Sonia Hornery Calls for Action in Beresfield Lifeguard Job Losses

BY HOLLY FISHLOCK

Twelve lifeguards from Beresfield Pool have been sacked following the Council's privatisation deal with BlueFit Aquatics.

The move has been heavily criticised by Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery, who has called the job losses and privatisation disappointing.

"I have been, as a Labor member, a long-term opponent of privatisation because it ends up not benefiting the community, it benefits the private companies," Ms. Hornery says.

It comes after City of Newcastle stated any changes to the pool management would not result in job losses.

"It's sad that we read documents and pledges from Labor councillors that say there would be no job losses. And yet, we know twelve qualified, experienced, long-term staff at Beresfield pool have lost their job," she says.

She is now calling for council to offer re-employment to the twelve staff, and to apologise to them.

"There have been no steps to right the wrong. I am asking the councillors to do right by the Beresfield and Tarro community and by the twelve employees that they sacked; to reinstate those experienced, qualified employees, and take them back to the pool."

Newcastle Councillors Speak On Pool Saga

BY OLIVIA DILLON

The Member for Wallsend has hit back at claims of bullying by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle.  

It follows Tuesday night's council meeting where councillors discussed the management contracts for the city's five inland pools. 

When seven Labor councillors declared a conflict of interest over the issue, Liberal councillors were unable to form a quorum and the matter was delegated to Council's CEO Jeremy Bath. 

Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes says Sonia Hornery instructed her on how to vote on the matter and in turn, created a conflict of interest. 

Sonia Hornery, who's been a long-time critic of privatisation, says the claims are false and misleading, and she won't back down from advocating for her constituents. 

Meanwhile, Liberal councillor Callum Pull says he's disappointed with how the meeting played out. 

He and Cr Jenny Barrie issued a statement today noting Council's responsibility to reach a democratic decision on issues of public interest. 

Cr Pull said although councillors are within their rights to declare a conflict, personal or political views do not constitute a private interest. 

"There's nothing wrong with having a political view... and as far as I can tell, it's never been specifically about a tender, it's always been about opposing the privatisation of the pools, which the Labor party ran a very public campaign on nine years ago when this issue first arose. 

They were not excluded from decisions then, and again, having a political view does not exclude you from assessing a tender," he said.   

In relation to the bullying allegations against Sonia Horney, Cr Pull said he's had no such experience with the Wallsend MP. 

"I have never seen anything that could be described as bullying behaviour by Sonia Hornery." 

NSW Government to Rule-Out the Privatisation of Hunter Water

BY OLIVIA DILLON

The NSW Government will this week introduce legislation to Parliament to protect Hunter Water from privatisation. 

The first piece of legislation out of the new Minns government, aims to amend the Constitution Act 1902, and will require both Hunter and Sydney water to remain under public ownership. 

The change will mean the companies cannot be sold-off or disposed of. 

Both the Premier and The Minister for the Hunter said they don't want to see Hunter Water suffer the same fate as the state's electricity network and toll roads. 

"We've seen the cost of electricity go up with privatisation, we've seen toll roads and their prices go up under privatisation, and the last thing we want is for water prices to go up," Tim Crakanthorp said.  

Mr Crakanthorp said the Bill represents Labor's commitment to stop selling-off public assets. 

"Hunter Water has served our community for over 130 years; it's provided critical drinking water, crucial infrasturue and profit directed back into the state government," he said.  

"The former government would sell everything but the kitchen sink if they had the chance." 

"We've ruled-out privatisation." 

Labor's Takeover in Full Swing

BY OLIVIA DILLON 

The weekend saw Labor comfortably retain all seven of its existing Hunter seats, in line with a state-wide swing in the party's direction. 

It comes after the Liberals failed to name a host of candidates until the last minute, adding to what's being described as a lacklustre campaign performance across the Hunter and the state.

One of the Labor's biggest results could be seen in Port Stephens, where Kate Washington enjoyed a two-party preferred swing of 16.5%. 

There's now pressure on the incoming MPs and state government to get moving on a number of promised and pressing commitments. 

Namely, the proposed privatisaiton of Hunter Water has been a regionally-contentious issue for some time. 

In the lead-up to the election, Chris Minns and Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp, said the first thing they would do is ensure Hunter Water stays in the public hands. 

"We'll get moving very quickly on stopping privatisation of Hunter Water in particular; we hope to legislate that way in fact," Mr Crakanthorp said. 

Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery, who easily retained her long-held seat, agrees it's the first thing on the agenda, but said the corporation needs to do better in working alongside the new state government. 

"They've kept the people at arms length deliberately and played politics over the last 12 years, and they need to start getting in-touch with the wants and needs of people in Wallsend," she said. 

Ms Hornery says the key issue in many Hunter electorates moving forward, will be the region's housing affordability crisis. 

Vote-counting for the election continues today. 

Tim Crakanthorp pledges to never privatise Hunter Water in a social media post.