in North Western Sydney, Australia was created in 1984 and named after noted Colonial architect, Francis Greenway 1777 - 1837, himself a convict who turned his life around virtually on arrival to Sydney in 1814.
Join a discussion about your electorate. Greenway. Located in outer North Western Sydney up to the Hunter Valley. As you will discover, this site is about a lot more than just Greenway and attracts visitors from all around the world. All are welcome to get involved.
Politics transcends boundaries and affects us globally. Take climate change as one example. Or the credit crisis in the USA that drove up interest rates on your mortgage earlier this year. This website is a starting point for creative thinking on a range of topics that affect our lives and how we can improve the situation just by thinking outside the square and influencing the decision makers who work for us.
HOT TOPICS
Rank and File ignored by Head Office in Pre-selecting candidates
The Greenway Federal Electorate Council of the ALP believes that in the best interests of the Labor Party, a rank and file pre selection should be held as soon as possible in accordance with a previous Greenway FEC motion, and similar motions moved by the majority of branches within the new Greenway boundaries.
For many months rumours have circulated in unions, branches and the press that a deal has been done to install Michelle Rowland as the candidate for Greenway without a rank and file pre-selection. This was confirmed by Senator Mark Arbib to FEC President Ron Alder.
The members require our candidates to have more substance than having been in Young Labor with Mark Arbib, the system that has given the ALP Reba Meagher and Joe Tripodi.
Former Federal Member for Greenway and Labor Party Life Member Frank Mossfield said: “Placing candidates in Western Sydney seats without rank and file pre-selections is a discourtesy to ALP Branch members who provide campaign workers and contribute financially to election campaigns at Federal, State and Local Government elections.”
A public meeting is being arranged for Party and union members and Friends of Labor in support of the Greenway FEC’s call for a rank and file pre-selection.
The Greenway FEC is disappointed that Senator Arbib should speak disparagingly about our previous candidate Michael Vassili who worked 17 hour days during the 2007 federal campaign. Michael Vassili won a hotly contested 4 candidate pre-selection ballot in 2007.
It is easy to ascertain the effort put into the last Greenway Election by analysing the result. The previous Liberal margin of 11.5% was reduced to 4.5% but there were swings of up to 15% in booths in the Liberal heartland of the Hawkesbury. The swing to Labor in Greenway was well above the statewide and nationwide swing.
To sum up, local Labor Party members will not be satisfied with anything less than a rank and file pre-selection.
To register your thoughts you can vote in our poll above or have your say at Rank and File
"What do you want for your community?"
THE GREAT PETROL RIP-OFF
Kevin Rudd has been crucified for FuelWatch scheme and it was not made any easier when petrol commissioner Pat Walker resigned just months into his new role citing family reasons. The fact is that whilst the ACCC is busy with its dentures at the toothless tiger clinic, someone needs to keep the Oil companies honest. Surprisingly, its not that hard to do either. As soon as the government or media criticises the Oil companies over dubious prices, miraculously they fall into line dropping the prices almost immediately. Instead, they creatively feed the opposition a story that Fuel Watch will cause prices to rise! How? Because they will reduce the number of independents out there who make prices more competitive...only problem is...there are hardly any independents left, they started disappearing years ago, firstly when developers bought up the sites and secondly, when Coles and Woollies entered the market. So the theory is rubbish...For more on petrol, CLICK HERE
INFRASTRUCTURE AND YOUR SUPER!?
Governement's, Federal and State are always crying poor and it's no wonder...compared to say 50 years ago...in healthcare if you had a heart attack, you died, cancer, forget it, medicine was unsophisticated...at school, there was the basics, Maths, English, History, Science, Geography, Economics, Music, that was about it...Medicine has improved enormously, education has grown exponentially. We are more letigious, we have far more rules and safety regulations in work, school and life in general. Society demands it and governments wear it. So, some things just don't make the grade...Roads are now sent out to private enterprise, which always bugs motorists who pay petrol taxes, registration fees, fines, parking levies, RTA fees all to wards improving roads only to be slugged tolls to pay for roads...its just not fair...
