Be proactive, not reactive.

Last summer saw Queensland battered cyclones and storms, the human and financial cost of which is still being counted. As we push ahead into yet another summer of unpredictable whether I would like to remind residents to be mindful of the steps they can actively take to prepare for storm season. Below are some simple steps to help prepare you and your home for this summer.

1) Clear properties of rubbish.
2) Trim trees which could cause damage during high winds.
3) Clear out gutters.
4) Prepare an emergency kit that contains emergency phone numbers, portable radio, spare batteries, torch and first aid kit.

The time to prepare is now.

The SES can assist people with emergency tarping of damaged homes, clearing of fallen trees that are blocking access and cleaning up storm debris. If you require SES assistance for storm damage, rising flood waters, fallen trees on buildings or damaged roofs, call the SES on 132 500. For life threatening emergencies please call 000.

For more information please follow the links below.

State Emergency Service
Emergency Management Queensland
Queensland Ambulance Service
Queensland Fire & Rescue Service
Queensland Police Service
Emergency Management Australia
Emergency Alert
Bureau of Meteorology
Transport & Main Roads
Energex
Telstra
Department of Communities
Lifeline
Australian Red Cross
The Salvation Army

Telstra are hosting a community meeting to help Telstra customers stay in tune with what the company is doing.

On the 14th of December 2011, Brisbane customers will have the opportunity to meet Telstra’s senior local management face-to-face at an interactive customer open session.

Representatives from Telstra Country Wide, Telstra Business and Telstra Operations, Network Planning, Customer Service along with technology experts will be on hand to answer customer questions and discuss their local telecommunication needs.

Telstra Country Wide Area General Manager for Brisbane, Andrew Kelly said Telstra is focused on customer service and customer satisfaction.

The Telstra Country Wide open session will be held at Carina Leagues Club,1390 Creek Road, Carina on the 14th of December from 9am until 1pm.

For more information, please see the flyer invitation here.

National Ride2School Day takes part in Bonner on the 23rd March 2011. This is one of the Country’s biggest and most exciting events to help promote physical activity and the benefits of an active life.

The event last year involved 140,000 children from 1050 Australian schools, many of who were riding to school for the first time. The day celebrates an active journey to school but is underpinned by the serious purpose of enabling children to be routinely more active as part of an effective response to the diseases that threaten our inactive children including obesity and diabetes.

Ride2School Day is about encouraging kids to choose an active way of getting to school, getting them outdoors and exercising every day, with the result that they will be more alert and ready to learn and leading to a nation of healthier, more independent children.

For more information please visit the bicycle network’s Ride2School Day Website here

The Bayside Uniting Church would like to invite all members of the community to their Christmas Day Lunch meeting at 11:30am for a 12:00pm start. If you will find yourself alone on Christmas day, the members of the Bayside Uniting Church would love to spend some time with you and create an atmosphere of love and community.

If you would like to RSVP, please find the invitation here.

It is with pleasure that I rise today to acknowledge the volunteers in the Bonner electorate who have been recognised by the Australian government for their international service. I am sure that everyone in this House will agree with me when I say that volunteers are the lifeblood of the community. I am extremely proud today to formally mention the altruistic volunteers in Bonner who have selflessly given their own time and money to better the lives of those less fortunate around the world.

I was extremely pleased to recently host a morning tea to officially present certificates of appreciation to two such overseas volunteers. Husband and wife team Graeme and Robyn Wescombe of the Rotary Club of Wynnum and Manly were awarded certificates of appreciation owing to their service in northern Vanuatu for the refurbishment of a major health centre. Graeme spearheaded the project, which began in 2006, on behalf of the Rotary Club of Wynnum and Manly. The Rotarians have now completed a full refurbishment of the Paunganisu health centre in northern Efate, which is a monumental achievement. Graeme and up to nine other Rotarians at any given time have travelled to the region on four different occasions over the past five years to complete the health centre refurbishments. The work completed by the Rotarians allows for minor operations to be conducted in the facility as well as providing a safe birthing centre for the entire northern region of Vanuatu, including surrounding offshore islands. The project, I am told, is ongoing and the Rotarians latest improvement is the installation of solar power to the facility. Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Wynnum and Manly for their outstanding contribution to the welfare of those in our Pacific region.

