Sept2012_Dickson News

Hope, reward and opportunity
Australians are not usually fond of early elections, but we do recognise when a change is required.  Now is one such time, when people are keen to have their say.  Through talking to local people, it’s increasingly clear that Australians want to have their say sooner rather than later. Some are simply frustrated by a dysfunctional, weak, cobbled together minority Government.  Others want the responsible style of government the Coalition will deliver, dismayed at knee jerk Labor decisions, such as shutting down cattle exports to Indonesia on the basis of a TV program.  For many it’s about honesty, like the small businesses being hit by the carbon tax, the tax Labor promised would not be introduced.
Tony Abbott has been a highly effective Opposition Leader, holding the Government to account.  Sometimes this has been unfairly used to characterise Tony as being too negative. Unlike Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, instead of being focused on the 24 hour news cycle, Tony has been prepared to fight for Australian families, unperturbed by the personal cost of negative Labor spin.  As the election draws closer, I know he has the discipline and determination to endure the same muck raking campaign Labor heaped on Campbell Newman at the Queensland State Election. 
Tony Abbott is much more than an effective Opposition Leader, he is a Rhodes Scholar, loyal father and husband and proven ministerial performer.  He understands the needs of manufacturing workers and retail assistants, as well as the views of corporate leaders and small business owners.
Three of the issues that highlight the alternative offered by Tony Abbott are border protection, free speech and health.
An effective Prime Minister must be prepared to make the difficult decisions, not outsource policies to committees.  The Government’s weakness on border protection has cost the lives of asylum seekers and lined the pockets of people smugglers.  By contrast Tony Abbott will deliver the strong border protection that saves lives and builds support for legal immigration.
Tony Abbott’s commitment to free speech is unwavering.  He welcomes media scrutiny, whilst the Government is a attempting to curb it.  He rightly opposes the Government’s attempts to enforce political correctness on the media, arguing that, “The job of government is to foster free speech, not stifle it.  It’s to increase the number and range of people who can participate in public debate, not to reduce it.”
As the Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing, I am conscious of Tony Abbott’s strong record as a former Health Minister.  By contrast to the grand promises and bloated bureaucracy of the Labor Ministers that followed, he has a record of delivering better health outcomes.  A good example is the $1.8 billion committed by Tony to improve mental health services, across Australia, in 2006.  It delivered a suite of improvements, including better access to psychiatrists and psychologists, telephone counselling, mental health nurses and respite care for elderly parents of adults with severe mental illness or intellectual disability.
Whenever the next federal election is held, the Coalition is ready to deliver responsible, stable government, with a strong leader to make difficult decisions, defend our freedoms and achieve results.  Tony Abbott has the intellect, honesty and determination to deliver hope, reward and opportunity.