Budgetary cuts and a refocussing of customs and border protection resources to stop the influx of boats arriving due to Labor’s changes to the Coalition’s tough border protection laws may have delivered more firearms into the hands of violent criminals in Adelaide.

Adelaide has been under siege in recent months as violent criminals have fought bikie gang wars on our streets.

The weapons used may well have arrived in Australia undetected due to the strain on border protection agencies as a direct result of Labor’s policy decisions.

New South Wales has also suffered through a spate of violent gun attacks and it has been discovered that guns delivered from overseas to a suburban post office were used in these crimes.

The Australian people depend on customs and border protection agencies to intercept these deadly weapons, but we know that budget cuts for these agencies have seen at least a 75 per cent reduction in air cargo inspections and at least a 25 per cent reduction in sea cargo inspections.

These same agencies are also under immense pressure due to the failed border protection policies of the government resulting in a surge in illegal boats.

Violent criminals and organised crime have been given an unfair advantage thanks to this Government’s inability to do something as fundamental as defending borders.

Read more in The Advertiser: Shots fired into house on Pedlar St, Seaton.

Everyone in Sturt will be affected by the Gillard Labor Government’s changes to Private Health Insurance.

The changes effective 1 April will increase the cost of private health insurance for the 98,800 residents of Sturt with some level of cover.

It will also increase pressure on an already stretched public health system.

Not only will some families be hit with higher costs for their plans up front, but all users will have to pay more down the line as people drop out.

The exodus of younger people alone is estimated to raise premiums by 10 per cent. 

By forcing people off private health, the Gillard Government will increase the number of procedures performed in public hospitals by the staggering number of 845,000; a burden our health system cannot afford. 

This extra cost for families comes on top of Labor’s carbon tax which could increase electricity bills by as much as 30 percent. 

The Liberals are committed to repealing this change to private health as it is a cruel blow to the hip pocket of many Australians who are committed to financially supporting their own health care.

Details of exactly how much funding local schools in Sturt will lose if current funding arrangements are abolished have now been revealed.

Eight schools in Sturt are known as ‘funding maintained' schools, because the Howard Government didn't want any school to lose funding when the new school funding model was introduced in 2001.

These schools are mostly smaller catholic or independent schools that cater to middle income families facing cost of living pressures who can't afford a hike in school fees.

Unfortunately, Schools Minister, Peter Garrett has confirmed that these ‘funding maintained' schools will very likely be worse off when the funding review is completed, and for the first time we can reveal how much they stand to lose.

These cuts will have to result in higher school fees for parents already struggling with cost of living pressures.

The only way to try and stop the cuts is to make our concerns known, and I would urge all parents, teachers and principals with concerns at these schools to contact my office.

Avid Sturt gardener, Desmond Kerr, experienced first hand the consequences of not having proper industry standardisation and labelling in place when it comes to compost products.

Mr Kerr purchased compost from a local distributor with a PH level that was dramatically higher than the neutral level of 7. Rather than aiding Mr Kerr’s plants to grow, this compost was not fit for purpose and began suffocating his plants, starving them of the nutrients they needed.

Unfortunately this isn’t an isolated case, many gardeners purchase compost only to find that it hinders growth rather than aiding it.

I moved a motion on Desmond Kerr’s behalf in the Federal Parliament calling on the Government to get moving on a nationally consistent compost standard and it passed a few months ago.

The Government is now obliged to act to address this issue and I will be writing to State and Federal Ministers seeking a timetable for action.

We all have a right to know what is in the compost we purchase, what the PH level of the compost is, and what we need to do to be able to ensure it assists our plants to grow to their full potential. The amount of hours Sturt gardeners spend in their back and front yards shouldn’t be in vain!

Do you live in Sturt and have an issue I can assist you with? Get in touch.

The draft Murray Darling Basin plan has finally been released after four years of inaction and broken promises by the Labor Government. 

After all this time the Basin plan lacks the detail to clearly show where water returned to the environment will come from or where it is going.

The uncertainty for river communities and South Australians will continue without this crucial detail – there is no environmental watering plan showing where environmental water will be used and no details of environmental benefits.

It seems the Government doesn’t want Australians to know the facts behind the headline figures and have again shrouded the plan in secrecy.

The Liberals started this process of reform in 2007 with a $10 billion investments and a plan to manage the river federally, which Labor has sadly strayed a long way from.

