School Lawn Bowls - Mike Nahan's Website

July 2009
Dr Mike Nahan MLA
Member for Riverton
A newsletter for the residents of Parkwood, Riverton, Shelley, Willetton and parts of Rossmoyne
Castlereagh School Celebrates
Foundation Day
Congratulations to Castlereagh School staff and
students on the wonderful Bush Festival they put on
as part of their lead up to the Foundation Day long
weekend.
Castlereagh is a specialist school providing services
for people with disabilities and the intellectually handicapped.
Many of the staff and parents, and the 70 students at the
school aged between 3 and 18 years old, dressed up in
bush costumes for the day. They enjoyed authentic bush
tucker with fresh baked damper, kangaroo stew and
baked rabbit cooked in camp ovens, and enjoyed patting
the sheep dog, baby goats, lambs, a piglet and numerous
chickens from an animal farm.
It was a wonderful event and a great way to celebrate
Foundation Day, 180 years after the ship, Parmelia, arrived
on Western Australia’s coastline with free settlers to
establish the Swan River Colony.
SMRC Admits Odours
While the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council
(SMRC) has finally owned up that it is the culprit behind
the odours which have plagued the local community
for the last six years, its admission has not gone far
enough.
They have blamed their green waste but it is their waste
composting facility that is the main cause of the odours.
The SMRC management knows this and I am disappointed
that they continue to mislead the community about the
source of the
odours.
Now, a fire
has destroyed
the materials
recycling plant
which was the
sole properly
functioning part
of the operation.
Little Holly Scott (4) about to enjoy fresh baked damper at
Castlereagh School’s Foundation Day Bush Festival with
teacher Annie Sillitoe, Mike Nahan and teacher Natalie Gillett.
The other two parts of the facility, the green waste and
composting plants, continue to malfunction.
At every turn, the SMRC has failed to act to the standard
of corporate responsibility expected in our society. That
is why I have called for Chief Executive Officer Stuart
McAll and Chairman Doug Thompson to stand down.
These two men have overseen a terrible period in the local
community’s history. They have aggressively refused to
recognise and address the pollution problem and there
is no scope to solve the issues facing the facility or for
the SMRC to regain the trust of the community while
they remain in charge.
The SMRC has made significant financial losses over the
last two years and its future is in serious question. I will
continue to champion these issues on behalf of the local
community to ensure that the odour issue is resolved
and that there is true transparency and accountability for
the ratepayer’s money.
Tel: (08) 9457 1282 Email: mike.nahan@mp.wa.gov.au Website: www.mikenahan.com.au
Shop P05 Stockland Riverton, Cnr High Road and Willeri Drive, Riverton WA 6148 (Next to Blockbuster Video)

School Lawn Bowls
The Willetton Bowling Club runs
a School Bowls programme to
encourage students to discover the
enjoyment of playing lawn bowls.
The programme is coordinated
by Tim Enright and students from
Emmanuel Catholic College and
Willetton Senior High School have
been learning about green etiquette,
bowling skills and the many
techniques and tactics to the game.
For more information on the school
programme, or if you would like to
play lawn bowls yourself, contact
Margaret, the President, on 9455
1028 or the Willetton Sports Club
on 9310 1441. Bowls are played all
year round and visitors are always
welcome.
Small Business Update
The global financial crisis is creating a tough time
for most businesses. The WA State Government has
announced a number of measures in the Budget to help
local businesses keep their workers on, including:
• A one-off payroll tax rebate for small and medium
businesses worth $100 million over the next year.
• Land tax measures worth more than $20 million over
the next four years.
• A rebate of workers’ compensation premiums for
first year apprentices worth $10.6 million over the
next two years.
• An allocation of $5.7 million over the next two years
to help people disadvantaged in the labour market.
Tim Enright from the Willetton Bowling Club supervises students from the
Emmanuel Christian College with their game of lawn bowls
ANZAC Day 2009
On ANZAC Day, I joined around 600 local residents for
the Dawn Service at the Riverton RSL on High Road,
Willetton and was proud to lay a wreath on behalf of
the community in honour of those who fought and
proudly served their country.
It was a very moving ceremony that paid tribute to
their mateship and bravery. Afterwards, I attended
the Cannington RSL’s annual ANZAC Day march down
Albany Highway to the Memorial on the corner of
Manning Road for their ANZAC service.
Roe Highway Extension
The State Government has fulfilled its election promise
with a budget allocation of $551.4 million to complete
the Roe Highway extension from the Kwinana Freeway
through to Stock Road.
Most people recognise the natural environment
around the Roe Highway extension is highly valued but
they also understand the overwhelming need for the
highway’s extension.
Roe Highway is a strategic link in Perth’s road network
and the only effective, long term solution to reducing
heavy truck traffic from suburban roads.
The improvements will provide jobs and help shield the
State from the global economic downturn.
Tel: (08) 9457 1282 Email: mike.nahan@mp.wa.gov.au Website: www.mikenahan.com.au
Shop P05 Stockland Riverton, Cnr High Road and Willeri Drive, Riverton WA 6148 (Next to Blockbuster Video)

