FROM JULIE OWENS: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I’m Julie Owens MP, Labor Member for Parramatta in the Australian Parliament and I’m humbled that the people of Parramatta have elected me for a fourth term.

Parramatta is my home and it's the place I am committed to make a difference to the lives of people in our community.

As a young woman who grew up in public housing, I achieved one dream when I was accepted into university, thanks to Labor in government opening up access to higher education for young people.

I want to make sure that everyone in our community has the same opportunity to build a better life.

That’s why I’m committed to putting Parramatta first. It was another dream come true when I was elected to represent our local area in 2004. Since then, I’ve helped deliver:

• increases in university enrolments among local young people, with more than 70 per cent of current students able to proudly say they are the first in their family to go to university;
• brand new facilities for all our local schools; and
• better government services and facilities for the whole community.

But there’s still more to do and I look forward to working with you to strengthen our community.