There has to be a better and fairer way. There is...to read on CLICK HERE
SUPERANNUATION AT 15%
The housing slowdown has proven something to a lot of Australians. That is, despite how hard you work, home ownership or wealth creation through property investment may just be out of reach of many hard working people. Yes, there are people who simply do not earn enough, have large expenses and do not have any chance of being gifted a large deposit or an inheritance to help them out. There retirements are also going to be difficult, they may never actually retire. In order to improve the chances of Australian's hopes in retirement, legislation must be introduced to raise the superannaution minimum guarantee to 15% and urgently. To read on CLICK HERE
ENVIRONMENT, SOLAR PANELS AND NO COST TRANSPORT!
Climate change is finally on the agenda and its seems that a carbon trading scheme is the first thing on the agenda. There is going to be a swag of innovations and products coming to uas over the next decade and we really need to embrace this. Obviously we will and there are plenty. But did you know that in 2009 a Japanese car manufacturer plans to release a plug-in (electric only) car to Australia. Yes, it will cost money to charge it from home... but what if you could use solar or wind power to charge it instead of the stuff from the grid? For more information CLICK HERE
Did you see Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"? Did it make you want to change your habits?
THE ECONOMY, INTEREST RATES AND KEEPING YOUR HOME
We all jumped in and bit off more than we could chew. it was the Australian way. The ease of credit, a booming economy, a nation more than ever focussed on getting ahead. However, a global credit squeeze and an oil crisis later and the whole world gets spooked forcing many people to breaking point. The results so bad many people cannot even sell their homes to jump ship as the mortgage is worth mor ethan their house. So they hang on - by their fingertips, but many cannot, walking away, sometimes dragged as if like criminals. It's a national disgrace. In fact its a global disgrace. Unfortunately, in a capitallist society, the victims are merely a part of the market and the market always sorts itself out...How inhuman? There are ways to protect yourself for the future, for the present, there are strategies, there are organisations, there is always hope. to read on CLICK HERE
Income: Are higher wages needed just to keep up? Tax relief - do we pay too much or could a government help us more?
Financial hardship: Do you need help with your mortgage? Are you struggling with debt? Could tax deductible mortgage payments (interest component) be the answer? Or what about accessing your superannuation to keep the wolves at bay?
WORK CHOICES, KEEPING YOUR JOB AND EARNING MORE MONEY
Now that the Libs are out, are we any better off? Are we safer at work? Yes and No. How do we earn more money? How do we keep our job? How do we escape this NEW mentality that were all replaceable? when did we become like the USA? CLICK HERE
Job security: Are you worried about keeping your job? Or with such low unemployment figures, do you think "Workchoices" is not such a big deal
YOUNG FAMILIES, MAKING A PLAN AND SEEING IT HAPPEN
Childcare: Do you want more child care places? Or cheaper child care? How much do you spend a week on childcare? Is it worth it?
PROPERTY - BUY OR RENT - WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE IN SYDNEY?
Subdivisions: Should you be allowed to subdivide your farm? Would this affect who you voted for?
COMMUTING - TOLLS - PUBLIC TRANSPORT - IS THERE A BETTER WAY?
Transport: Do you want better transport? Public transport or roads? What do you think of the new T-way? Will it make a difference to your travel times and habits?
SPEEDING TICKETS AND FINES
Driving: As if it not expensive enough to maintain a car when you have rises fuel costs, insurance premiums and excesses, greenslips or complusory insurance with rising premiums and falling cover, toll prices rising everywhere above the CPI and now changes to speeding laws that really hit the 10 - 15km/h over the limit really hard as do the 21 - 30km/h mark. Couiple this with projected revenue increases factored into the NSW state busget and you just know that police blitzes in the name of safety will be the order of the day. Roads get slower, traffic thicker and the government and business refuse to acknowledge that proactive planning such as staggered business hours would go a long way towards clearing up the clog. Find out about the new speeding penalties on our Speeding page
