New Miranda MP Eleni Petinos has proposed a NAPLAN-type test of physical fitness in schools as part of a program to counter childhood obesity.
In a forthright inaugural speech in State Parliament, Ms Petinos said an active lifestyle was embedded in Sutherland Shire’s culture but she was concerned about the increase in childhood obesity across the state.
‘‘We must give our children the right tools from a young age to keep them well and out of the health system,’’ she said.
‘‘A comprehensive program of exercise and nutritional diet across our school system must be implemented with a useful medical index to ensure that we are moving in the right direction.
‘‘The National Assessment Program— Literacy and Numeracy [NAPLAN] is designed to test the scholastic skill set among students.
‘‘Surely the time has come to balance this with an assessment of the overall physical health of our children.’’
Ms Petinos said outside the House that she was ‘‘not saying we need to structure the test like NAPLAN’’ but that the health and fitness of children should be assessed at school from an early stage.
Her first speech had several other hard-hitting comments.
She spoke strongly in favour of the F6 motorway extension, denounced ‘‘archaic’’ penalty rates that stifled small business growth and advocated changing the ‘‘tax landscape’’ to provide greater reliance on consumption (GST) and less on corporate and personal taxes, stamp duty and taxation of insurance and payroll taxes in their present form.
Ms Petinos spoke out against the need for women to be given special assistance over men to become MPs.
‘‘My gender is very unremarkable,’’ she said.
‘‘It is the same as 50 per cent of the population and yet all too often it seems to be the quality used to define or characterise me.’’
Ms Petinos said she had ‘‘always objected violently to the proposition that I need to be propped up and that I am capable of attaining only a tokenistic position’’.
‘‘I believe in a system based on merit,’’ she said.
Ms Petinos said ‘‘merit’’ was one of three values that would shape her representation of the people of Miranda.
Other values included ‘‘culture’’ which was ‘‘steeped in the sacrifice’’ of her Greek immigrant family’s struggle to build a life in Australia and ‘‘individual freedom’’ which she had learnt from the Liberal Party and her father’s 37 years in small business as a chiropractor.
READY TO SERVE SHIRE
Eleni Petinos pledged not to let voters down.
‘‘As I stand today as a member of this historic institution and as a proud conservative and Christian, I say thank you to the people of Miranda for their support,’’ she said.
‘‘I am deeply humbled and honoured to be afforded the privilege of representing the community in which I have been raised.
‘‘I will work tirelessly to fight for you and for our electorate and I promise that I will never take you for granted.
‘‘I sincerely thank my predecessor, Barry Collier, for the 13 years he committed to public life for our community.
‘‘I wish him and his family well in their future endeavours.’’
Do you think the physical health of children should be tested at school?
