We catch up with Jordan MP, Charis Mullen, for the latest updates in our State of Play segment, starting with the introduction of 50 cent public transport fares launching on August 5th, covering all bus, train, ferry, tram, and on-demand services. Charis shares the positive responses from commuters and highlights the significant savings this will bring to many.
We also dive into the official opening of two new buildings at Spring Mountain State School, a rapidly growing institution now serving over 700 students. These state-of-the-art facilities, including innovative learning spaces and nature play areas, mark a significant milestone for the community.
Lastly, we celebrate the success of the Greater Springfield Festival, a multicultural event organised by the Bharath Cultural Society, which saw over 15,000 attendees and 700 performances. Charis also teases the upcoming announcement of the Jordan Local Business Awards winners, recognising the hard work and dedication of local businesses.
00:00
You’re on the West Bremer Radio Breckie crew. And of course, we are coming to you live on west streaming live on the app and also on Amazon Alexa and Google Smart Home speakers. It is time for the state of play. And we head to the seat of Jordan and MP Charis Mullen. Good morning. Good morning, Damien. Always good to be with you on this bright, sunny morning. It certainly is. We’ll probably get a little bit of rain over the weekend, but we can handle that, can’t we? Absolutely. Exactly.
00:29
Now good news too that we can handle and that is these 50 cent public transport fees. Yeah very exciting and I have to tell you I’ve been getting some terrific responses. So we are lowering translating public transport fares to 50 cents per trip from the 5th of August and that’ll be across bus, train, ferry, tram and on-demand services. And it doesn’t matter how long the distance is, is it? That’s right so the transfer of services is included in that 50 cents.
00:58
So you know you can actually travel all the way up to the Sunshine Coast if that’s what you’d like to do But it is an actual terrific opportunity and we know it’s going to make a really big difference particularly with cost of living pressures at the moment And so many people and it’s switching commute You know to work or use the train to get to events in the city or catch the bus to school And we know that’ll be a great benefit to them It certainly will and I know you’ve been out and about on the local station platforms all over the place
01:27
Chatting to commuters and they seem very excited about it. Yeah, a lot of them have said they can’t wait That seems to be the the general feel Most people seem to know about it as well, which is great So I think it’s proven very popular and the message is definitely out there But you know, I spoke to a young woman who told me that she sent $150 a week on On public transport. Yeah. Yeah, so that will now be you know, you know, but you know $5
01:54
that she will be spending so that is a massive savings for people. And of course it saves you on parking too, I know that in Brisbane the average there is around about $79 a day to park. I know it’s really high parking costs particularly in the CBD, so we think that this will be a great benefit to a lot of people and you know I actually really enjoy getting on a train because you can do some work on there, on the way in, you can read a book it’s actually a great way to travel.
02:24
Now what I want you to do, Charis, is organize to get the CityCats to actually go down the Bremer, join up and transfer to Brisbane. How lovely would that be? I’ve got to say there is nothing like a lovely ferry ride across Brisbane, but yes, how lovely would it be if we could extend it all the way down? I’m not sure that’s in the planning at this time, but yeah.
02:45
We really should be utilizing our rivers actually a lot more I think for travel. Well I agree so have a little whisper in the Transport Minister’s ear, right? I will, I will. Now Spring Mountain State School, this week you went along to officially open two brand new buildings. Yes we did, rapidly growing Spring Mountain State School because what we’ve seen is a rapidly growing suburb there, the Spring Mountain suburb is fast growing.
03:13
Over the past five years, we’ve grown that school, would you believe, from about 50 students to now over 700. Wow. So we really have needed these brand new buildings. And they are absolutely spectacular. State-of-the-art facilities, innovative learning spaces. It’s been really fantastic to see. And very excited was the new principal, Sheree Moore. Of course, the school staff there on hand, and the builders as well.
03:40
Yeah, so what’s really interesting about these buildings, Damian, is that they were prefabricated. So for the most part built off site and brought on site. And I’ve got to tell you, you cannot tell the difference. So it’s actually a really great and easy way to build these days, but also it’s less problematic for the school because they don’t have that sort of massive construction happening on their site whilst kids are still around playing and learning. So we’ve got two new buildings and new buildings.
04:09
two-story learning centre. It’s got 16 learning spaces in it and then we’ve got another new two-story prep building for our lovely youngest learners and that’s four new learning spaces and a fantastic new outdoor playground. They’re very much into nature play at Spring Mountain State School and so it’s been just lovely to see just what a great space that that will be for all of the students. Well congratulations to all of the staff and students at Spring Mountain State School.
04:37
on the addition of those two new buildings. And also the Greater Springfield Festival. It was held a few weeks ago. It was a massive success, wasn’t it? Yeah, it really was. I mean, I just want to really give a shout out to the organizers of this festival, Barnum Cultural Society. They’re one of our really wonderful kind of Indian community organizations. And I really want to emphasize just what an incredible event this was. You know, it started about 11 years ago. It was a much smaller, modest event.
05:07
and it was there to really celebrate our Indian and Tamil New Year, but it has grown into a major multicultural festival in Greater Springfield. Yeah, and I know everyone had a fantastic time, didn’t they? They really did. I mean, this is kind of, the stats are actually unbelievable. Over 700 performances, 60 stalls, close to 100 performances on the day, and I think their estimation of the number of people who’ve been there,
05:33
visited Greater Springfield, around 15,000 people attended. So I have to tell you this has become a real signature event for the Greater Springfield area and it’s one that the Queensland Government has been really proud to support. We’re a big proud supporter of the event under our Celebrating Multicultural Events program and Ipswich City Council as well, along with some of our local businesses as well who popped on. But it was a huge, huge day. Fantastic.
06:00
Well look, speaking of local businesses, it would be remiss of me not to quiz you on how the final day or two of the Jordan Local Business Awards is going. I tell you, it is gonna be close. But we have had thousands of votes coming in for our business awards. 30 finalists, we’re down now to effectively choosing the 10 winners in each of the categories.
06:26
it’s been fierce competition and i can feel a lot of the business that they have been breaking themselves uh… but they’ve got a lot of very and supportive customers they’ve all been getting on inviting for them it’s going to be very exciting i don’t know the final result yet and i’m gonna like hold off now and white that’s a bit of a surprise for me as well uh… but it’s been a wonderful opportunity to small business month really support our local people you know it is a bit of a tough environment out there for them at the moment
06:56
But they are doing an incredible job and the community is showing lots and lots of love and support through our Jordan Local Business Awards. I’m really pleased with how this has gone and I hope to bring it back again next year if I can. Fantastic. Now, when are you doing the big announcement? So we will close, obviously they close the voting, we’ll close the voting 5pm on Friday.
07:19
And then I’m hoping to release it hopefully even on Saturday because I just think the business can’t wait To find out what’s happening. So looking to hopefully do that and then I’m going to host a special event for all of the women Oh, that is awesome. Well, we’ll try and interview a couple of the winning businesses as well. Oh, that’d be terrific I’m sure they’d really appreciate that support as well. Well our office will talk to your office and we’ll do lunch How’s that sound that sounds?
07:47
Cherise, always good to chat and we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you, Damien. Lovely to always speak with you. Thank you. Uh, the Jordan MP, Charis Mullen joining us there for the state of play. We’ll take a break back with more in a moment.
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