Our Fresh Plan For Coogee and New South Wales

Words Dr Marjorie O’Neill, Member for Coogee

The past few years have been very challenging for all of us, yet we have experienced both highs and lows. Four years ago, my election as your representative in NSW Parliament was marked by the death of my wonderful father Brian O’Neill, the day after the election.

Since then, I have been privileged to share a great many sad and happy occasions with our community and I am very grateful for the love and warmth that runs deep through our streets, homes, schools, hospitals, local businesses, institutions and especially our charities.

We got through COVID by caring for each other and have united to fight cuts to our health, education and transport services while working to protect our precious environment here in the East. We have much to be proud of but so much more to do and now is the time to plan for our future. Improving our public services is a top priority, along with protecting our environment and reducing cost of living pressures. It is not very complicated. These three broad aims go hand in hand.

A newly elected Labor Government in NSW will provide good public schools close to where people live, and fewer people will feel compelled to pay for private schools and drive to drop off their children rather than catch a bus or walk. We are committed to fast-tracking upgrades to Randwick Girls and Boys High Schools and starting the planning for a new co-educational public high school east of the CBD. We will ensure all families have access to co-ed schooling and, very importantly, fully fund our public schools the way they were meant to be funded under the Gonski agreement. You should not have to find $50,000 a year to send your kids to a good school.

We will provide needed public transport and fewer people will be compelled to drive, reducing travel costs while benefiting the environment and the liveability of our local area. We are committed to restoring key bus services to the CBD, Circular Quay and the Airport including the 378, 373 and 370 to Circular Quay, as well as the 400. We will accelerate the transition to a net zero bus fleet and we will work to address the failures of bus privatisation. There will be no more privatisation of public assets in NSW.

We will provide good public health care for improved health outcomes, resulting in a healthier community, more attractive and sustainable health care jobs and less pressure to pay for private health options. We are committed to safe staffing levels in our hospitals to ensure our vulnerable sick people get the best of care they need. We will double funding for women’s health centres and ensure universal free access to breast care nurses for breast cancer patients.

We will protect our environment so our fragile planet will be healthier. We are committed to doing the necessary work to take our local area ‘off the grid’. We will establish Great Koala Parks on the Mid North Coast and the Georges River and protect our World Heritage Listed Blue Mountains National Park by not raising the Warragamba Dam wall. We have a wide range of environmentally friendly energy plans including establishing a net zero commission and introducing minimum emission reduction targets of 50 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050. Locally, we will fast track the building of 19 public electric vehicle chargers to support the uptake of EVs and build community batteries to deliver more energy stability and reliability, lowering overall energy bills.

It’s clear that there needs to be a fresh start in our great state of NSW. We need a change in the way our state is run. We need to put people before profit. We need to put our community at the heart of everything we do. We need to end bad governance practices and sell offs of public assets. Fundamentally, we need a change in philosophy. We need a change of government. Our public services have been eroded over the past years by a Liberal-National NSW Government that has taken away our once fantastic bus services, starved our public schools of essential funding and pushed our health care to the brink of collapse, resulting in increased financial and environmental pressures. Our planning system is broken, with developers controlling the look and feel of our area at the cost of local amenity.

I am personally committed to a change of direction in the way our state is governed and I look forward to continuing to work with our community to improve our critical public services, to reduce financial pressures people are facing and to protect our environment.

Gorge(ous) Bass - A Solo Paddle and Hike Adventure

Very few things are more wholesome and rewarding than camping riverside at a remote location for the sole purpose of catching quality fish. No phone reception, no bullshit, just simplicity and fishing. It was with this very ideal in mind that I recently set about hooning through the bush to a particular North Coast system rumoured to be home to some big Aussie bass.

Along this 400 kilometre span of river there is a certain section where the calm flow is violently intercepted by a section of steep, jurassic-age rocks, towering boulders and sheer cliffs - the Gorge Country. Here the river changes moods, flaring into a dramatic display of cascading waterfalls, raging torrents and bottomless, crystal clear pools. Access is rather difficult to say the least, with several kilometers of upstream paddling, multiple sections of portaging and finally some rugged hiking leaving only the keenest and fittest (or dumbest) making the effort to get in there. In my eyes, these are the exact ingredients for a great fishing spot and I was fully committed to the journey with images of big bass clouding any sense of caution.

Following an early night in the swag, I woke early for a quick coffee before embarking on the upstream paddle on the moonlit river. I allowed myself over an hour of darkness to get to the foot of the gorge with hopes of catching one off the top as I made my way. After 30 fruitless minutes of paddling and casting, I accidentally entangled a small swallow with my line, leaving it flailing on the surface of the water. Before I could even think of untangling it a startling ‘boof!’ noise erupted from the surface as what could only have been a huge bass started having a go at the helpless bird. Luckily for the swallow, it quickly became untangled and earned its freedom, leaving the fish hungry and myself amazed. Soon after, I managed an average sized bass on my surface lure and accordingly decided to adjourn the fishing until I made it up to the gorge. The river narrowed and the banks gave way to huge jagged boulders. The flow became more fierce and I started to carefully navigate through a web of exposed boulders and eddy currents. A local farmer had told me that if I made it above the first waterfall I would be in for some good fishing, so I was happy when I heard a gushing noise up ahead. I made a final effort to drag my kayak through an unpaddle-able pinch as the first signs of sun started to show. Relieved to finally arrive at the foot of the first waterfall, I ditched the kayak and started to hike, eager to see if all the hype was true.

By the time I got a glimpse of the river again the sun was high enough to illuminate the dark rocks and clear water and the gorge revealed itself like a glowing oasis. As I stumbled along the rocks feeling like a clumsy mountain goat, I spotted three big fish in the distance, holding dormant atop a large boulder. Sight casting a fish is one of the coolest experiences you can have in fishing and I was determined not to butcher my chance at these fish. The closest spot to cast happened to be a vertical cliff about eight metres high, so I shuffled edgeways trying desperately not to spook them. I gently lobbed my hard vibe lure off the cliff and gave it a spirited jiggle before the end of my rod loaded up with a powerful weight and my reel started singing. It’s a pity there wasn’t a soul around because I could only imagine how funny I would have looked precariously wrestling with the angry fish from way up on the cliff edge. After about five minutes, I eventually made it down to the water’s edge and landed the fish, which equalled my 48cm PB.

The fishing remained hot for the next few hours, with countless more big fish being caught in quick succession, leaving me ecstatic with each and every hookup. Eventually I grew exhausted from the arduous hiking. The allure of a cooked brekkie and a swim back at camp drew me home. After sending it through some playful rapids, I took the time to savour the last of the Gorge Country while reflecting on the epic morning I had just had.