
Let's dive into what's been happening in our neck of the woods these last few weeks:
- Staffing cuts at Northern Beaches Hospital: I was very disappointed and angry to read of the staffing cuts to our essential mental health and maternity workers at Northern Beaches Hospital. I will be fighting this strongly and calling for this to be reversed by private operator Healthscope.
- Domestic and Family Violence: I am strongly calling for the implementation of the 'Staying Home Leaving Violence' program to the Northern Beaches. Coersive Control will also be a crime as of July 1st!
- ANZAC Day: See how our community commemorated our ANZACs across Wakehurst.
- Increased pedestrian safety projects: In an effort to increase pedestrian safety around our Wakehurst schools, I am really happy to announce the completion of the Carawa Road and Carcoola Road pedestrian crossing upgrade. Read below for updates for current and future safety projects.
- Showing up for men’s mental health: Get to know our local 'Men’s Table' group, which instigates a conversation around men’s mental health.
- Market stalls: We hosted our first market stall in Dee Why! My awesome volunteers and I were thrilled to hear even more of your suggestions and ideas for Wakehurst.
- Wakehurst school leaders visit Parliament: I got to welcome Wakehurst’s awesome primary school leaders to Parliament House.
- Ramadan Night Markets at Lakemba: My team and I had to wonderful opportunity to attend the Ramadan Night Markets in Lakemba with Minister Sophie Cotsis. A night of great food and conversation, it was great to chat about our communities outside of an office.
- Meeting with Wakehurst High School captains: This month I was able to catch up with the Wakehurst high school captains, discussing the issues most important to them.
- Local Legend: Aarohi Bansal: Putting a spotlight on the incredible achievements of Wakehurst's own 'Women of the Year Awards - One to Watch' finalist.
Cheers,

Alarming staffing cuts announced at Northern Beaches Hospital
Too many constituents have already shared their extremely concerning experiences at the Northern Beaches Hospital. This is the opposite of what is needed let alone what was promised by the previous Government.
Our community deserves a reliable and quality public health service that puts patient care over profit, and Healthscope’s statement that “proposed changes will in no way compromise the quality of patient care and will have a minimal impact on existing roles”, is hard to believe when staff are being cut, and remaining workers are overburdened.
At a time when mandated staffing levels are being increased across the public system, the Northern Beaches Hospital is going backwards.
I have publicly called for these announced cuts to be immediately reversed. I will be meeting with the NSW Health Minister shortly to raise my extreme concerns. It is clear the current status quo for our local hospital is not working. These announced cuts are inexcusable.
We cannot afford to further compromise on the quality of our healthcare delivery, especially in such critical areas as mental health and maternity care.
To Healthscope, if you cannot meet the legitimate public expectations for levels of care and staffing, hand the contract back to the government!
CEO Dr Gabrielle Morrissey, Dr Sophie Scamps, Zali Steggall and I are calling on the NSW government to take meaningful, decisive action on domestic and family violence by expanding the ‘Staying Home Leaving Violence’ program.
This means the perpetrator of violence is removed from the home, not the victim-survivors or children. The onus should be on the abusers to leave.
Unfortunately, this program is nowhere to be found on the Northern Beaches or North Shore. We need this here. The local rates of domestic and family violence are shocking.
The current news cycle is rightly focused on the topic of gender-based violence. It is always present. Enough is enough.
With domestic abuse rates in NSW utterly unacceptable, the situation urges us to combine both prevention and better resourced crisis support on our path towards no more domestic violence.
Here’s our chance. Our community is calling out for this effective program. We can do this!
Remember, as of July 1st, coercive control will be a crime. Good!
I stood with advocates, NSW Government Ministers and fellow cross-bench MPs to announce an important public awareness campaign about the new laws to protect victim-survivors of coercive control.
Coercive control is multifaceted. Efficient and widespread education is needed to make sure this vital law works.
ANZAC Day
On Thursday the 25th, we commemorated all who have served and continue to serve as part of Australia's armed forces.
As always, it is an honour to attend local commemorative events in Wakehurst. My team and I had the privilege of attending four services on ANZAC Day and a number of ceremonies in the leadup. It's always so profound to see how the community shows up for this important day of reflection.
Thank you to all who hosted special events in Wakehurst, including the Forestville RSL Sub-Branch, Beacon Hill RFS, the Brookvale Ex- Services Club, Collaroy RSL Sub-Branch and Northern Beaches Council. We were very humbled to participate and show our respects.
Most of all, our deepest respects and appreciation to every service person in our community for all you have done for our country.
Increased pedestrian safety projects
Good news!
Recent efforts to better the safety of pedestrians in Wakehurst have had success, with the completion of the Carawa Road and Carcoola Road pedestrian crossing, and approval of the Carawa Road and Alfred Street pedestrian safety upgrade design, and out to the market.
My office has also had updates on the various other safety projects around Wakehurst. This includes an upgrade to the Fisher Road and Regent Street traffic signals in Dee Why, which now only has the red turn arrow to function as a pedestrian protection and not an all-movements intersection.
Future projects for improving Wakehurst road safety within the 2024/2025 design program include:
- A proposal for a crossing on Fisher Road Nth and Grover Avenue,
- An investigation into an upgrade for the pedestrian crossing on Fisher Road Nth and Carawa Road,
- A pedestrian safety upgrade for the Lynwood Avenue and Fisher Road roundabout- However, this is proposed to be part of the 2025/26 program.
In addition to these, proposed projects within the 2024/2025 Safer Schools Program include:
- An upgrade to the South Creek Road at Cromer Park pedestrian crossing,
- An upgrade to the South Creek Road near Thew Parade crossing.
Out and about - Dee Why Lighthouse Markets
We popped up at the Dee Why Lighthouse Markets earlier this month. It was a great day, and I was so thrilled to hear your feedback, suggestions, and ideas for Wakehurst directly. Your cares and concerns are so vital to shaping how I represent you.
I love meeting and chatting with you, and look forward to seeing you at local events, occasions and market days in the future!
I would also like to thank my amazing volunteers for joining me for this market stall, your enthusiasm and genuine care for community is seriously appreciated.
I loved catching up with members of the Dee Why and Forestville 'Men's Table' groups.
It was a great experience that really highlights the incredible work this group is doing all over the country. It all started back in 2011 in Surry Hills, and now the Men's Table has grown into a major national charity with 160 Tables up and running and more on the way.
At these Tables, nearly 2,000 men get together every month to just talk and support each other in a really open and honest way. They’re learning to listen better, share more openly, and build the kind of friendships that really matter. And let me tell you, it’s making a big difference. The organisation has been doubling in size every year for the past three years!
There’s a serious need for this kind of thing. Too many guys struggle to make solid friendships, and it can lead to some pretty tough outcomes, including a higher risk of suicide. In fact, men made up over 75% of suicide cases according to 2022 figures.
I’m thrilled to let you know that we’ve got a Table going right here in our own backyard, and there’s another one about to kick off soon. This isn’t just about charity; it’s about offering men a real lifeline, a place to lighten their load and find real connection. I’m all for supporting this amazing effort that’s genuinely making a difference.
Great stuff! Let’s keep this momentum going!
Wakehurst school leaders take on Parliament!

