The Weekly Times | TWT | 30 March 2022

Wednesday 30 March, 2022 THE WEEKLY TIMES 5
Liberals choose Simon Kennedy to contest Bennelong
Liberal Party members have chosen business executive, Simon
Kennedy, to contest the seat of Bennelong for the Liberal Party
at the upcoming federal election.
Raised in Epping, Mr Kennedy
is a former school captain of Epping
Boys High School and a former
member of the Ryde City Youth
Council.
Mr Kennedy said he was brought
up by a working single mother, who
taught him the value of hard work
and he started his working career
in the check-out queues of Epping
Coles and as a furniture removalist
for Epping Removals.
“Bennelong has been my home,
the place where I grew up and where
I want to build a future for my own
kids,” he said.
“It’s a great place, and we’ve had
extremely good representation from
great local members like John Howard
and John Alexander.
“JA has been outstanding representative
and tireless advocate for
Bennelong, who delivered so much
for our community. I hope to have the
opportunity to continue his important
work, delivering local infrastructure,
creating jobs and promoting our
small businesses.”
He said local families and small
businesses had endured challenging
times and he would work to support
the community in overcoming those
challenges.
“Our schools, services and infrastructure
need to keep up with the
growing community needs, and if
elected I will fight to get more funding
for local services and amenities
and to remove congestion from major
corridors including Epping, Marsden
and Victoria Roads,” he said.
The Member for Bennelong, John
Alexander OAM, said Mr Kennedy
was an exceptional candidate who
would be a strong voice for the community
in the Morrison Government.
“Simon has the experience and
track record to continue my work
of delivering for Bennelong community,”
As a former McKinsey executive,
Simon’s career took him to Washington
DC, working with the US government
on pro-business policies to
help millions of people into work.
In 2016, he co-founded McKinsey’s
Australian Public Sector Practice,
building strong relationships with
Cabinet Ministers, departments and
the private sector.
While working in the US, he met his
wife Nila, an infectious diseases doctor
at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital,
with the couple coming home
to give their two young children the
same upbringing and opportunities
he received.
One of the founders of Generation
Australia, a non-profit that places
long-term unemployed Sydney-siders
into jobs, Mr Kennedy has also
worked extensively with Barnardos
Australia and volunteered with the
local Rotary Club and Salvation
Army.
A Liberal Party statement said
that as part of the Morrison Liberal
team, Simon would work to deliver
economic recovery and a stronger
future for local families and businesses.
It has been four months since incumbent
Liberal Member for Bennelong,
Mr Alexander, announced he
would not be nominating for preselection
for the seat.
“After eleven years of having the
honour of representing the Federal
Seat of Bennelong and with nominations
for Liberal Party preselection
having been called, I should make
my intentions known,” Mr Alexander
said at the time.
“I make this announcement now in
fairness to those who may be interested
in nominating for preselection.
“I care deeply about the future of
Bennelong, and our Government,
and want the best possible candidates
competing for the honour of
being the Liberal Party candidate for
Bennelong.”
Government’s Bennelong investment
Meanwhile, Mr Kennedy, welcomed
the federal government’s investment
of almost $7 million for upgrading
of the Blaxland Road and Balaclava
Road intersection.
The Morrison Government is investing
an additional $2.2 million in
the 2022-23 Budget for this joint
state-federal project, to proceed with
the widening at the intersection, the
installation of a new raised median
and an upgrade of the existing traffic
signals.
Mr Kennedy said the funding to improve
this critical road juncture would
help road users to get through this
potential bottleneck faster and safer.
“This upgrade will improve the efficiency
and reliability of our roads
network, meaning that people will
spend less time in traffic and be able
to get to work or home faster, and get
to spend more time with their families,”
he said.
“The Morrison Government’s record
infrastructure investment pipeline has
been delivering better outcomes for
this community, and ensuring that we
have the roads and infrastructure that
Bennelong needs and deserves.”
He said Mr Alexander’s hard work
had delivered millions of dollars for
local infrastructure and amenities.
This included more than $90 million
in government funding for transport
improvements, such as $80 million
for the Macquarie University Station
Bus Interchange, $11 million for local
roads and community infrastructure
upgrades and now, almost $7 million
to bust congestion at a key Bennelong
intersection.
☐ Liberal candidate
for Bennelong,
Simon Kennedy at
Meadowbank Wharf
Preselection contest
Five candidates contested the preselection
ballot last Wednesday night at
The Epping Club.
