James Griffin MP —Dear Residents

Dear Residents

What a busy year it has been for Manly. Across the Electorate, projects are being delivered to improve our beautiful community. Key projects include the construction of Australia’s fi rst hospice for young adults on the old Manly Hospital site. This is the fi rst facility of its kind in Australia and will set a national standard for palliative care. I am happy to announce that the NSW government will be providing $2 million in funding each year for perpetuity to deliver the necessary services at the site.

I am also happy to announce that early stage works on the former Manly Sea Life Site are underway. The project will demolish the old aquarium building and create more public open space on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour and provide better access for everyone to and from the water.

North Head as the entrance to Manly and Sydney contains immense natural beauty and history. Visitors to this site will now have a greater experience with the $3.2 million upgrade of North Head National Park nearly complete. The new lookouts provide some of the most stunning views of Sydney, and the expanded grass area is proving a huge winner with more space to enjoy a picnic with family and friends.

This year marked 5 years in Parliament representing the great community of Manly. One of the most challenging issues to come across my desk in the past 5 years has been the issue of Youth Mental Health. Certainly, before and during the pandemic, this issue has been of signifi cant concern for many families. Local mental health organisations, community leaders and constituents have all advocated to me for assistance. This year the NSW Government responded to this call and announced a $11.4 million Northern Beaches youth mental health package. This will provide four dedicated acute paediatric mental health beds, child and youth psychiatrist services, additional staff for the Local Child Youth Mental Health Services and the Youth Response Team service, and a new youth drug and alcohol service right here in our community.

As Patron of the Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter, I know that domestic and family violence is a serious and devastating crime, and one that does not discriminate by postcode. I committed to secure additional services for the Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter, and I am so proud to see an expansion of services for our area. These new services will provide greater capacity in the Northern Beaches for safe, private, and independent living spaces for victim survivors and their children. The Perrottet Government is delivering the largest investment in domestic and family violence support in NSW history. More than $426 million will build 39 new refuges, which will enable frontline service providers to support up to an additional 2,900 more women and children each year.

As many of you would know this year, I had the great honour and responsibility of serving NSW as the Minister for the Environment and Heritage. In this role, I have been working to continue expanding the NSW National Park estate which has grown by more than 600,000 hectares. This year, we successfully banned problematic single use plastic items this will prevent an estimated 2.7 billion plastic items from entering out natural environment and water ways.

As NSW Heritage Minister and Member for Manly, it was wonderful to have attended the unveiling of the fi rst Northern Beaches ‘Blue Plaque’, in honour of Duke Kahanamoku at Freshwater Surf Club. The plaque recognises Duke introducing surfi ng to Australia in 1914. It is one of many diverse stories from around the state to come to light through the Blue Plaques program. The Blue Plaques program is a fantastic celebration of our rich heritage, by recognising noteworthy people, places and events from NSW’s history.

In some further great news for Manly and NSW, the WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) released their renewable superpower scorecard. This year, NSW surged to fi rst place gaining 12 points due to its breadth of renewable policies and its First Nations guidelines. With the report stating, “New South Wales has a clear, well-funded plan to develop Renewable Energy Zones and improve its transmission system.” This is exciting news for NSW’s goal of Net Zero by 2050.

Finally, thank you for all the good wishes in celebrating fi ve years as your State Member of Parliament for Manly. It is a great honour and privilege. I am incredibly excited about the future projects that will continue to make our community the best one to live, work and raise a family. There’s always more to do, and I’ll keep working hard on your behalf.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and enjoyable break.

Yours sincerely, James Griffin MP

JAMES GRIFFIN, MP // MEMBER FOR MANLY // NSW MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE // FB & INSTA: @JAMESGRIFFINMP