I would also like to congratulate the following Bonner residents who were awarded with certificates of appreciation for their volunteer work overseas: Eric Batten; Debra MacManus; Conor MacManus; Raymond Schneidewin for his contribution in Vanuatu Rotary Club of Wynnum and Manly; Jessie Bynon for her service in Vanuatu to the Society for Disabled People; Anusha Goonetilleke for her contribution in Vanuatu as legal literacy coordinator; Robert Lemon for his service in Fiji to establish a school computer room; Kylie Madge and Nerrida McIntosh for their efforts in South Africa with Australian Volunteers International; Ashley Perkins for his work in Tonga with the Ministry of Finance and National Planning; and Diaan Stewart for her efforts in Timor-Leste as a professional development coordinator.

I would like to encourage all my constituents to actively participate in Remembrance Day, the 11^th November 2011. Remembrance Day commemorates the dead and injured in all wars. Originally known as ‘Armistice Day’, Remembrance Day is an opportunity to reflect on how lucky we are as a nation to have the freedom and peace that we so often take for granted.

Since federation, 103,000 Australians have been killed in action during war service.  Their names are recorded on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial and we can honour their memory on the 11^th hour of the 11 day of the 11 month by observing a minute slice.

The traditional symbol of Remembrance Day is the red poppy.  This symbol is further recognised in the poem “In Flanders’ Fields”. RSL’s in the Bonner electorate hold annual poppy appeals to raise funds for welfare and advocacy work.  Volunteers man stalls at places of business, in shopping centres or at major community events to sell poppies and raise funds for the vital work of the veteran and ex-service community.

If you would like to know more information about Remembrance Day please follow the below links

Remembrance Day Website http://www.remembrance-day.australianwarheroes.com/

Department of Veterans

http://www.dva.gov.au/commems_oawg/commemorations/commemorative_events/remembrance_day/Pages/index.aspx

It is with pleasure I rise this afternoon to acknowledge a most humble man who has accomplished many great things, both for his country and abroad. Allen Warren is a constituent in my electorate of Bonner who does not wish for recognition or acknowledgment, but these are so often the people who deserve it most.

I recently had the pleasure to award Allen with his Australian Defence Medal. As I am sure you are aware, Madam Deputy Speaker, the Australian Defence Medal recognises Australian Defence Force Regular and Reserve personnel who have demonstrated their commitment and contribution to the nation by serving for an initial enlistment period or four years service, whichever is the lesser. Allen undertook his national service in 1955 at Wacol Military Camp in 10 Platoon C Company. This was followed by service in Toowoomba, Beaudesert, Townsville and Kelvin Grove.

Allen is also a deeply spiritual man whose profound belief in God has seen him spend many years bringing hope to Third World Countries the world over. Allen pursued a career in finance throughout his working life but his real love and passion was his spirituality. It was in 1988 when Allen, a devout Christian, decided to follow his true calling and joined the Gideons, with his wife Gwen by his side.

Over the last 11 years Allen has travelled to the far reaches of the world doing great work in over 45 countries, sometimes in very dangerous conditions. I commend Allen’s years of service to his country and to the people of the world whom he has touched through his self-sacrifice.

I would also like to mention several gentlemen in my electorate of Bonner who are recipients of service certificates. Service certificates are just one way that the Australian government expresses its gratitude to those who have given so much in protecting our country’s interests and helping to restore and maintain peace all over the world.

I would like to acknowledge: Mr Ernest Blackwell, for his service during the Second World War; Mr Peter Corran, for his service in the Vietnam War and the Indonesian Confrontation; Mr James Jarrett, for his service during the Second World War; Mr William O’Mahoney, for his service during the Second World War; Mr Richard

Mann for his service to Australia’s efforts in peace operations; Mr Robert Curry, for his service during the Second

World War; Mr Robert Jarrett for his service during the Second World War; Mr William Jarrett for his service during the Second World War; and Mr Patrick Flatley, for his service during the Vietnam War. I would like to praise the bravery and dedication that these men have shown to their country and I would like to thank each of these men for the sacrifices they have made to ensure that the Australian way of life is preserved for future generations.

It is with great sadness that I also take this opportunity to extend my deepest sympathies to the families, friends and colleagues of Captain Bryce Duffy, Corporal Ashley Birt and Lance Corporal Luke Gavin, fellow Queenslanders whose lives were tragically stolen from them on Sunday whilst serving our country. No words can ever make up for the unimaginable pain caused by their loss, which is further compounded by the tragic circumstances surrounding this horror. I know that I speak for the rest of the Bonner community when I say that we are deeply aggrieved by their loss. Their passing is a reminder to us all of the grave dangers our service men and women place themselves in daily to preserve our way of life and to protect our freedom. We owe them a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. My thoughts and prayers are also with the seven soldiers seriously wounded in the incident, and I wish them a speedy and full recovery.