Candidates Trenton Brown and Rose
Torossian were eliminated after the first
ballot, having attracted less than five
per cent of votes.
Mr Kennedy was seven votes short of
winning the contest in the first round,
with 51 per cent of the total votes required.
Craig Chung was the next to be eliminated
after his 48 votes were the lowest
of the three remaining candidates
with former Michaela Cash chief of
staff, Gisele Kapterian, attracting 80
votes and Mr Kennedy, 119.
Mr Kennedy defeated Ms Kapterian
148-95 in the final ballot.
Kyinzom Dhongdue
launches campaign
☐ Ryde Mayor Jordan Lane, Liberal candidate for Bennelong Simon Kennedy and
Prime Minster Scott Morrison at the Macquarie Data Centres’ site at Macquarie
Park. TWT On-the-Spot PHOTO
PM opens new data centre in Mac Park
BY ANTHONY STAVRINOS
Prime Minister Scott Morrison
visited Macquarie Park on Friday
to open Macquarie Data
Centres’ new data centre at
Talavera Road - Intellicentre 3
(IC3 East).
As part of the event, the
Prime Minister was whisked
away from accompanying
media and into a room at the
facility to observe a “threat
hunt” with Macquarie’s ‘cyberwarriors’
involving the IT
infrastructure of a government
agency, using a playbook of
more than 4,000 techniques
employed by bad actors in the
cyber world.
The ‘cyberwarriors’ were
looking for patterns of compromise
or vulnerabilities
which could be exploited by
cybercriminals.
Speaking at the event, the
Prime Minister hailed IC3 East
as an example of the type of
secure, sovereign infrastructure
Australia needs to bolster
our cyber security capability
and accelerate the digital
economy.
“This centre we are finally
opening today – is about the
economy, it is about the digital
world that is transforming the
world, and it is about our security,”
he said.
“Increasingly, our economy
and our security depend on
each other.
“This campus is about both
– a mighty $200 million data
centre, Australian owned,
Australian operated, one of
the most trusted and certified
in Australia, with a team of
highly trained engineers delivering
up to 50 megawatts of
data storage capability.
“Our Government has set a
goal of Australia being a top
10 digital economy by 2030.”
He said an essential foundation
of such a goal was trust
and confidence.
“Trust in the regulatory systems
of a country, and confidence
it can meet the increasing
cyber challenges in our
world,” Mr Morrison said.
“Espionage, disinformation,
cyber-attacks, foreign interference,
and economic coercion
– these (are the) types of malignant
activities mounting in
our world.”
The official opening marked
the on-time, on-budget completion
of the data centre in
Macquarie’s Sydney Campus.
The project received an initial
investment of more than
$85 million and supported
over 1,200 construction, engineering,
cyber security, and
IT jobs throughout the COVID
pandemic.
The facility is designed to
support government organisations,
hyperscalers, global
multinationals and Australian
corporations with their IT infrastructure
and cybersecurity
needs.
“I was particularly excited to
join Prime Minister Scott Morrison
at the opening of the new
data centres at Macquarie Telecom,”
Mr Kennedy said.
“This represents a $180 million
investment by the company
in expanding its cyber security
services and capability.
“If elected, I will be a tireless
advocate for attracting more
innovative jobs to our community,
like the Macquarie Data
Centres.”
He said the community
would be the beneficiary as
more businesses, buoyed by
the government’s economic
plan, succeed and grew.
Kyinzom Dhongdue launched her campaign as the Democratic Alliance’s candidate
for Bennelong, at the Epping Community Centre on Saturday.
Among guests at the
launch supporting Kyinzom
was 2GB broadcaster and
philanthropist, Bill Crews.
“Running for Parliament
was not in my plan when I
came to Australia 16 years
ago as a stateless person,”
Kyinzom says.
“But as a Tibetan born in a
refugee camp in India, as a
result of China’s occupation
of Tibet, politics has always
been part of my destiny.
“I am a human rights advocate.
I am ready to give back
to the country that has given
me so much.”
She said she was running
for Parliament to give voice
to people who have not been
heard in Canberra.
“I am running to stamp out
corruption that is destroying
Australian democracy,
whether it’s money from China
or the fossil fuel industry,”
she said.
“For over a decade, I’d
walked in the halls of Parliament
to put human rights
before profit in Australia’s relationship
with China.
“But what I saw was corrupt
elites selling out, and
the Chinese Communist
Party infiltrating almost every
aspect of our free, democratic
society.”
To donate Kyinzom’s campaign,
visit: kyinzom.com/
donate