|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Tickets to these concerts, which are held each December, and in March during Seniors' Week, are available to seniors 60 years and over. Tickets, which are free, may be obtained through Ticketmaster in person by visiting any of the outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com.au, or by phoning 1300 855 501 (expect delays).
Tickets are strictly limited to a maximum of four per person.
Members of Parliament are offered a limited number of tickets to distribute to seniors in their electorate. If you would like to enter a ballot to receive any surplus tickets, please contact my office.
Are you interested in attending events, which are cost-free, for people aged 55 years and over? Bookings are required for the events listed in Lake Macquarie Seniors Program February 2010.
Are you a member of a club, or a community / Interest group operating in the Lake Macquarie electorate (eg pensioners, Probus, Lions, RSL etc)?
If so, by ensuring my office has your organisation's contact details your group can be kept up to date with information which could be of assistance. 
If so, are you or your group aware that there is new legislation governing community groups - the Associations Incorporation Bill 2009 which was introduced on 7 April this year.
The new laws improve accountability and financial stability governing community services and groups. Incorporated groups can include community groups such as sporting and interest clubs, service clubs and non-government organisations.
Click on the link to view the Explanatory Notes and to view the legislation click on Associations Incorporation Bill 2009
The Public Consultation Draft Retirement Villages Regulation 2009 and the Regulatory Impact Statement will be of interest. Click on Retirement Villages.
You can also comment on the Regulation. Comments close 4 November 2009.
 If you need to be appointed as a JP, either within your local community or in your employment, click here to download an application form. |
|
Posted 3 February 2010
NEW LAWS FOR RETIREMENT VILLAGES
Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, is encouraging residents of retirement villages to attend an information session being held at Cardiff RSL from 10:30 to 12:00 on Thursday 18 February.
According to Mr Piper, the changes under the new laws will include:
According to Mr Piper, this is the only information in the Newcastle/Lake Macquarie area. Posted 22 January 2010 $120,000 TO SUPPORT THE ARTS IN LAKE MACQUARIE Member for Lake Macquarie, Greg Piper, has welcomed funding from the State Government totalling $120,000 for local arts initiatives. The grants are part of the $42.7 million 2010 Arts Funding Program announced by Minister for the Arts, Virginia Judge. "I am determined NSW remains the premier State for the creative industries - and support for locally based ventures is an important part of that commitment," Ms Judge said. Mr Piper said Lake Macquarie City Council would receive new arts grants totalling $120,000, including $80,000 for the first year of a three-year funding program for the Lake Macquarie Art Gallery. "A further $40,000 will to go towards the creative development and public presentation of a major environmental installation and sculpture commission at the Gallery", he said. "These additional funds will enable the gallery to commission a major sculptural work that will enhance the community's understanding of the gallery site's wetlands, wildlife and vegetation. It will also highlight the gallery's spectacular lakeside site and Sculpture Park, situated on a five-hectare peninsula, and will complement its collection and exhibition program." Mr Piper said "Lake Macquarie Art Gallery has particularly strong Aboriginal and community programs as well as curated contemporary Australian art, craft and design exhibitions." Posted 16 December 2009 $418,000 GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, today announced the successful Lake Macquarie applicants under the Government's Community Building Partnerships. Mr Piper provided comments and recommendations on the suitability and priority of eligible applications, with the final decision being made by the Premier. Successful applications came from a range of community interests, including Lake Macquarie City Council. The full list is below. According to Mr Piper, the Community Building Partnership program will support local jobs, stimulate growth and improve community facilities. "Typical funding is $300,000 per electorate, but Lake Macquarie received an extra $100,000 because of our high unemployment," Mr Piper said. "This was topped up to $418,852.50 so that the most deserving projects could be funded." "This will provide local employment and provide much-needed community facilities, such as improved sports facilities and venues for community groups," Mr Piper said. The successful applicants showed that their projects will deliver positive results for the community," Mr Piper added. "There were a lot of applications and it's unfortunate that some projects missed out on funding."