Our plan would have returned the river to health by investing in river communities to ensure they were able to produce more food with less water.

Of the $5.8 billion in funding set aside by the previous Liberal Government for water saving infrastructure and on-farm efficiency projects, Labor has only spent $518 million to date, and only as little as $70 million of that on projects that will actually save water.

The current farce cannot continue. We must have a new agreement that delivers a basin system that is well managed in the national interest, not a return to the failure upon failure of state-based deals, which have led to the waste of billions of dollars and gigalitres of water.

Since 2001 I have been advocating for a federal takeover of the Murray-Darling system.

I will continue to work closely with my Parliamentary colleague and fellow South Australian, Senator Simon Birmingham, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray-Darling Basin, who is, along with all my South Australian Liberal colleagues, determined to protect the interests of our state and the overall health of the river.

Everyone has noticed that their electricity prices are going up irrespective of usage.

People in Sturt have pulled me aside at supermarkets, community functions, service stations and everywhere I go to express their concerns that electricity prices seem out of control. One person explained how they diligently switch off lights and avoid using the air-conditioning on all but the hottest days and even though they have decreased their electricity usage their total bill went up!

In South Australia electricity has gone up 75 per cent since the state Labor Government took office in 2002. Last year it went up 10 per cent alone. Next year it will increase again by an average of $41.

Unfortunately this is the tip of the iceberg. With the introduction of the carbon tax electricity prices will continue to soar.

Prime Minister, Julia Gillard promised there would be no carbon tax under the Government

The Federal Treasury has conservatively estimated the price rise due to the carbon tax to be an average of 10 per cent on your total electricity bill. The Energy Supply Association representing energy producers have recently said the carbon tax hike for electricity is more likely to be closer to 20 per cent.

What Labor don’t tell you is that these price hikes for electricity will continue year after year – the largest carbon tax in the world will cost Australian families for years to come.

Submit your tips below to try and minimise electricity usage.

AdelaideNow article: SA Prices up by $700 next year and $2600 by 2014!

AdelaideNow article: South Australia will have most expensive electricity prices after the introduction of the Carbon Tax.

Aboriginal leader Pemulwuy famously fought against the early British settlers in colonial Sydney and Parramatta from 1788 until his death in 1802.

Pemulwuy was one of only a few examples of indigenous resistance to British settlement and therefore is a unique and important historical figure for Australians.

When Pemulwuy was shot he was decapitated and his skull was sent to London into the care of Sir Joseph Banks.

At some point since then the remains were placed in the British Natural History Museum.

When His Royal Highness Prince William, Duke of Cambridge visited Australia in April last year, a group of Aboriginal elders approached him seeking his support to find and return the skull of Pemulwuy, which he agreed to do.

A team of Australian film makers have taken up their cause and are currently in London attempting to repatriate the skull. They believe the skull is part of a collection of other remains located in the British Natural History Museum.

I see no reason why the remains of this historic Aboriginal leader shouldn’t be returned to Australia where they belong. It is unconscionable that it is kept in the British Natural History Museum when it could easily be located and restored to the Aboriginal people.

I have written to Prince William seeking his support to repatriate the skull and hope, with his support, to resolve this matter. Click here to download the letter.

The Federal Labor Government has again rejected a funding application that would transform the ageing 1970s Campbelltown Leisure Centre into a state of the art community centre.

In the most recent round of infrastructure funding the $7.5 million application supported by the Campbelltown Council and sporting groups was again knocked back.

It is perplexing that the Campbelltown Leisure Centre redevelopment, which would be of so much value for our community, has been rejected time and time again.

Labor has wasted billions and billions of dollars trying to salvage programmes such as the roof batts which has been linked to almost 200 house fires and the school halls, where particularly in New South Wales billions have evaporated due to rorts and rip-offs.

The benefits of redeveloping the Campbelltown Lesiure Centre are obvious. The new infrastructure would increase sport and recreation access to all and cater for an increase in visits from the current 8,000 to over 20,000 per month and create a number of jobs.

It would be a terrific investment for local netball and indoor sporting teams with the refurbished centre able to host national meets and competitions.

I committed to providing $7.5million in federal funding to allow the project to begin, had a Liberal Government been elected last year. The Liberals remain ready to fund this project should we win Government.

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