Since I was re-elected late last year, I have noticed that I have received a big increase in the amount of constituent correspondence compared to when I was in office back in 2007. What this shows is that there is a lot of need in our community, a lot of concern about the direction of our economy and a lot of trepidation about the overall future of our country.

When I talk with people in the community, their biggest complaint is that they feel that they are not being listened to by the present Labor government. Many people also have a lot of questions-not just of me but also of Tony Abbott and other members of his shadow ministerial team-that they want answered and they have suggestions for improvement on how this country is run. That is precisely why I was very happy to have Tony Abbott, the Leader of the Opposition, come to visit Bonner and host a community forum late last month. It gave over 300 Bonner community members the opportunity to ask important questions of a man who is the alternative Prime Minister of this country. When listening to the people talk at this forum it became very apparent that the recurrent theme was their concern for the spiralling cost of living. This concern is further heightened by Labor’s impending carbon tax. I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition for coming to Bonner and I want to acknowledge in this House the commitment he demonstrates in travelling all over Australia to talk to real people at community forums like the one he attended in Bonner.

This month I was also fortunate to receive a visit from Senator Fierravanti-Wells, shadow minister for ageing, who hosted an aged-care forum in Carindale last week. The forum had a good mix of providers and members of the public who made it very apparent that the aged-care sector is sick of reviews and is anxious for the government to respond to the Productivity Commission’s report Caring for older Australians. I know that many felt reassured after hearing from the senator that the coalition is committed to the delivery of a high-quality, affordable and accessible aged-care scheme that meets the needs and preferences of older Australians.

In addition, I want to thank Sophie Mirabella, shadow minister for innovation, industry and science, who also hosted a manufacturing roundtable in Bonner last week. The roundtable brought together a diverse range of manufacturers based in Bonner who are each facing a variety of pressures. It was a great opportunity to focus on the concerns of local manufacturers and to add further impetus to the policy development process that the coalition is undertaking to address what Paul Howes aptly terms ‘the greatest crisis in manufacturing since the Great Depression’. All roundtable participants agreed that there are simply too many pressures on Australian manufacturing at the moment and that this government must create better economic settings and incentives to help manufacturing businesses to invest, to compete on a level playing field and to grow.

Another colleague I would like to acknowledge is Sussan Ley, shadow minister for employment participation, childcare and early childhood learning, who visited Bonner recently to meet with family day carers who are deeply concerned about the national quality framework changes and what they mean for them. Three carers who between them have had over 50 years of experience in the childcare industry are a great example of how this government is intent on forcing people like them to gain a certificate level qualification in order to keep their job, denying them the acknowledgement and respect they deserve. Their concern is that this will force out of the industry providers who are so committed to the children they care for and who have the most valuable experience of all-something that no classroom learning can impart.

All of these forums gave the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, and his team the opportunity to hear firsthand the issues that individuals, families and manufacturers are concerned about and, most of all, to hear what needs changing. These community forums would not have been possible without community attendance, and I want to thank all the Bonner constituents who have showed an active interest in the future direction of this country by attending these forums to listen, to have their say and, most importantly, to be heard.

Moreton Bay College is planning its third Carols by Candlelight event to be held on the front ovals of the College on the evening of the 27 November.

All members of the community are welcome to come along and enjoy the roughly 300 student singers and musicians along with a community choir, opera singers Kiren Ewald from X-Factor, Ali Schmeal from Creative Generation and Chrislyn Hamilton from Australian Idol, all compared by Ranger Stacey from Totally Wild.

This FREE event is family friendly and alcohol free and you are encouraged to come along from 5:30pm – bring your own picnic or enjoy the sausage sizzle provided – and enjoy the carols commencing at 7:00pm once dark.

The Fort Lytton Historical Association (QLD) invites you to join them in their Artillery Day celebration. Come down to the Fort Lytton National  Park for a sausage sizzle and morning tea and enjoy the history and excitment as you witness once again the spectacle of the Fort Lytton Cannons fired by the Brisbane Garrison Battery,  “A” Battery, Qld Permanent Artillery and Albert Battery.

The 1st Regiment RAA Band will also be reciting various numbers from their Repertoire in what is sure to be a wonderful day. RSVP’s are essential and more information including where to RSVP can be found here