Speeches

I contribute to debate on the Liquor Amendment (24‑hour Economy) Bill 2020. The year 2020 has not exactly given us much to laugh about. However, one of my favourite memes doing the rounds suggests that when figuring out the best way to shut down a city and impose a night‑time curfew Victorian Premier Dan Andrews asked New South Wales. For far too long Sydney has risked its reputation as a fun, safe and noisy global city through its approach to liquor regulation and its refusal to acknowledge the benefits of its night-time economy.

This bill is about transforming a disused rail line into a key dynamic and living piece of active transport infrastructure. It will create jobs and opportunity, both during construction and into the future. It will enhance protections for the heritage elements along the line and create a fascinating story for future generations.

COVID-19 has caused widespread uncertainty and people are rightly looking to our public institutions for consistency and confidence. Our criminal justice system is under scrutiny as we interrogate the ways it often lets down the most vulnerable, including our First Nations people. The Black Lives Matter movement calls out the unforgivable racism in our criminal justice system—racism that cannot be denied and that demands urgent action.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put our aged care system on a knife's edge. As we know, older people are particularly susceptible to the virus, and protecting aged care settings from infection is crucial.

Students at Tempe High School, Tempe Primary School and Ferncourt Primary School will be safer on their walk to school thanks to a new pedestrian crossing on Richardson Crescent in South Marrickville.

The new Marrickville Library has been awarded the prestigious NSW Premier's Prize in this year's 2020 NSW Architecture Awards.

This petition sends, yet again, a clear message to the Government that the people of New South Wales are fed up with its addiction to polluting toll roads.

Congratulations to Roxanne McMurray, Professor Simon Chapman, Peggy Lane and Daniel Lahood; all of whom have been named as this year's Inner West Council Citizens of the Year.

Community pantries has sprouted across the inner west, providing food and essential items for those who have lost income, are self-isolating, or just need a helping hand.

Congratulations to Charlie Moore in Year 8 at Marrickville High School, who has won the secondary prize at Inner West Urban Photography Competition with his photograph titled "Old and New parallel".