One of the great benefits of Australia's $1 trillion economy being well managed is that when a world-first cancer vaccine comes along we can afford to fund it. The cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil was invented in Australia by 2006 Australian of the Year Professor Ian Frazer, and his late research partner Jian Zhou. It has proved 100 per cent effective in treating most forms of the virus that leads to cervical cancer.  It is based on the discovery that the human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection, can cause the disease.

I am extremely pleased the Australian Government recently announced it will fund Gardasil for girls and women aged 12 to 26 from 2007. Gardasil will be put on the National Immunisation Program for 12 and 13 year olds to be delivered through schools. There will also be a two year catch-up program for 13 to 18 year olds in schools and 18 to 26 year old women through GPs.  The Australian Government has a proud vaccination record -our expenditure on vaccines is up from $13 million in 1996 to $254 million in 2004-05.

Australia has one of the best national cervical screening programs in the world. We currently have the second lowest incidence of cervical cancer and the lowest mortality rate from cervical cancer in the world. But still cervical cancer kills 270 Australian women each year, and is a traumatic experience for those women who survive the disease.  Making this vaccine available will further protect Australian women in the future. I have an information brochure on my website which you can access here.

The last two years the generosity of Wentworth residents has enabled the drive to deliver hundreds of non-perishable food items to those most in need.    Anyone who wishes to make a contribution to this year’s drive can deliver non-perishable food items to my electorate office located at level 1, 5A Bronte Rd Bondi Junction. The office is opposite the Myer entrance to Westfield and next door to Easts Leagues Club.

In keeping with the Christmas theme I have some tips on Christmas safety on my website covering things such as toy safety, travel and safety in the backyard which you can access by clicking here

Earlier this year I hosted a graffiti roundtable in my electorate office to try to find the best way to combat graffiti. See my release here. Since that meeting several local councils have pushed ahead with anti-graffiti measures that formed part of the discussion.

Wentworth unemployment down to 2.6%

Wentworth’s unemployment rate has been halved since the Coalition came to power in March 1996. The latest electorate unemployment statistics for the September quarter this year, released by the Parliamentary Library, show we now have a 2.6 per cent unemployment rate, down from 2.7 per cent last quarter, and a historic low.
 
This compares to 5.3 per cent under Labor in 1996. Significantly not one electorate in Australia recorded a double digit unemployment rate this quarter compared with 45 under Labor in March 2006. The Howard Government has created an economic climate which supports the enterprise of the Wentworth community and committed local businesses. It continues to secure real benefits for hard-working Wentworth residents and their families.

The drought that stalks southern Australia today is the most severe in our recorded history. The reductions in run off over recent years have been beyond the contemplation of all but the most urgent and apocalyptic forecasters.  This year the inflows into the Murray River will be only 9% of the long term average; half the previous all time low.

These uncertain times are here to test our mettle. Anyone can chart a course in calm waters. This climate demands resilience and ingenuity, vision and action. Prime Minister John Howard showed that kind of leadership a month ago. As the hopes of a break in the drought drained away, he called all the affected States together for a summit in Canberra. He wanted all the Murray Darling Basin Premiers, their water ministers and officials to hear first hand and at the same time the grim news about the river. The governments established a group of high level officials drawn from the first ministers’ departments and the Murrray Darling Basin Commission to develop contingency planning to secure urban and town supplies during 2007-2008. This group will report to the Prime Minister and the Premiers next week.

When this drought has, hopefully, been replaced by somewhat wetter days, the long term commitments made at the meeting will remain of great significance. Probably the biggest single issue in Australian water planning is the almost invariable failure to recognise recent changes in our climate. We need to recalibrate our climate assumptions based on the experience of today. The meeting agreed to get that task of recalibration under way and the CSIRO has been commissioned to report progressively by the end of 2007 on sustainable yields of surface and groundwater systems within the MDB in light of changes to our climate. The CSIRO will give us a Basin-wide estimate of water resources on an individual catchment and aquifer basis, taking into account the new and drier times in which we find ourselves. We need that knowledge, so that water allocations are sustainable, the value of entitlements is not eroded and environmental objectives can be achieved.

