Sada-e-Watan
Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
Harish Velji the Chairperson of the Sub Continent Friends of Labor received McKell Award
Recently at function hosted at the Eight Chinese Restaurant Sydney City,Mr.Harish Velji the Chairperson of the Sub Continent Friends of Labor, Harish Velji was awarded the highest honor that can bestowed by the Labor Party for the service to the Labor Party and to the community at large.
When the former Minister in the Keating Government,Hon Michael Lee and now the President of the New South Wales Labor Party called out Harish's name to receive his award there was a tremendous applause and a standing ovation of over 500 people.
There was also a continuation of cheer and applause whilst his citation was read out. The award is in honor of Sir William (Bill)
John McKell GCMG (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985), Australian politician,was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia.He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia,at 93 when he died.Prio
r to receiving his award the NSW Leader of Opposition,Hon John Robertson,The New South Wales Leader of Opposition said "And it's caused me to wonder – how would Bill McKell advise Labor if he were with us today?"Bill McKell governed NSW for six years from
1941 to 1947 – but he also set Labor up for 24 consecutive years in power through the Premierships of his successors."In fact he is credited with pioneering the template of successful Labor governance.
"A model in which the Party's parliamentary, organisation and trade union wings
• Worked together …
• Tempered their ideological excesses …
• And supported the leader of the day.
"The McKell model served this Party well – all the way through the premierships of Neville Wran and Bob Carr. It was a model
that mirrored Bill McKell's own moderation."His sense that the electorate was conservative and skeptical of change – though, crucially, it could be persuaded.
"Today, at a time when the NSW Labor ship seems washed upon the rocks, there are many who argue the McKell model was fatally abandoned."
While we have much hard work to do in Opposition – my intention is to build on the many things that we did right.
"Achievements like the best ever Olympics.'
"Massive infrastructure investment like the Epping to Chatswood rail link, the Anzac Bridge, the Sydney Orbital Network of motorways. The $100 million Parramatta interchange feeding commuters from rapid bus transit onto trains. The Lane Cove Tunnel.The Cross City Tunnel.
Achievements like the nation's highest literacy standards – and fastest elective surgery waiting times. Street crime at its lowest in a generation. More than doubling the number of national parks. Sydney's beaches again looking pristine and perfect."
"Guiding NSW through the global financial crisis without sacking a single public sector worker. Running 15 out of 16 budget surpluses and keeping the state's triple-AAA credit rating intact.
"Friends, in 2015 – we must be ready to govern again. Because I pred
ict the people will once again come looking for us.Seven months in – and the shine is starting to come off Barry O'Farrell.
"He is under attack from Alan Jones to the Daily Telegraph. He has disappointed everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to Erin Brockovich.
"And he is coming to appreciate that running NSW isn't as easy as it looks.
The O'Farrell Government inherited an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent – already, it is up to 5.5 percent."
"20,000 jobs in NSW have already been lost on Barry O'Farrell's watch."
"And that was before he sacked 5000 more. "
Barry O'Farrell's first budget
- CUT public sector wages and conditions
- SLUGGED a $1 billion stamp duty tax on first home buyers
- SLASHED the allowance for foster carers; and
- INCREASED electricity bills for every household and rents for pensioners by $10 a week."
"Yet incredibly, after creating all these victims, the O'Farrell Government managed to take the state's financial position backwards – from a $1.3 billion budget surplus to a $700 millio
n deficit."With no plan to fund the Premier's infrastructure promises – only a secret agenda of privatisation and service cuts.
""Friends, the frightening thought is that the worst of the O'Farrell Government is still yet to come.
• When we in Labor stand up for the tens of thousands of nurses, teachers, firefighters and other public sector workers – whose wage rises have been capped at 2.5 percent while inflation runs hot at 3.6 percent – I take pride that NSW Labor is back off the mat and we are doing our job.
• When we stand up for the people of Stockton, made to wait 54 hours before the Government informed them of a toxic chemical spill...
• When the Government is forced to submit to two separate inquiries and Environment Minister Robyn Parker is running for her political life – I take pride that NSW Labor is back off the mat and we are doing our job.
• And when we warn people of Barry O'Farrell's plan for full-scale electricity privatisation – selling off the state's power stations, poles and wires …
• A plan that would represent the mother-of-all broken election promises
- threaten up to 17,000 jobs
- cause energy bills to skyrocket and increase the risk of market manipulation and blackouts...
• I take pride that NSW Labor is off the mat and we are doing our job."