Posted 4 December 2009 Another Utility Rip-Off Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, has expressed grave concerns over the rationale behind the Government's $400 a year electricity increase as foreshadowed this week by the Independent Pricing and Regularity Tribunal (IPART). Media reports this week show that a draft IPART report foreshadows 60% price rises over the next 4 years, with half of this being the cost of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). "It is interesting that half of the foreshadowed increases are attributed to the proposed ETS, even though it has not been approved by the Senate and this is increasingly unlikely in the near future. Mr Piper revealed that the Auditor-General's Report to Parliament 2009 (Vol3 p6) shows a 6.7% decrease in the wholesale price of power in NSW last year and he questions the $400 electricity increases in light of that figure. "I suspect that these IPART increases have little to do with higher production or distribution costs and much to do with pumping up the profits and subsequent sale price of the Government's electricity retailers," Mr Piper said. "IPART is supposedly an independent authority, but it has only one client - the NSW Government," Mr Piper added. "IPART has already given Hunter ratepayers a massive increase in their water rates earlier this year and I question both their method and their motive in arriving at this new increase in electricity charges." Posted 3 December 2009 MINISTER'S ANSWER AUGURS WELL Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, today won a battle in the war against surface mining in the City of Lake Macquarie. He was quick to praise the community's campaign against the now abandoned Olstan open cut and auger mine and its support for his Surface Coal Mining Prohibition (Lake Macquarie) Bill 2009. In Parliament today Mr Piper was able to get the answer that the Government had previously refused to give on whether the proposed auger mine would be permissible under planning law. In Question Time today the Minister for Planning responded to a question by Mr Piper and disclosed for the first time that the Government had legal advice that the mine would not be permissible. Today's question to the Minister follows on from a Freedom Of Information request that Mr Piper lodged yesterday with the Department of Planning. The FOI request seeks all legal and technical advice on the auger mine's permissibility under the government policy prohibiting open cut mining in Lake Macquarie. "This information has been kept from community until now," Mr Piper said. "Through its silence the Government had kept a grey area over whether a further similar proposal could eventuate, but today's question has changed this." "I conclude that this legal opinion would have been the Government's trump card against my Surface Mining Bill, but now I've flushed it out," Mr Piper said. "With this new information on auger mining my surface mining Bill is even more relevant," he added. "The community deserves assurance that all forms of surface mining are prohibited in Lake Macquarie and that this will be guaranteed by an Act of Parliament." "We don't want to see any more creative proposals to avoid the ban on open cut mining," Mr Piper said. "I will be consulting further with the Lake Macquarie community on pushing ahead with my Private Members Bill to win an iron-clad solution to the threat of surface mining." 
Posted 27 October 2009 SUPPORT FOR SOLAR BONUS Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, this week told Parliament of his support for a premium tariff to be paid for the electricity produced by domestic photovoltaic systems. Mr Piper has been a long-time supporter of increasing renewable energy sources, particularly small-scale solar energy systems. This week he spoke in support of the ELECTRICITY SUPPLY AMENDMENT (SOLAR BONUS SCHEME) BILL 2009, but suggested that it should be extended beyond the planned seven years. According to Mr Piper, the Solar Bonus Scheme is a gross feed-in tariff model that will pay 60 cents/kilowatt-hour for all of the electricity produced by small-scale distributed sources such as solar photovoltaic systems when their output is fed back into the electricity grid. Mr Piper says that everyone joining the scheme should get the full seven years of premium tariffs, not just those who join when it starts in January 2009. "A typical home produces 4,500 kilograms of greenhouse gasses each year. By installing solar power, a home's gas emissions can be reduced to an average of 2,500 kilograms," Mr Piper said. "Also, each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by coal-fired power stations uses 2 1/2 litres of water. By installing a one-kilowatt home solar panel system, customers can save the environment about 3,750 litres of water every year." Mr Piper first asked the Government to introduce such a scheme over two years ago and he is pleased that it is becoming a reality. The Solar Bonus is an important step in the transition to the greater use of renewable energy in New South Wales," Mr Piper added. "This is a great way for people to take their own action against climate change." The text of Mr Piper's speech to Parliament yesterday can be viewed here. "Surface Coal Mining Prohibition (Lake Macquarie) Bill 2009 Introduced in Parliament The Bill was introduced on 13 November 2009. It can be read in full at "Surface Coal Mining Prohibition (Lake Macquarie) Bill 2009" Posted 06 October 2009
Greg Piper |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||