After a COVID-19 exposure, NSW Parliament shut down on 23 June and only a few weeks later the Charlestown electorate was plunged into lockdown. It was 111 days before MPs were allowed to return! Although I wasn’t able to be in the Chamber, my staff and I kept supporting you while we were working from home. Still, it was great to get back to Parliament starting from 12 October - albeit virtually - to represent your interests in our Parliament hold the Government to account!

• I spoke about the 2021-22 NSW Budget, which was a missed opportunity to rebuild the State after the devastation of COVID-19. Our area needs stronger investment in schools, infrastructure such as roads and services like public transport—I called on the Government to help our community build back stronger.
• In particular, I have highlighted the need to investment in maintaining existing public housing properties and building new stock. Everyone deserves a safe, secure place to live, and building new public housing will not just help tackle homelessness but be a major boost to the local economy.
• I also spoke about the importance of keeping public assets in public hands. Privatisation can be harmful to a community, as we in Charlestown learnt firsthand when Newcastle Buses was sold!
• While it may seem like something we have moved past, as many as 1,900 people in Australia are living in conditions of modern slavery. Back in 2018, the NSW Parliament passed the Modern Slavery Act. This piece of legislation required businesses with annual revenue of $50 million or more to submit a report outlining what they have been doing to cut modern slavery out of their supply chains. Unfortunately, the legislation never came into force. I spoke in favour of a Bill to make the Modern Slavery Act the law of the land—and in favour of amendments to that Bill which would prevent the law from being watered down!
• I also spoke in support of a petition calling for reforms to education and the law around sexual assault and consent. The signatories of the petition were calling for a model of enthusiastic consent to be included in the law, a call supported by the NSW Law Reform Commission. It’s been a long road, but in October the Attorney General announced legislation to finally get it done.

IMAGE: Jodie Harrison MP helping to dish out hot meals at Our Community Place in 2021.