Column - 09 Dec 2011

Police across the New England Local Area Command (NELAC) will have another weapon in their fight against crime with the introduction early next year of Project eyewatch, a Facebook version of Neighbourhood Watch. The Project which has been on trial in 10 LACs since August and has recorded over 6.5 million hits, with 40,000 fans and new fans joining at the rate of 10,000 a month. We heard details of the scheme at last week’s Community Safety Precinct Committee (CSPC) meetings in Armidale and Glen Innes. I am sure our communities will become fully involved when the Project is introduced in late January, early February. Police rely on community support and through this project people will be able to use their smart phones, computers and tablet devices to keep the police informed. In the trial areas there has been a strong and positive response from farmers and other members of rural communities. People will still be able to report crime through Crime Stoppers (1800 333 000) and seek urgent help through Triple Zero (000) and the Police Assistance Line (131 444). This is an additional way the community can be involved in fighting crime. It makes a lot of sense to use social media for this purpose as it is quick, effective ,far reaching and has a 24/7 capability. The system will operate across the New England Local Area Command and will allow police and communities to exchange information on dedicated Facebook pages. Civilian coordinators will be appointed to assist with the rollout.

At the CSPC meeting we also heard welcome news that there have been cuts in all categories of crime, including alcohol related, across the Command for the first time. I usually report that crime statistics keep falling except for alcohol fuelled incidents but even that has been reduced due to the diligence of the local police working with the community. It is a great result and the Command has become the top performer in the Western Region. It’s a good time for us to welcome 16 new probationary constables who will be arriving here for duty next week.

Glen Innes, Guyra and Uralla Local Government areas have been added to the Natural Disaster Declaration list following another week of heavy rain. The three declarations bring to six the number of councils in our area now declared with Armidale Dumaresq, Gwydir and Inverell Councils included last week. The inclusion means a range of assistance is available to Councils, community groups, primary producers and individuals under the Natural Disaster Relief Scheme. The ongoing wet weather is making hard work for the councils by delaying remediation work on roads and bridges across the Electorate. While the assistance now available to these six councils and primary producers will relieve some of the financial burden of repairs, the recovery program is now in need of dry weather to get underway. Information about the assistance available through Natural Disaster Declarations is available from my office – 6772 5552.

Although there are a number of benefits offered through the Disaster Declarations our councils will be hard put to meet the full repair bill for the roads and bridges that have been so extensively damaged. I have made representations to the state Minister to work with the Commonwealth on a special scheme to extend the Roads to Recovery program to provide some emergency assistance funding. With the repair bill for roads and bridges escalating it is unreasonable to expect councils with their limited resources to bear the ever-increasing costs. The Natural Disaster Relief Scheme is an important source of funds and assistance, however the amount of damage to the roads network is reaching crisis point. Without additional funding our councils will struggle to meet the demands they are facing.

A further $365,651 in state funding for Northern Tablelands arts organisations has been eagerly awaited and is most welcome. The latest allocation brings recently announced arts funding for the electorate to a total $581,195. When I asked in Parliament about the timing of the announcements the Minister gave an assurance they would be imminent. However, many arts groups have asked that the funding be allocated earlier to help with their planning and I have agreed to make further representations on their behalf. The new funding includes $102,500 for Arts North West for operational management of programs;$100,000 for Beyond Empathy for its Indigenous Strategic Project; $55,000 for the Armidale and Region Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place towards its programs; $48,151 for the New England Writers Centre ; $40,000 for the New England Regional Art Museum’s cultural programs and $20,000 for Opera North West towards Opera in the Paddock and concerts in the local area. Previous arts funding announcements include $69,544 for the New England Conservatorium of Music programs; $31,000 to upgrade air conditioning at the New England Regional Art Museum; $10,000 for the North West Film Festival at the Roxy Theatre in Bingara, $94,500 to establish the Museum of Greek Café Culture at the Roxy complex and $10,000 for the New England Writers Centre Youth Online project.

Over the last couple of weeks I have attended many speech days at schools in the local area. They are great occasions for students, staff and the community marking the end of the school year and also the many achievements over that period. I am also so impressed by the dedication of staff and the school community to ensure all students are given the best opportunities to reach their potential. So many students received prizes for their academic and other achievements and I congratulate them all. But as we all know a school is a community in itself and all members make their own contribution which is also quite rightly acknowledged at our local speech days.

The Salvation Army church complex in Beardy St, Armidale including its church, op shop, community kitchen area and storage area is undergoing an extensive upgrade. Last week Divisional Business Manager Lt Ged Oldfield took me on a tour of the site to inspect the work in progress. This is a tremendous project to integrate three old buildings into one complex. The Salvation Army feeds 70 people a week in its community kitchen area and creating more space and better facilities for clients, volunteers and staff has become a priority. I will certainly do my best to find some additional funding from the state government to assist in building the new kitchen which needs be larger and better equipped than the current one to meet the increasing demand. It took the local Salvation Army six years to raise $250,000 towards the $380,000 project . The premises were old and inefficient and creating a one stop shop on the site means that when people come here they will be able to access the church the shop, the community kitchen area and also a newly created community services area all under one roof.