Bernie Ripoll - Federal Member for Oxley
BERNIE RIPOLL MP - 2008 COMMUNITY ANNUAL REPORT
For a downloadable copy of Bernie Ripoll's 2008 Community Annual Report please CLICK HERE
 
YOUR GOVERNMENT: ONE YEAR ON - A MESSAGE FROM BERNIE RIPOLL MP
 

Twelve months ago the Rudd Labor Government was sworn in, vowing to meet Australia’s future head on.

 

Through responsible fiscal management of the nation’s $1.1 trillion economy we have seen tax cuts delivered to working families in the May Budget, interest rates drop and helped households with the costs of living.

 

 Bernie Ripoll - Federal Member for Oxley
The past year has also seen Labor delivering on all its election commitments including;

 

• Restoring fairness to the workplace

• Investing in urgent infrastructure such as the Ipswich Motorway Upgrade

• Implementing the education revolution

• Ratifying the Kyoto Protocol

• Delivering the long-overdue apology to Indigenous Australians; and

• Fixing our health care system including dental health and local hospitals

 

However, as the year progressed the global financial crisis began to impact on our country significantly.

 

It was important that our Prime Minister acted decisively in these uncertain times and he did so by acting quickly to secure confidence in banking and financial institutions by;

 

• Guaranteeing bank deposits

• Strengthening regulators

• Assisting small business

• Fast tracking infrastructure projects; and

• Supporting first home buyers by tripling the first home buyers grant up to $21,000

 

The Prime Minister also introduced a $10.4 billion Economic Security Strategy to stimulate the economy and help those most in need. The strategy contained payment of at least $1,000 to more than 60,000 people in the Western Corridor – pensioners, seniors, carers, people with disability and families with children.

 

The Western Corridor is a great place to live and with the Rudd Labor Government continuing to work with both in the local and national interest, we are well placed to make the best decisions to secure our nation’s future.

 

I look forward to representing your interests in 2009.
 
WORKING ON BETTER ROADS AND MOTORWAYS FOR THE WESTERN CORRIDOR
 

The Rudd Labor Government is committed to delivering the most important road project in south-east Queensland – the Ipswich Motorway upgrade. We are investing over $2 billion to upgrade the busiest and most congested parts of the Motorway – and as anyone who drives along the Motorway knows, work is already well underway on the Ipswich/Logan interchange and the Wacol to Darra section.

 

The population of south-east Queensland is booming, with an estimated 80,000 cars and trucks using the Ipswich Motorway alone every day, and without action urban congestion in Australia is set to cost nearly $20 billion in lost productivity by 2020.

 

After more than 10 years of the community demanding the Ipswich section of the Ipswich Motorway be fully upgraded, work has finally begun. It has taken a Labor Federal Government to get on with the job of delivering this vital piece of local infrastructure which is of national significance.

 

 

The Ipswich Motorway upgrade between Dinmore and Goodna is also another step closer, with a $92.2 million contract awarded to the project team as an early works package. The contract provides for vital early works to start on this major project, including the supply of pre-cast concrete barriers, relocating public utility services such as underground cables and sewerage pipes, and environmental investigations. A site office for the project has been established at Chalk Street, Redbank.

 

As more projects move towards completion, you will begin to experience greater efficiency, reliability and safety on the Ipswich Motorway and Centenary Highway as new bridges, overpasses, service roads and free-flowing interchanges are constructed.
 
KEVIN RUDD AND BERNIE RIPOLL:
PROTECTING OUR ECONOMY - DELIVERING ON OUR COMMITMENTS
 
Over our first year in Government we have been delivering on our commitment to build a modern Australia, ready to face the challenges of the future.
  • Cutting taxes for working families and low income earners.
  • Building Trade Training Centres in high schools to boost apprenticeship numbers.
  • Abolishing the extreme “WorkChoices” laws introduced by the previous government.
  • Installing new computers for schools with 896 schools already funded for 116,820 computers.
  • Introducing a $480 million National Solar Schools Program to help schools tackle climate change; so far 2,608 have signed up.
  • Securing our water supply by providing funding to build desalination, water recycling and stormwater harvesting projects.
  • Establishing over 1,000 new training places for nurses and providing incentives to encourage thousands to return to work.
  • Ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, developing the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and investing in renewable energy.
  • Increasing the first home owner grant to $14,000 and $21,000 for new homes and developing First Home Saver Accounts.
  • Implementing a $12.9 billion plan Water for the Future, which includes restoring the health of the Murray–Darling system.

Australia now faces the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression and we’re taking early and decisive action to protect our economy:

 

  • Guaranteeing deposits in all Australian banks, building societies and credit unions.
  • Injecting $10.4 billion into the Australian economy to stimulate economic activity.
  • Bringing forward $20 billion in major infrastructure investment like rail, roads and ports, to create jobs and boost economic activity.