Victorian State Election - The Gladys Liu Interview - OzChess

**JaK** · 11-15-2010, 06:55 PM

The South Eastern Metropolitan Region is one of the eight electoral regions in Victorian Legislative Council. It was created in 2006 following the reform of the Legislative Council by the Australian Labor Party state government of Steve Bracks.

South Eastern Metropolitan Region first elected members at the 25 November 2006 state election. The Australian Labor Party won three seats, while the Liberal Party won two seats.

Gladys Liu ex President and now Senior Vice President of Box Hill Chess Club, is a Liberal candidate for South Eastern Metropolitan Region for the 2010 Victorian State election and lives in the area with her two teenage children.

Gladys has worked as the Multicultural Adviser assisting the Victorian Opposition since 2007 and her efforts in this area have resulted in significant progress in multicultural communities throughout Victoria in the last three years.

Moving to Australia from Hong Kong in 1985, Gladys has completed a Bachelor of Applied Sciences (Speech Pathology) on a full scholarship from La Trobe University. She worked as a speech pathologist at schools for a number of years before establishing her own practice, the first English-Chinese bilingual speech pathology clinic in Melbourne.

Ms Liu, extremely busy with the campaign found some time to speak to us about herself and her participation in the forthcoming elections. Let's read her responses to our questions:

Ms Liu, Labor has been in power for 11 years now! Is it time for a change?

Absolutely. Despite $350 billion in taxes, charges and other revenue, State Labor, in 11 years, has delivered:

The lowest number of police, per capita, of any state, with violent crime increasing;

A public transport system that is over-crowded, unsafe and rarely on time;

A health system under severe stress with secret “waiting lists” and an ambulance system in crisis;

Badly congested and poorly maintained roads, and major infrastructure projects that cost billions of dollars more than they should have.
Election after election, State Labor has promised to fix the problems. But they don’t fix them. We need a change of government – one that will fix the problems and build for the future.

Regardless to Green preferences as well as numbers and percentages as projected by the polls, public opinion tends to agree that the actual poll results will be tight and unpredictable… Is this unpredictability a positive or negative factor for your Party?

In this election, all Coalition Candidates and MPs work hard to win and to offer a better government for Victorians regardless to what the prediction to the election result. We are committed because Victorian families need a change and nothing will get better under John Brumby.

Under the Coalition, public transport will be safe, reliable and clean.

Sentencing will be tougher, with more police and zero tolerance of crime and violence.

A Coalition Government will ease the pressure on Victorian families who are struggling with massive increases in household bills and charges because of Labor's cost blowouts and mismanagement.

We will change the way we manage health care for Victorians who are sick and suffering.

The corruption of the planning process and destruction of our communities will end.

We will end the cover-ups, secrecy and dishonesty that have come to mark the Brumby Government.

Integrity, honesty and open and accountable government will return to Victoria.

Victoria is in a transitional period of re-emerging in the elite of the Nation’s strong economies. Some economists (Grattan Institute economist Saul Eslake for example) even claim it as the strongest! Do the Liberals possess what it takes to keep along with these challenging times?

A Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Government is committed to ensuring a minimum annual state budget surplus of $100 million in the spirit of transparency, accountability and responsible financial management principles, all guiding parameters that have been particularly lacking over Labor’s decade of waste and mismanagement.

In the last 11 years, the Brumby Government wastes huge amounts of tax payers’ money:

$11.9 billion in cost blow-outs for major projects, including $1.450 billion for ‘smart meters’; and for the $1.4 billion on myki, there have been $850 million over budget!Multicultural Affairs has always been a passion of yours. Tell us some of the Liberal policies that would bring improvements in this very important field!

A Liberal Nationals Coalition Government will give the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) greater autonomy to assist and strengthen the role of migrant and refugee communities in Victoria. By making the Commission independent, the Coalition will ensure that government is held accountable for the delivery and efficiency of these programs.

A Liberal Nationals Coalition Government will also invest $32.7 million over four years in community language schools, including increasing per capita funding from $120 to $190 per student in tuition fees to help students attending after-hours community language schools and maintaining the knowledge of the language other than English.

Another Liberal policy is to cement Victoria’s economic and cultural ties with India and South Asia with an ambitious plan to attract more Bollywood film production to Victoria. We will commit $500,000 over four years to develop the Bollywood Film Festival, co-ordinated with the Melbourne International Film Festival as a permanent part of Melbourne’s cultural calendar.

Community health again is one of your main concerns from a professional as well from a political point of view. Where do we need improvements and what are your plans to achieve them?

The Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition has over 30 health policies to improve health services in Victoria. Here are just some of them:

We will, in the first term, deliver 800 new beds to Victoria’s hospitals to slash waiting lists, reduce emergency department wait times and improve patient care as part of a new health and hospitals plan for the next decade.

