Hoenig talks Heffron
Member for Heffron since 2012, Hoenig said he has noticed a steady influx of Jews into the electorate.
Ron Hoenig said his biggest election challenge is finding time after the busy campaign to prepare for Pesach.
“I don’t know how I’m going to have time to organise my household,” he said.
“The last thing I want to do is turn up to Krinsky’s a couple of days before Pesach when everybody’s in there trying to get their stuff.”
Member for Heffron since 2012, Hoenig said he has noticed a steady influx of Jews into the electorate.
“It’s surprising how many Jews are approaching me, say at mobile offices, particularly in areas like Zetland,” he said.
“And of course, I’ve always had a lot of Russian Jews living in Waterloo in the public housing.”
Hoenig named improving the quality of public housing in Waterloo and the new $140 million Alexandria Park Community School as highlights of his last term.
He said the most common issues of concern he hears from voters include the privatisation of bus services, the continued increase in population density and the resulting effect on roads, as well as increasing health costs and hospital waiting times.
Asked about antisemitism, he said, “I’ve got to say, other than an incident decades ago, I’ve not struck it.
“If I walk to shule on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I walk through Eastlakes shopping centre area, [where there are] Bangladeshi Muslims, who I see at various times on [the way to] Friday prayers with a kippah on, they’re just as welcoming to me at any stage and they know I’m Jewish.”
He said he would miss having fellow Jewish MP Walt Secord, who is retiring, in the Parliament.
“Walt’s the one that understood and was involved in all the Jewish politics, whereas I’m just a Jew that quietly goes to Maroubra Synagogue,” Hoenig said.
“He’s a major loss to the Labor Party and the Parliament.”
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