We also need to let the market do its work in ensuring scarce water is directed to its highest value use. Trade in permanent entitlements has been very slow to grow because of the administrative complexities of transferring entitlements and barriers preventing trade across state borders. Those barriers are, at long last, coming down. The Commonwealth has suspended competition payments to SA, Victoria and NSW for not meeting their commitment to enable interstate trade by the agreed date of July 2006. All three states have now agreed in principle to enable that trade and at the summit they committed to trade being fully operational by January 2007.

Click here for my release on the key outcomes from the Southern Murray Darling Basin summit.

This week I have attended speech days at Scots College, Woollahra Public School, Glenmore Road Public School, Paddington Public School, Darlinghurst Public School, Rose Bay Primary School and Rose Bay Secondary College. It was wonderful to share in recognising the achievements of our students over this year. 

Moriah College opening

Along with 200 guests including students, teachers and parents I attended the opening of Moriah College's magnificent new primary school campus in Queens Park. I spoke and read out a message on behalf of the Prime Minister which is in the speeches section of my website here For pictures click here  

Report into Botany Aquifer 

Anyone who regularly receives my e-newsletter, knows of my passion for exploring the northern end of Sydney's Botany Aquifer as a potential new water source for our city. In our worst recorded drought we have a responsibility to explore the potential of a diverse range of water sources to achieve greater water security.

The Botany Sands Aquifer is the only significantly large freshwater aquifer in the Sydney region and is located between Botany Bay and Centennial Park. It can be best understood as a large underground dam, a sandy sponge. Every cubic metre of the saturated sands contains around 300 litres of water and because of the porosity of the sands the water moves through the aquifer relatively quickly. The catchment of the aquifer has significantly higher rainfall than the catchment for Waragamba, where Sydney's main dam is located. Every gigalitre of water that could be extracted from the aquifer is one million tonnes of water that does not have to be transported from Warragamba Dam and represents a significant saving in energy as well as water.

The National Water Commission commissioned a report into the potential of the aquifer which I released this week and can be accessed through my website here

It found the aquifer has the potential to provide an additional source of water for Sydney and there is considerable potential for increasing the sustainable yield of the aquifer by diverting additional stormwater into the sand beds, and by treating wastewater to drinking water standard and then infiltrating it into the sand beds as well. Multiple recharge schemes of this nature could each contribute 5 megalitres of water a day. Without recharge the report found the sustainable yield of water from the aquifer to be about fourteen billion litres of water each year.

The virtue of developing the Botany Aquifer is that it is a large ground water resource, it's sustainable which means you can use it year in, year out, and you can recharge it, which you can't do with a fractured rock aquifer. Most importantly it would represent a local sustainable water source. If you can find local water sources, close to their customers, then you save an enormous amount in terms of infrastructure and expense, because you don't have to haul or pump that water from somewhere else. For my release on the Botany Aquifer report click here and pictures from the launch here 

Green Corps and Smart Approved WaterMark

Besides the launch of the report into the Botany Aquifer I also launched a Centennial Park Green Corps project and a Smart Approved Water Mark, which is a national accreditation symbol that will help consumers identify outdoor products and services that save water.  The Smart Approved Water Mark is the only national scheme where products are assessed by an independent panel of experts and I would encourage businesses to explore if their products qualify for the mark, to give people assurance they are using a water-friendly product. For my release on the mark click here

The Green Corps project in Centennial Park involves ten young people conducting work for six months that will improve pond water quality, reduce pest species and recreate a habitat conducive to the local flora and fauna. These young people are to be congratulated for their participation in the programme which helps preserve the environment while teaching valuable life and work skills. My release is here and photos are here.