November 5th, 2007
Childcare is the biggest issue for working women with children. The question is whether the City of Sydney council wants to or is prepared to deal with this issue.
In a motion put to Council, Councillor Harris is called on the City of Sydney to prepare a report to establish the feasibility of providing a crèche on site for the children of council staff.
“As one of Sydney’s major employers, the City of Sydney Council should be setting the example not lagging behind private enterprise in providing quality childcare facilities” according to Greens Councillor, Chris Harris.
“The greatest investment a society can make is in its children. Companies such as Lend Lease in the city, IBM at Pennant Hills and the NSW Police Headquarters at Parramatta realise this and are already leading the way with in-house childcare facilities” Cr. Harris said
“Since 1994 the Body Shop’s head office in Melbourne have had an 86-place childcare facility that provides care and education programs for children aged from birth to five. They also provide a special room with kitchenette and work station where a parent can spend the day with a sick child.
“The advantage for companies that provide childcare facilities is that their staff are more wiling to return to work earlier. There is a severe shortage of childcare places, especially in the 0-2 year group. If mothers know they can breastfeed their babies at work and that they only have to make one trip to work rather than dashing off to childcare centres then they have an incentive to return to work sooner. Cr Harris said.
“But it’s not just the convenience of having childcare facilities that is behind my motion, studies have shown that conflicts between employee’s work and family can hinder overall productivity.
“If we provide high quality childcare facilities for our staff, we would not only be investing in our workforce, but we would be providing a safe and secure environment in which our children can grow and learn. If because of this initiative, productivity improves then that’s an added bonus,” Councillor Harris said
Cr Harris’ motion was supported by all councillors present and the staff will now prepare a report for a future council meeting on how an internal childcare facility can be provided.
Posted in Council, Industrial Relations
September 20th, 2007
Greens Councillor Chris Harris has nominated the City of Sydney Council for a positive award at the Greens Bad Development Awards. The Awards, run by Greens MP Sylvia Hale, target bad developments and councils, but also have categories which recognise good developments and initiatives.
The City of Sydney has 15 water harvesting and recycling systems already installed with another 34 underway, and Councillor Harris, an often outspoken critic of bad developments and the lack of sustainable initiatives, is impressed by the positive steps the Council is taking on water.
“I’m usually the dissenting voice on developments and issues that do nothing to help make this city sustainable, so it’s good to be able to promote initiatives that will help the city reduce its reliance on mains water and the volume of stormwater discharged into our waterways,” Councillor Harris said. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Council, Environment
September 13th, 2007
Twenty-one ‘life savers’ surrounded by a huge contingent of police were last Friday welcomed by Deputy Lord Mayor and Greens Cr Chris Harris to the ‘declared area’ in front of the US Embassy in Martin Place.
The 21 climate savers represented the 21 member nations meeting at the APEC summit in Sydney.
With Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, MP Sylvia Hale, and Greens candidate for Sydney Jenny Leong, Cr Chris Harris called on the APEC leaders to stop talking and start taking real action to prevent climate change while they still had the chance.
Chris Harris: “Walking from The Domain to this media conference today we were escorted by ten police on bicycles. While it was distressing that the police felt the need to escort people who believe in peace and non-violence, it was comforting to see that these police were at least on bikes rather than in gas guzzling SUVs. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Council, World Affairs, Environment
August 30th, 2007
In the face of national concentration of media ownership among a few big players, Council on Monday night struck a blow against small independent media in Sydney.
By a majority of 8-2, Council voted to impose onerous charges and red tape requirements on the distribution of newspapers on Sydney footpaths. Only Crs Harris and Firth (Labor) opposed the policy.
Strong lobbying by independent media for a system of newspaper racks similar to those adopted in other world cities was deferred for ‘investigation’ by staff.
However it is understood that racks are seen as ‘clutter’ by Lord Mayor Clover Moore and others and so have little chance of getting up.
Bizarrely, advertising handbills and the like can be handed out freely under the policy.
The policy extends charges currently paid to Council by News Ltd’s mX title.
“This policy will suit News Ltd perfectly,” said Greens Councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor Chris Harris.
“This global corporation has a history of predatory pricing practices and is able to run at a loss indefinitely until any opposition is wiped out.
“Given that News Ltd already owns Cumberland publications like The Glebe, as well as all the Courier titles, I find it incredible that Council has acted to further close the field to competitors,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Council
August 28th, 2007
When Deputy Lord Mayor Greens Cr. Chris Harris requested a motion of urgency to bring forward the debate on erecting a banner – ‘Cage Bush. Not Sydney’ – on the Town Hall, not one councillor supported him.
The reason Cr. Harris gave for this motion to be brought forward was that camera crews were waiting to record the debate and there was wide public interest in the issue.
Not surprisingly when the motion finally came up for debate, with one intrepid camera crew still present, neither the supposedly progressive Clover Moore independent team, nor the Liberals (predictably) nor Labor voted to even discuss the matter. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Council, Federal Politics