We will recruit an additional 310 new ambulance paramedics plus 30 new patient transport officers – a total of 340 ambulance staff – as part of a plan to properly fund the ambulance service and fix the crisis created by Labor in Victoria.

We will end John Brumby’s cover-up of public hospital outpatient waiting lists by releasing quarterly waiting list numbers and the time patients wait to get an appointment.

A future Coalition Government will re-ignite mental health reform and build an integrated system to ensure people living with a mental illness can access the care, services and support they need. We will develop a Mental Illness Research Fund, a Central co-ordination of inpatient mental health beds and an integrated education and employment program to increase workforce participation rate of Victorians living with a mental illness.Education! You were a high achieving scholarship standards excellent student. So is your son Derek who entered University this year achieving astronomically high results. Sally (still in High School) is also doing quite well! So your family is leading by example in this field… However, what are your plans to make education standards better for the children of our State?

A Coalition Government will supercharge Victoria’s primary school curriculum by recruiting 100 maths and science specialists and offering 400 teaching scholarships for science graduates. Under Labor, primary students wanting to learn maths and science are held back by the shortage of properly qualified teachers.

A Coalition Government will enforce the truancy laws Labor has been too incompetent to use. Under Labor’s soft approach to school discipline, no fines have been issued to parents who allow their children to miss school and miss out on an education. We will make it compulsory for parents to ensure children attend school, with fines for each day a student misses school without a reasonable excuse.

The Coalition have committed to purpose built special school in Officer providing disability services to the children in most need of support.

Youth support systems… The time of your presiding Box Hill and Canterbury Junior Chess Clubs contributed greatly to the production of a great No. of junior champions and talent development. This enthusiasm of yours was shown in many other fields apart from Chess. However, does the present Government do what is really needed to help the youngsters and if not what are your Party's plans for improvement on this field?

Under Labor Government we have seen a rise in violent crime and a breakdown of support networks for at-risk youth. Many young people have no purpose or motivation in their lives, which leads to boredom, destructive and self-destructive behavior.

A Coalition Government would start at schools and give back Victorian school principals the power to keep their schools safe to stem rising schoolyard violence.

Could you give us some examples of those measures?

Principals will be given the right to suspend and / or expel students at their own discretion;

Principals will be given the right to ban dangerous items from school grounds;

Punishment for offences such as assault and vandalism committed on school property will be increased.

A Coalition Government is committed to fund recreational activities to guide youngsters to the right directions from young. A $1.6 million commitment over four years as part of a new era in prioritising learning to swim for Victorian children; provide an additional $4 million over four years to improve infrastructure for recreational fishers and fund restocking programs; build a youth centre which would help youth workers connect with young people and help them find the direction they need, just to name a few.

On a personal level now, as a professional and / or as a volunteer, you have proved several times to the people of your electorate that you care about the community and people respond with love and respect to those efforts. However, tell us why you believe they should vote for you!

I believe in good, honest and effective political representation which requires suitable personal attributes, a range of relevant skills and the commitment to make a difference. I want to see a decent, responsible government in Spring Street which cares about the future of Victoria and Victorians.

My multicultural background and experience means that I can assist our government by working with our multicultural communities, and improving community participation in political and institutional structures.

My capacity for hard work, organizational ability, and ability to connect with various multicultural communities across the he South Eastern Metropolitan region would add, I believe, significant value to the government.

I have the energy, passion, commitment, skills, experience and the desire to play a part in taking Victoria to a brighter future.

An active member of the community, Gladys helped to found the Chinese Liberals Association, promoting the Liberal Party amongst Melbounrne's Chinese community through street festivals and the production of an annual publication. Gladys has also volunteered her time to many not-for-profit organisations over many years, including St Vincent de Paul, the Box Hill Chess Club, and Channel 31 Community TV, for whom she currently serves as a board member.

Gladys is enthusiastic and looking forward to representing local residents in the South Eastern Metropolitan Region. She is passionate about multicultural affairs and improving community health, education and youth support systems.

In adding our best wishes for a successful and victorious outcome in the forthcoming elections for Ms Liu we must thank Ms Sally Yu (Glady’s very talented daughter) for her contribution in arranging this interview!

**SvetlanaBabe** · 12-01-2010, 09:54 PM

As a life long Liberal Party voter I am happy that the election was lost by the blundering working class garbage, Victorian Labor.

(I think Ms Liu should distance herself from the Box Hill/Canterbury Chess Club, some embarrasing revelations may come out soon...e.g Wasn't Chris Ellingford a member of this chess club? etc etc etc etc)

**Just2Good** · 12-01-2010, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by SvetlanaBabe

e.g Wasn't Chris Ellingford a member of this chess club? etc etc etc etc)

Okay, I'll bite.

