Greg Jack

I’ve been working with Careflight as an air crewmen assisting the pilots and helping with patient care for 18 months.  I’ll be two weeks shy of two years’ service on the day we finish.

I’ve enjoyed my time out here in the Central West with Careflight. They helped me out with work and gave me an opportunity to get back into emergency services helicopter work. They’re a good operation with good people.

There are a lot of good things going with the service. There’s been a fair bit of innovation in the medical and aircraft sides of the operation, but that’s all going to come to a screaming halt after Labor has had its way.

Labor’s decision to axe Careflight will put me on the lookout for a job. They told us nobody would be unemployed, but like everyone else out here, none of us have been offered a job with the new outfit CHC. They’re making us jump through hoops.

At the moment I’m looking for other work. I’ll probably have to go to Queensland because every other community-based emergency organisation in NSW is looking over their shoulder. I just don’t know how safe my job would be here.

I sent an e-mail to Peter on Australia Day to ask what the Coalition’s position was on Careflgiht. I was really impressed when I got a call to tell me that Peter wanted to come out and tell us his position in person. It was great to meet him and his wife and he gave us the answer we wanted to hear. I’m hoping the Coalition will win the election in March and that Peter Debnam will save Careflight.

Greg Jack
Orange

Today Deb and I were back in regional NSW visiting Orange with Nationals MP Russell Turner. Russell has been the Member for Orange for the last twelve years and has been an outstanding advocate for his community.

In Orange, Russell and I met with representatives from the local Police Association. The Nationals have been fighting hard for more country cops – and it’s no wonder when you look at the top 20 Local Government Areas across the state for the incidents of assault, break and enter, domestic violence, sexual assault, and steal from a motor vehicle.  Rural areas dominate the list.

The local Police here are doing a great job, but they need more support. They know that since 2003 the Government has ripped 650 Police from the service and are only just starting to plug the gaps before the election. Local Police were enthusiastic about our commitment to put 1100 more Police on the street. That’s because they understand that we have a problem when it comes to Law and Order in this state. By putting more Police on our streets and ending Labor’s ‘softly-softly’ approach we’re going to fix that problem.

It was then down to the main street of Orange where I got the chance to meet a lot of local residents. Getting out and about and meeting people across NSW is one of the greatest joys in this job, and it’s the best way to understand how the people of NSW are coping with this Labor State Government.

While in Orange we visited the Careflight base. I’ve been collecting petitions with thousands of signatures from all over the State to save Careflight. Labor’s decision to axe Careflight in favour of a foreign operation defies belief. The team members at Careflight put their soul into their work – saving lives - and it is heartbreaking to see them being turfed out of their jobs by Labor. I assured all of the team members that if we’re elected to Government in March, I’ll be reversing Morris Iemma and Labor’s decision on day one.

We left Orange and drove to Bathurst where we had lunch before officially opening the office of our candidate for Bathurst, Susan Williams. Susan has a strong record of standing up for her community as the Deputy Mayor of Blayney and it’s this fighting spirit she would take to Parliament as the Member for Bathurst.

From Bathurst we drove to Lithgow where we held a community forum at the local Worker’s Club. On arrival we were greeted by a motley band of protesters who’d fallen for Labor’s lies. I set the record straight and explained to them that we’re going to reduce the Sydney bureaucracy through natural attrition so we can put more resources on the frontline and deliver for local communities. We’re not getting rid of any frontline or support staff – we’re going to give them the support they need so they can deliver for the community.

Inside we had a group of community leaders at the forum and it was obvious that the people of the Central West have had enough of Labor’s excuses. Whether it was issues with law and order, Labor’s crippling payroll tax on small businesses, the need to kickstart the economy or Labor’s refusal to work with Local Government, it is obvious that the people of Lithgow want Labor out. They understand that if we want change in NSW to get NSW back in front, we need to start by changing the Government.

After Lithgow we drove back to Sydney along the Bell’s Line of Road. Driving up through the Mountains you get a real understanding of how dangerous this road is after years of inaction by Labor. All throughout the Central West today I was talking to local residents about our initiative to commence the Bells Line of Road expressway. The people in Bathurst and Orange are excited about our initiative - seeing it as a major economic boost that will unlock the Central West.

Coming over the mountains we met with our candidate for the Blue Mountains Michael Paag who sees the upgrade to Bells Line of Road as a big win for the people of his electorate. Michael told me of the concerns local residents had shared with him about the safety of the road and the need to ease traffic congestion through the mountains.

Peter Debnam