One of my favourite things about being an MP is getting to chat with our young people to hear what is important to them - and I was seriously impressed by the questions our school leaders had to ask.
The future of Wakehurst is in great hands with these young leaders!
Ramadan Nights in Lakemba
Just a B1 from Dee Why to Wynyard, and a short train trip to Lakemba and we there in about an hour.
My team and I had a great night. It's great to connect with other MPs outside of parliament and provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the important infrastructure needs of our vibrant communities as well as share a fantastic iftar dinner together.
Such a great array of both street food and dine in options - we did a combination of both of course and stopped in at the Royal Bait Al Mandi Restaurant. Apparently, it’s a local fave, and I can absolutely see why!
It's a great experience to speak with the other NSW Members outside of the usual office landscape, as well as see the lively coming together of the community there in Lakemba.
Meeting with our local high school captains
I got to welcome the 2024 high school captains of our Wakehurst electorate to my office for morning tea and a seriously brilliant discussion about the issues most important to our young people.
Young leaders play such a key role in the discussion of issues and ideas that matter to them. It's honestly amazing to see this group so engaged in brainstorming ideas for improving youth community engagement.
The key issues and concerns brought up included potential community connection initiatives through sport and social means, the necessity of good public transport, and the increasing cost of living, housing, and HECS indexation.
It was great to gain insight into these issues from younger perspectives, and I look forward to integrating this group’s ideas into our initiatives.
Local Legend: Aarohi Bansal
How good is this!
I am so happy to recognise Wakehurst's own Aarohi Bansal as a recent finalist in the Women of the Year Awards 'the Ones to Watch' category.
Throughout 2023, Aarohi devoted an impressive 160 voluntary hours to vital causes such as the Special Olympics Australia, food drives for homeless shelters, Foodbank and fundraising for the Kids' Cancer Project. Amazing stuff!
That's not all.... Beyond local initiatives she has also been published in UN Youth NSW's Global Advocate magazine, participated in the Harvard Model United Nations and was involved in the global non-profit the Memory Project to support orphaned children in Afghanistan.
She is a co‑founder of a war on waste organisation at her school, has completed the lance corporal course at Australian Army Cadets and has received the John William Langston Epping Memorial Scholarship in 2019.
Wow. What a legend. Congratulations Aarohi for your outstanding efforts. You're doing our community very proud.

You can drop by in person (Shop 3, 637 Pittwater Road Dee Why)
You can also contact me and the team on
9981 1111 or [email protected]
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Until next time Wakehurst!