Who is Chris Ellingford?

11-15-2010, 06:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
JaK Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 391	Victorian State Election - The Gladys Liu Interview The South Eastern Metropolitan Region is one of the eight electoral regions in Victorian Legislative Council. It was created in 2006 following the reform of the Legislative Council by the Australian Labor Party state government of Steve Bracks. South Eastern Metropolitan Region first elected members at the 25 November 2006 state election. The Australian Labor Party won three seats, while the Liberal Party won two seats. Gladys Liu ex President and now Senior Vice President of Box Hill Chess Club, is a Liberal candidate for South Eastern Metropolitan Region for the 2010 Victorian State election and lives in the area with her two teenage children. Gladys has worked as the Multicultural Adviser assisting the Victorian Opposition since 2007 and her efforts in this area have resulted in significant progress in multicultural communities throughout Victoria in the last three years. Moving to Australia from Hong Kong in 1985, Gladys has completed a Bachelor of Applied Sciences (Speech Pathology) on a full scholarship from La Trobe University. She worked as a speech pathologist at schools for a number of years before establishing her own practice, the first English-Chinese bilingual speech pathology clinic in Melbourne. Ms Liu, extremely busy with the campaign found some time to speak to us about herself and her participation in the forthcoming elections. Let's read her responses to our questions: Ms Liu, Labor has been in power for 11 years now! Is it time for a change? Absolutely. Despite $350 billion in taxes, charges and other revenue, State Labor, in 11 years, has delivered: The lowest number of police, per capita, of any state, with violent crime increasing; A public transport system that is over-crowded, unsafe and rarely on time; A health system under severe stress with secret “waiting lists” and an ambulance system in crisis; Badly congested and poorly maintained roads, and major infrastructure projects that cost billions of dollars more than they should have. Election after election, State Labor has promised to fix the problems. But they don’t fix them. We need a change of government – one that will fix the problems and build for the future. Regardless to Green preferences as well as numbers and percentages as projected by the polls, public opinion tends to agree that the actual poll results will be tight and unpredictable… Is this unpredictability a positive or negative factor for your Party? In this election, all Coalition Candidates and MPs work hard to win and to offer a better government for Victorians regardless to what the prediction to the election result. We are committed because Victorian families need a change and nothing will get better under John Brumby. Under the Coalition, public transport will be safe, reliable and clean. Sentencing will be tougher, with more police and zero tolerance of crime and violence. A Coalition Government will ease the pressure on Victorian families who are struggling with massive increases in household bills and charges because of Labor's cost blowouts and mismanagement. We will change the way we manage health care for Victorians who are sick and suffering. The corruption of the planning process and destruction of our communities will end. We will end the cover-ups, secrecy and dishonesty that have come to mark the Brumby Government. Integrity, honesty and open and accountable government will return to Victoria. Victoria is in a transitional period of re-emerging in the elite of the Nation’s strong economies. Some economists (Grattan Institute economist Saul Eslake for example) even claim it as the strongest! Do the Liberals possess what it takes to keep along with these challenging times? A Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Government is committed to ensuring a minimum annual state budget surplus of $100 million in the spirit of transparency, accountability and responsible financial management principles, all guiding parameters that have been particularly lacking over Labor’s decade of waste and mismanagement. In the last 11 years, the Brumby Government wastes huge amounts of tax payers’ money: $11.9 billion in cost blow-outs for major projects, including $1.450 billion for ‘smart meters’; and for the $1.4 billion on myki, there have been $850 million over budget!Multicultural Affairs has always been a passion of yours. Tell us some of the Liberal policies that would bring improvements in this very important field! A Liberal Nationals Coalition Government will give the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) greater autonomy to assist and strengthen the role of migrant and refugee communities in Victoria. By making the Commission independent, the Coalition will ensure that government is held accountable for the delivery and efficiency of these programs. A Liberal Nationals Coalition Government will also invest $32.7 million over four years in community language schools, including increasing per capita funding from $120 to $190 per student in tuition fees to help students attending after-hours community language schools and maintaining the knowledge of the language other than English. Another Liberal policy is to cement Victoria’s economic and cultural ties with India and South Asia with an ambitious plan to attract more Bollywood film production to Victoria. We will commit $500,000 over four years to develop the Bollywood Film Festival, co-ordinated with the Melbourne International Film Festival as a permanent part of Melbourne’s cultural calendar. Community health again is one of your main concerns from a professional as well from a political point of view. Where do we need improvements and what are your plans to achieve them? The Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition has over 30 health policies to improve health services in Victoria. Here are just some of them: We will, in the first term, deliver 800 new beds to Victoria’s hospitals to slash waiting lists, reduce emergency department wait times and improve patient care as part of a new health and hospitals plan for the next decade. We will recruit an additional 310 new ambulance paramedics plus 30 new patient transport officers – a total of 340 ambulance staff – as part of a plan to properly fund the