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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. 
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. |
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Posted 15 June 2010
Community Building Partnership 2010
Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, is inviting applications from community organisations for funding under this year's Community Building Partnership program.
The NSW Government will provide up to $400,000 for use by sporting, social and environmental groups, charities and local councils to build and improve facilities in their local area.
According to Mr Piper, applicants should demonstrate how their project would benefit their local community through building or improving facilities to deliver positive social, recreational or environmental outcomes.
"Last year's projects delivered a range of improvements across the electorate," Mr Piper said. "I look forward to seeing new applications for projects to provide facilities that will improve community life."
"Applications will be accepted until Friday 23 July 2010, Mr Piper said. "Projects must be ready to commence by late 2010 and be completed before the end of December 2011."
Last year ten applications were successful in the Lake Macquarie electorate, ranging from $10,987 to $80,000. The funds were mostly spent on improvements to existing buildings.
Information on this year's grants program is available at www.communitybuildingpartnership.nsw.gov.au and applications can be made online.
Posted 08 June 2010 Budget Misdirection Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, has criticised today's budget for its election focus concentrating on Sydney and the government's marginal electorates. " While nine of the electorate's 28 public schools have been directly targeted for improvement, most of the school funding has already been announced or is funded through the Rudd government's Building the Education Revolution scheme" Mr Piper said. "The same applies to housing, with most funding coming from the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan." "I am pleased that $500,000 has been allocated to plan road improvements between Toronto and Booragul, but the problems along Main Road 217 desperately need action - not just planning" Mr Piper said. "There has been a regional approach to funding health services, with no projects targeting Lake Macquarie." "Lake Macquarie residents will benefit from some items outside the electorate, in particular the new Police headquarters at Glendale" Mr Piper said. "To a large extent, people from western Lake Macquarie are forced to travel out of the area to access the services they need." "This continues the Labor tradition of ignoring services such as health and education in the Lake Macquarie electorate." "This budget makes a very modest allocation of funds to Lake Macquarie as the government is trying desperately to stem the electoral haemorrhage in other seats." The Treasurer also announced the continuation of the Community Building Partnership, with Lake Macquarie to receive $400,000. "There were a lot of worthy applications for last year's funding, so I'm looking forward to distributing this year's money to deserving groups," Mr Piper said. Posted 04 June 2010 More Police needed for Lake Macquarie Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, last night called on the Government to provide the Lake Macquarie Local Area Command with an equitable level of staffing. According to Mr Piper, Lake Macquarie has less than half the NSW average of police per capita, yet it is one of the most challenging areas to service. "The Lake Macquarie Command is 2½ times the average size, yet the police to population ratio of 1:448 is less than half of the state average," Mr Piper said. "The state has 15,556 police officers and Lake Macquarie's 213 police are not enough." "This understaffing is inequitable and Lake Macquarie residents are suffering high crime rates to subsidise the above-average police numbers in other areas." According to Mr Piper, the Bureau of Crime Statistics lists Lake Macquarie among the top 50 of 140 local government areas for four of the fourteen categories of crime. "The Government should not be satisfied with this," Mr Piper added. "Lake Macquarie residents and our understaffed, overworked police deserve a more equitable deal." Read the text version of Mr Piper's speech Posted 12 May 2010 Petition opposes electricity price rises Greg Piper MP has launched a petition for residents of the state electorate of Lake Macquarie to seek fairer electricity prices. Mr Piper said the petition expresses community concern regarding the ruling of the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (lPART) for customers to pay up to 42% more for their electricity by 2013. "I am concerned that the increases will have a negative impact on families and small business," Mr Piper said. "There will also be consequences for those in low-income households, particularly pensioners, who will need spend more on electricity and less on caring for themselves." According to Mr Piper, the cost of producing the State's electricity had actually reduced by 6.7% in 2009. "The price rise would increase the value of the state's electricity industry and help the Government sell it off, but it's bad deal for consumers and it can't be justified," he added. The petition calls on the NSW Government to reject IPART's price rises and fund any new infrastructure through capital borrowings paid for by electricity dividends, or in the event of a retail sell-off, through the proceeds of those sales. The petition can be downloaded here and is also available from his office by phoning 4959 3200. Completed petitions should be returned to Mr Piper's office by Monday 31 May so they can be presented to Parliament. Legend of ANZAC 
Last year I produced and distributed to households in the Lake Macquarie electorate a booklet to commemorate our ANZACS. The publication was very well received and so I have decided to do this again this year. Last years booklet focussed on the role of the flying boat base at Rathmines. While this theme is also included in this booklet we have included information specific to the role of our women who served at Rathmines as well. There are many interesting stories, stories that deserve to be told and this booklet aims to recall at least a few of those.
The booklet will be distributed by Australia Post in the week leading up to ANZAC Day but can also be downloaded here. The file is almost 2 mb in size so if you don't have broadband and would like it sent as a smaller file please contact my office at
lakemacquarie@parliament.nsw.gov.auPosted 21 April 2010 MPs Deliver Tillegra Protests 
Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, and Greens MLC John Kaye have jointly handed the Government over 900 letters objecting to the construction of the Tillegra Dam.
According to Mr Piper there has never been a clear justification for the dam.
"Up until the day the Government announced the dam it had been Hunter Water's policy that it would not be needed for twenty years," Mr Piper said. "The only short term justification was to supply the Central Coast and this is no longer necessary."
"What we are left with is a huge cost to Hunter ratepayers for a dam that will be of no benefit," Mr Piper added. "The latest chapter in the sorry saga is that Hunter Water wants to spend even more of the public's money to provide sweeteners for an unsavoury package."
"A number of Government agencies have expressed concern at the proposal," Mr Piper said. "It's time for the Government to open this plan up to the scrutiny of an independent review."
Posted 20 April 2010 Opposition vs Transport Minister - No Winner Here Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, tonight criticised both the Minister for Transport and the politics around the Opposition's censure motion over the F3 fiasco and other transport disasters. According to Mr Piper, the F3 fiasco is one of the greatest failures in providing the most basic public services - freedom of movement. It is matched by other blunders such as the Cross-City Tunnel and the North West Metro. "There is no doubt that the Minister ignored his responsibility to act during the F3 crisis," Mr Piper said. "Minister Campbell's failure to act during the 12-hour debacle deserves universal condemnation, but a motion of no confidence in the Minister only rehashes what we already know and won't survive the Government's numbers in the Legislative Assembly." "I can't vote in support of the Minister, but I can't be enthusiastic about a politically motived no-confidence motion that can only fail," Mr Piper said. "This is just one more example of Parliament being usurped for party political purposes." "I will vote in favour of tonight's no confidence motion to register my strong view that the F3 fiasco placed at risk and inconvenienced so many people that it warranted Ministerial intervention," Mr Piper added. |
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