23 JUNE 2021
ISSUE 244
REAL INDEPENDENT LOCAL WEEKLY NEWS
News
Nurses strike
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has started construction on a new raised boardwalk at the northern end of Moonee Beach... See page13
Out & About
Administrator, Rik Hart, praised this year’s Harvest Festival as part of his overview of his and Central Coast Council’s activities... See page 17
Education
Hundreds of nurses and midwives walked off the job at Wyong Hospital and Long Jetty Continuing Care centre in Toukley on Wednesday, June 16, over the need for safe staffing levels, and called on the NSW Government to introduce nurse to patient ratios. See page 31 Nurses on strike at Wyong Hospital
Central Coast receives little joy from NSW Budget Highlights of the NSW 2021-22 Budget are $4M for the Wyong Town Centre Pacific Highway upgrade, $17.8M for extra commuter car parking at Tuggerah Station and $8.1M for social housing on the Central Coast. Treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, handed down the Budget on Tuesday, June 22, which Parliamentary Secretary for Central Coast, Adam Crouch, says will help the Coast continue its recovery from COVID-19 by focussing on jobs.
“NSW’s approach is to lock down the virus, not lock down the state, and this will continue. “The best way to help the local economy bounce back from COVID-19 is to create new jobs and this will be achieved through the significant share of Budget funding being allocated to the Central Coast,” Crouch said. In the health sector there is $32.8M to complete the redevelopment of Wyong Hospital, a new hospital security package for staff safety and the continuation of
Patient Experience Officers at Wyong and Gosford Hospitals, as well as a new program to convert existing paramedics to Intensive Care Paramedics. There’s funding for the Police Ambulance and Clinical Early Response (PACER) program to operate in both Tuggerah Lakes and Brisbane Water Police Districts, and a new Safeguards Child and Adolescent Mental Health Response Team. The Budget includes the 2.5 percent wage increase previously promised to 8,000 staff at Central Coast Local
Health District, as well as thousands more public sector employees including police, firefighters, paramedics and teachers. There is $830,000 to continue the upgrade of Brooke Avenue Public School at Killarney Vale and $16.1M to complete construction of the new Porters Creek Public School at Warnervale. Families will welcome free preschool for the remainder of 2021 and all of 2022, as well as the new $100 learn to swim voucher for every preschool
aged child. A new infrastructure contributions system will be implemented to collect levies on local developments. Continuation of the $1,500 fees and charges rebate scheme will allow small businesses to cover the cost of government fees and charges. There is $45M to continue planning the fast rail program between Sydney, Canberra, Bomaderry, Newcastle, Central Coast and the Central West. Continued page 4
Celebrations for the NAISDA Graduating Class of 2020 was expected to be full of emotion, following a year of learning unlike any other... See page 35
Sport
The end of season transfers for the Mariners have begun, spearheaded by the stepping down of Head Coach, Alen Stajcic. See page 40
Puzzles page 23
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