ambulance service and fix the crisis created by Labor in Victoria. We will end John Brumby’s cover-up of public hospital outpatient waiting lists by releasing quarterly waiting list numbers and the time patients wait to get an appointment. A future Coalition Government will re-ignite mental health reform and build an integrated system to ensure people living with a mental illness can access the care, services and support they need. We will develop a Mental Illness Research Fund, a Central co-ordination of inpatient mental health beds and an integrated education and employment program to increase workforce participation rate of Victorians living with a mental illness.Education! You were a high achieving scholarship standards excellent student. So is your son Derek who entered University this year achieving astronomically high results. Sally (still in High School) is also doing quite well! So your family is leading by example in this field… However, what are your plans to make education standards better for the children of our State? A Coalition Government will supercharge Victoria’s primary school curriculum by recruiting 100 maths and science specialists and offering 400 teaching scholarships for science graduates. Under Labor, primary students wanting to learn maths and science are held back by the shortage of properly qualified teachers. A Coalition Government will enforce the truancy laws Labor has been too incompetent to use. Under Labor’s soft approach to school discipline, no fines have been issued to parents who allow their children to miss school and miss out on an education. We will make it compulsory for parents to ensure children attend school, with fines for each day a student misses school without a reasonable excuse. The Coalition have committed to purpose built special school in Officer providing disability services to the children in most need of support. Youth support systems… The time of your presiding Box Hill and Canterbury Junior Chess Clubs contributed greatly to the production of a great No. of junior champions and talent development. This enthusiasm of yours was shown in many other fields apart from Chess. However, does the present Government do what is really needed to help the youngsters and if not what are your Party's plans for improvement on this field? Under Labor Government we have seen a rise in violent crime and a breakdown of support networks for at-risk youth. Many young people have no purpose or motivation in their lives, which leads to boredom, destructive and self-destructive behavior. A Coalition Government would start at schools and give back Victorian school principals the power to keep their schools safe to stem rising schoolyard violence. Could you give us some examples of those measures? Principals will be given the right to suspend and / or expel students at their own discretion; Principals will be given the right to ban dangerous items from school grounds; Punishment for offences such as assault and vandalism committed on school property will be increased. A Coalition Government is committed to fund recreational activities to guide youngsters to the right directions from young. A $1.6 million commitment over four years as part of a new era in prioritising learning to swim for Victorian children; provide an additional $4 million over four years to improve infrastructure for recreational fishers and fund restocking programs; build a youth centre which would help youth workers connect with young people and help them find the direction they need, just to name a few. On a personal level now, as a professional and / or as a volunteer, you have proved several times to the people of your electorate that you care about the community and people respond with love and respect to those efforts. However, tell us why you believe they should vote for you! I believe in good, honest and effective political representation which requires suitable personal attributes, a range of relevant skills and the commitment to make a difference. I want to see a decent, responsible government in Spring Street which cares about the future of Victoria and Victorians. My multicultural background and experience means that I can assist our government by working with our multicultural communities, and improving community participation in political and institutional structures. My capacity for hard work, organizational ability, and ability to connect with various multicultural communities across the he South Eastern Metropolitan region would add, I believe, significant value to the government. I have the energy, passion, commitment, skills, experience and the desire to play a part in taking Victoria to a brighter future. An active member of the community, Gladys helped to found the Chinese Liberals Association, promoting the Liberal Party amongst Melbounrne's Chinese community through street festivals and the production of an annual publication. Gladys has also volunteered her time to many not-for-profit organisations over many years, including St Vincent de Paul, the Box Hill Chess Club, and Channel 31 Community TV, for whom she currently serves as a board member. Gladys is enthusiastic and looking forward to representing local residents in the South Eastern Metropolitan Region. She is passionate about multicultural affairs and improving community health, education and youth support systems. In adding our best wishes for a successful and victorious outcome in the forthcoming elections for Ms Liu we must thank Ms Sally Yu (Glady’s very talented daughter) for her contribution in arranging this interview!

12-01-2010, 09:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
SvetlanaBabe My name is Alex Malejewich Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Daylesford Posts: 133	Liberal Party As a life long Liberal Party voter I am happy that the election was lost by the blundering working class garbage, Victorian Labor. (I think Ms Liu should distance herself from the Box Hill/Canterbury Chess Club, some embarrasing revelations may come out soon...e.g Wasn't Chris Ellingford a member of this chess club? etc etc etc etc)

12-01-2010, 11:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Originally Posted by SvetlanaBabe e.g Wasn't Chris Ellingford a member of this chess club? etc etc etc etc) Okay, I'll bite. Who is Chris Ellingford? __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

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