Janelle gets ministerial attention for Page

For more than 11 years, the Page electorate had been a forgotten part of Australia.

When Janelle was elected as the Federal Member she was determined that this part of the world would no longer be ignored by Canberra.

She made a commitment to fight for our share of funding and has pushed the cause of Page at every opportunity.

This year she has brought the Prime Minister and other ministers to the electorate and has ensured that our communities views are heard in Canberra.

In January parts of the Northern Rivers region were hit by the worst floods in more than 50 years.

 
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Janelle Saffin and Agriculture Minister Tony Burke listen to Kyogle farmer Michael Sneath's account of the floods. According to locals it was the first visit to Kyogle by a Prime Minister

On February 8, Kevin Rudd and the newly appointed Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke, accepted Janelle’s invitation to Kyogle to see the devastation first hand.

By the end of the day there was an announcement of a joint Commonwealth/State flood relief package.

According to the locals, this was the first time a Prime Minister had ever visited Kyogle.

Other ministerial visits this year:

May: The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese, joined Janelle in Ballina and Alstonville, following the Budget announcement of $100 million to fast track the Ballina Bypass and $13 million so work could start on Alstonville Bypass.

Minister for Transport, Regional Development, and Local Government, Anthony Albanese and Janelle at the Ballina Bypass site. 

Construction work is underway for the Ballina project and tenders for the Alstonville Bypass closed in November with work due to start early in 2009.

June: The Attorney General, Robert McClelland, visited the Lismore Family Relationship Centre, North Coast Community Legal Service, Richmond Local Police Command and the Lismore unit of the State Emergency Services in June. The Attorney General returned in October to visit the Ballina Coastguard with Janelle, where they discused national security and other issues.

Janelle and Attorney General Robert McClelland drop in on Lismore SES controller Lindsay Matterson and local volunteers

The Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, presented community services awards for seniors with Janelle in Lismore, then in Ballina they launched a project on preventing elder abuse.

July: The Minister for Veterans Affairs, Alan Griffi n, joined Korean War veterans in Grafton on July 26 for the 55th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. Minister Griffin returned to Page in August to commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day in Lismore, where he and Janelle presented a cheque to the Far North Coast Sub-Branch of the Vietnam Veterans’ Association.

September: The Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke, made a return visit to Page where he accompanied Janelle to the Ballina Cup, addressed a Northern Rivers Agriculture and Food Tourism Forum and met with representatives of local primary industry groups.

October: The Minister for Employment Participation, Brendan O’Connor, came to Casino at Janelle’s invitation to discuss the reforms to Indigenous employment programs with representatives of local Indigenous communities.

December: The Minister for Human Services, Senator Joe Ludwig, and Janelle opened the refurbished Centrelink offices in Lismore.