Member for Eden-Monaro Dr Mike Kelly was sworn in on Monday as the Minister for Defence Materiel, after Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced his promotion into the Ministry on Saturday.
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As Minister for Defence Materiel, Dr Kelly’s responsibilities include the acquisition of military materials and equipment, science and technology matters relating to their development, skills and industry policy, and helping to develop the national Defence Capability Plan.
As a former Army Colonel with a 20-year military career Dr Kelly said
“I am intensely aware of how important this job is, having seen first-hand during my military career what can happen if you don’t get it right.”
“My two great passions are the military and Eden-Monaro. I feel extremely lucky to be able to serve the people of Eden-Monaro and our brothers and sisters in the armed forces.
Peter Hendy the Liberal candidate for Eden Monaro in the Federal Election on 14 September, said the Coalition is ready for an election and has published its plans to build a strong, prosperous economy and a safe, secure Australia which will directly help families in Eden Monaro with cost of living pressures, small businesses create jobs and keep our borders secure.
“The voters of Eden Monaro will have a clear choice about who they trust to govern our country” Dr Hendy said. “We will scrap Labor’s carbon tax, abolish the mining tax and restore confidence to this important sector; help our businesses grow by abolishing $1 billion a year in red tape and green tape and build more modern infrastructure and get cranes above our cities again.”
Greens in Eden-Monaro have welcomed the announcement of the date of the 2013 election. “Julia Gillard's announcement well ahead of September 14 gives everyone the opportunity to plan properly and is a closer fit to the ideal of fixed term elections,” says Catherine Moore, Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro.
“Good on Julia Gillard for subverting the dominant paradigm and giving all Australians plenty of notice about when they will be going to the polls. The next step is to move to fixed terms permanently.”
“Climate change remains the biggest issue of our time, and it is already starting to affect everyone, so voters need to feel extremely concerned about any party or candidate who does not take climate change seriously” said Catherine.
