This week saw a special occasion, I was lucky enough to be elected as your Independent Member for Wakehurst one year ago. What a massive year it’s been!

Let's dive into some of the awesome stuff that's been happening in Wakehurst and Parliament this month:

• Great win for bus passengers: From 31st March, timetables across both the Beaches and Forest are being improved to help with long queues and overcrowded buses! Read below for all the details!

• 2024 Wakehurst Woman of the Year: We congratulate the amazing Sonja Walker on being named as Wakehurst's 'Woman of the Year' as part of International Women's Day.

• Parliament Updates: Check out the best moments from a massive sitting fortnight!

• My first year as your Independent MP: Read below for a detailed recap on the great things we are achieving together. It is such a privilege to represent you Wakehurst, and I want to sincerely thank everyone for their direct engagement.

Cheers,

Wow! One whole year since the NSW election. That's a moment I will never, ever forget.

Since the election, my team and I absolutely hit the ground running whilst setting up our office. I'm so proud of what we’ve been getting done.

Thank you to everyone who put their faith and trust in me last year, and to everyone who has reached out to me or the office, I really treasure your direct engagement.

Seriously, every day being able to represent you is a privilege. There will always be lots of work we’re doing to represent and advocate for you, so here's a snapshot of what we’ve been achieving together:

• Securing $75 million for major upgrades to widen and flood proof Wakehurst Parkway.

• Successfully advocating for a performance audit of the Northern Beaches Hospital by the NSW Auditor General, which is now underway.

• Strengthening legislation with my successful amendments to ban offshore exploration and drilling of gas and minerals off the NSW coast.

• Leading a Public Interest Debate to end Domestic and Family Violence, collaborating with the NSW Government to boost funding and support services on the Northern Beaches.

• Presenting a community petition and leading discussions against the Lizard Rock/ Patyegarang development, reflecting our community's strong opposition.

• Proposing a solar interest free loan scheme to help significantly reduce energy costs during the cost-of-living crisis.

• Proposing 50% affordable housing in perpetuity as part of the upcoming Frenchs Forest town centre development, which will help key workers like teachers, bus drivers and nurses stay in the area.

• Advocating for urgent improvements in our local public school facilities.

• Pressing the government to deliver more sporting facilities to help keep up with the ever-growing demand.

• Working with government and local stakeholders to fix bottleneck traffic and transport issues, including significantly more services being added following my active advocacy (read more below).

To date, I'm also proud to have had a total of 397 constituent meetings, either at my electorate office or visiting you out in the community!

I've also had 21 local school visits, 30 meetings with NSW Government Ministers, have delivered 68 speeches in parliament, and have attended 29 parliamentary committee meetings. 

My office and I have also been helping Wakehurst residents with over 700 unique constituent cases, assisting with issues across housing, education, health, transport, roads, arts & culture, emergency services, planning, environment and energy.

As you can see, it's been an incredibly busy first year.  I am so excited to keep working with you to keep securing great wins for our community.

I've been hearing this feedback loud and clear from the community.

As a regular in the bus queues myself, I know we need more services to keep up with growing demand.  

I recently met with NSW Transport Minister, Jo Haylen (pictured below) to discuss the urgent need for improvements. After months of raising the alarm about reliability and capacity issues, I am glad to see the NSW Government working with our local bus operators to respond to the concerns of the community and take steps to improve services.

From 31st March, timetables across both the Beaches and Forest are being improved.

For Buses operated by Keolis Downer, key changes include:  

• 146 extra B-Line services per week

• extra buses during weekday peaks on the 150X, 165X, 170X, and 174X

• faster journeys on the 160X.

For Buses operated by CDC (aka Forest Coachlines), key changes include:

• Additional peak hour services on the 270, 271 and 274 to get more people to the city.

• Extra 270 services starting at Forest Way to reduce overcrowding.

• Shifting the 280 to a different bus operator with more bus drivers to reduce cancellations.  

This timetable update follows a route-by-route review of services and will make sure the resources available are best meeting the needs of the public.

Timetable updates are being made across many bus routes in our area, so it is important that passengers consult the Transport for NSW trip planner or check updated timetables online.

There is still more to do to get our bus services up to scratch. I value your feedback with these new changes.

To address the root of the problem, we must fix the persistent bus driver shortage. 

It is very clear that a primary cause of the service disruptions are driver shortages, and we know this is fuelled by unaffordable housing for our essential workers, including bus drivers.

That’s why I have called on the government to implement 50% affordable housing as part of the upcoming Frenchs Forest Town Centre development. Advocating for more social and affordable housing is a top priority for me and this site is a huge opportunity to deliver at scale. 

I will keep holding Transport for NSW and private bus operators to account on behalf of Wakehurst commuters.

• Passing the NSW Government bill to ban offshore exploration for drilling of oil and gas off our coast. This bill was strengthened by my successful amendment but this is a win belongs to everyone in the community who took a stand against PEP-11.

• Introduced local business Alchemy Charge to the Minister for the Environment in a very productive meeting about getting EV chargers in unit blocks.

• Asked a question in Question Time about my push for 50% affordable housing opportunities at the Frenchs Forest High School site, which is set to be redeveloped into a new town centre. Pleasingly, my proposal will be explored as part of the government’s audit of this site.
  

• Spoke on a bill to end harmful LGBTQIA+ conversion practices. This followed consultation I took with equality advocates, parents and faith groups. I firmly believe the voices of people from all walks of life are essential to this discussion. It's important the government gets the balance right on these issues. 

• Co-hosted a breakfast event in Parliament House with the Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Environment Trish Doyle MP. We had a great presentation of electorate-based analysis on the savings for households, as well as job creation potential and emissions savings of shifting to all-electric homes. 

All my parliamentary speeches are available in full on my website.  

Sonja is a former teacher and is the hero behind Kids First, where for over 30 years, she's been the voice for kids, bridging the gap between families, schools, health experts, and the powers that be. Her mission? To make sure every child gets the support they need to thrive.

That’s not all. Sonja’s also a best-selling author with her book, “SCHOOL READY,” guiding parents on navigating the waters with their sensitive little ones. Plus, with her history of shaking things up for the better in children’s charities like Lifestart, she's more than earned her stripes.

Our hats go off to Sonja Walker, a true Wakehurst champion for our kids and families. Here's to many more years of your incredible work making waves!