Malcolm Lye introduced the guest speaker, Trent Zimmerman MP, Federal Member for North Sydney. He summarised Trent’s career as an adviser to several politicians, including former Treasurer Joe Hockey, and his roles with the Liberal Party. He noted that Trent is an active member of Rotary Club of North Sydney Sunrise.
Trent spoke on two subjects – his life in the past 18 months as a new MP and the challenges facing Australia. He said “nothing had prepared me for life as an elected politician”: the lack of anonymity; busy Committee work; communications with Ministers, Party Room, colleagues and Opposition members; and time spent in the electorate.
Trent is optimistic about Australia’s future because of its stability and security, diversity and high living standards. He sees four main challenges:
Competitiveness of Australia’s industries. He expects Australia’s main growth to be in service industries and agriculture and sees a need for lower company taxes and more Free Trade Agreements.
Maintaining health care and pensions for Australia’s ageing population.
The increasing costs of energy as Australia tries to combat climate change. He sees “technology as our friend”, with solar costs reducing and providing secure affordable energy.
The growth of our cities. Sydney will have 8 million population in 20 years and long term planning for infrastructure will be critical.
Trent answered questions on the adversarial nature of politics, energy, Liberal Party pre-selection processes, transport issues, the plebiscite for same sex marriage and his own priorities.
PP John Bolton gave the vote of thanks, saying that Trent had provided insights into his life in Canberra and on the challenges ahead for Australia.
Sergeant PP John Turner extracted cash from members. PP Paul Sullivan successfully auctioned a rare bottle of Riesling.