Extensive Funding For Local Schools
The second round of the National School Pride
Program, together with State Government funding,
will see more than $17 million worth of improvements
to local schools.
This is a large and much needed investment in local high
schools and primary schools and the funding is being
fast-tracked by the State Government to deliver the best
possible outcomes. The huge injection of funding should
create jobs in the electorate and the community’s pride
in their local schools will be enhanced as a result of the
much needed improvements and repairs.
I urge local building and maintenance businesses of
all sizes to go to the website www.tenders.wa.gov.au
to get involved in the tender program for these works.
Further funding is also becoming available through the
Australian Government’s Primary Schools for the 21st
Century program that will see libraries, assembly areas
or additional classrooms built at every primary school
in the State.
This funding will be used for a variety of school
refurbishments, including improvements to flooring and
carpets, painting, toilet facilities, bitumen resurfacing,
roofing, irrigation and oval resurfacing, ceiling repairs,
and seating and shade structures, to help make school
environments far more pleasant for students and
teachers.
Recently, I had the pleasure of
presenting Flight Lieutenant Ray
Gibbs, who is an officer in the
Australian Air Force Cadets, with a
Long Service Medal at the Riverton
Returned Services League premises
in Willetton.
Ray is the Commanding Officer of
715 Squadron, which operates from
Palmer Barracks in South Guildford
on Friday evenings. The Squadron
has more than 60 cadets and is the
largest Australian Air Force Cadets
unit in WA.
I was very pleased to make the
presentation and to commend Ray
on his long-standing commitment
and service to the youth of this
State.
The work will improve the quality of our educational
facilities and will go hand-in-hand with the State
Government’s election promise of an additional
$350 million to be spent on WA public schools over
the next six years.
The following local schools have
received funding:
• Rossmoyne Senior High School $14,200,000
• Burrendah Primary School $150,000
• Castlereagh School $995,000
• Orana Catholic Primary School $200,000
• Parkwood Primary School $200,000
• Queen of Apostles Primary School $148,000
• Riverton Primary School $250,000
• Rossmoyne Primary School $200,000
• Rostrata Primary School $200,000
• Shelley Primary School $150,000
• Willetton Primary School $200,000
• Lynwood Senior High School $200,000
• Willetton Senior High School $200,000
Local Citizen’s Community Service Acknowledged
Flight Lieutenant Ray Gibbs, Riverton RSL Secretary Paul Thiessen and Mike
Nahan following the presentation
Tel: (08) 9457 1282 Email: mike.nahan@mp.wa.gov.au Website: www.mikenahan.com.au
Shop P05 Stockland Riverton, Cnr High Road and Willeri Drive, Riverton WA 6148 (Next to Blockbuster Video)

My Family History
Many people ask me about my
American accent. Although I was
born in Michigan in the United
States, I have been in Australia
for the last 31 years and came to
Western Australia in 1982.
My wife, Dr Nyuk Nahan is originally
from Malaysia. Nyuk and our two
children, Keavy and Key, are right
behind me in my role as the Member
for Riverton and I am proud to be a
part of a large Malaysian/Australian
family.
In many ways Singapore and
Malaysia are my second home. I first
visited these fascinating countries
nearly four decades ago and have
spent many years living, observing
and studying their impressive
economic success. I even wrote a
PhD thesis on the subject.
As a community service in conjunction with the
Australian Taxation Office, a free Tax Help Centre
will be operating from my Electorate Office to
assist seniors, students, the disadvantaged or
those earning less than $40,000 to complete their
tax returns.
The Tax Help program utilises a network of
trained community volunteers who help people
prepare their tax returns at tax time each year. The
confidential program operating from my office will
commence on 1 July and run through to October.
Each year, the Tax Help volunteers assist over 70,000
people to meet their personal tax obligations.
The Tax Help volunteers can work out if you
require a tax return and can assist you with claims
for family tax benefit, refund of imputation credits
and the baby bonus.
However, they are unable to help with business
tax returns, partnerships and trust matters, capital
gains tax or rental property issues as these are
more complex tax matters that require specialist
assistance.
If you would like to book a confidential appointment
to access the free Tax Help program or if you would
like more information, please call the tax office on
13 28 61 or telephone my office on 9457 1282.
In light of my experience and the
potential for further trade and
commercial links, the sharing of
cultural events and facilities, and the
exchange of people and skills, the
Premier, Colin Barnett, has given me
the special task of helping to make
WA’s relationship with Singapore
and Malaysia even stronger and
closer.
Dr Nyuk Nahan, Mike, their son Key
and daughter Keavy.
Main Roads staff have
attended a number of
community meetings
that I have instigated
and have reacted
positively to concerns
about noise, visual
screening and dust
problems that some
Parkwood residents
are experiencing.
Noise testing has been
completed at several
New Website
Established
I recently established a website
at:
www.mikenahan.com.au
The website has a variety of
information on it, including
a section to assist local
community groups to advertise
their contact details and any
upcoming public events that
they may be holding.
I hope you will take the
opportunity to check out my
new website and to view the
information it contains on
Parliamentary issues and
my work within the local
community.
Tax Help Centre Roe 6 Noise Improvements
Mike views the construction of
the new sand bund in Parkwood
homes and the results will be available towards the end
of June. In addition, Main Roads agreed to a community
request to extend the existing sand bund by a further
60m to help screen the highway traffic.
The City of Canning undertook the work and has planted
vegetation on the bund to enhance its effectiveness as
a visual screen.
Main Roads is also looking at privacy screening issues
where the existing sound wall is too low and is reviewing
what vegetation can be planted on the highway reserve
to alleviate the dust problems.
These initiatives are a major investment in the local
community and show that Roe Highway can be
built sensitively to meet the concerns of adjacent
communities.
Tel: (08) 9457 1282 Email: mike.nahan@mp.wa.gov.au Website: www.mikenahan.com.au
Shop P05 Stockland Riverton, Cnr High Road and Willeri Drive, Riverton WA 6148 (Next to Blockbuster Video)