Here are my latest updates from Parliament and around the Brunswick electorate (Brunswick, Brunswick East, Brunswick West, Fitzroy North, Princes Hill & Carlton North).
In this month’s newsletter:
- What is Treaty? Join our Treaty Forum,
- Victoria’s emissions are going up, and we can’t burn the problem,
- Taxing the big banks,
- Getting smart on crime,
- 50 cent public transport fares
- And good news for the fight to save public housing.
Missed last month’s newsletter? You can find it here if you’d like to read about your new MP, calling for an inquiry into Council Elections, and some local issues I brought to Parliament.
Join our Treaty Forum
Australia is the only commonwealth country without a Treaty with the First People of the land.
Late last year historic Treaty negotiations between the First Peoples’ Assembly and the Victorian Government began. But so many of us are unclear about what a Treaty might achieve, especially at a state level.
Join Gabrielle de Vietri and I for a Treaty Forum with the First Peoples’ Assembly on Treaty in Victoria. Learn about what Treaty means from those involved in the negotiations, ask questions, and find out how you can engage and support it.
This is a free event, spaces are limited so RSVPs are essential. Venue is wheelchair accessible and has accessible bathrooms. Please email [email protected] with any accessibility needs.
Victoria’s emissions are going up, and we can’t burn the problem
If you burn rubbish, to boil water, to make steam, to power turbines, to create electricity, that’s called a waste to energy plant. And here in Victoria we’ll soon have five of them, in Lara, Laverton North, Wollert, Maryvale, and Dandenong South.
But setting fire to our rubbish is more polluting and expensive than almost any other form of energy. It produces mountains of toxic ash that creates a serious health risk for workers and surrounding communities. In fact, Labor’s Minister for Climate Action has opposed a waste to energy project in her community for these exact reasons, despite pushing these projects through the parliament.
I’m very concerned that setting up a waste to energy industry in Australia will create a monster that needs feeding at the expense of recycling. We don’t want the resulting demand for waste to divert resources away from recycling.
Waste to energy plants in Victoria were originally capped to burning one million tonnes of waste. But, in December last year the Government doubled the amount of waste able to be burnt, bringing it up to two million tonnes.
Concerningly, when I asked the Minister for Climate Action about these projects, she was unable to speak to the increased emissions and stated, incorrectly, that Victoria’s emissions are going down.
The Victorian Government hasn’t released any emissions reporting since 2022 which makes tracking our progress towards net zero incredibly difficult. I’ve recently asked the Minister when the next Victorian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report will be released, and why the data has not been published more frequently.
This summer we saw portions of the Grampians decimated by bush fires, and on the other side of the world, wildfires ran through LA destroying more than 10,000 homes. We don’t need to wait for more fire and floods to know that the climate crisis is on our doorstep. Reducing our emissions is our greatest tool in reducing the severity of climate change.
You can watch my full exchange with the Minister for Climate Action here.
Taxing the big banks
Last week my Greens colleague, Aiv Puglielli, brought a Bill to Parliament that would raise $16.5 billion over the next decade. How? By introducing a 0.05% levy on the big banks.
The past few years have been dominated by housing and mortgage stress. While everyday Victorians have been anxiously awaiting interest rate drops, the big banks have increased their profits. Commonwealth Bank alone made over $5 billion in profits in the past six months.
We’re told that Victoria is broke, that we can’t afford to upgrade our schools or build more public housing, or fix our health system, but the big banks are still profiting from home buyers. Did you know that big banks make an average of $200,000 profit from every mortgage?
I don’t think it’s reasonable for big banks to increase their profits off the back of a cost of living crisis. The Greens want to use our big bank levy to ease the cost of living and pay for essential public services like housing, health and education.
If you haven’t already, you can add your voice to the campaign by signing our petition.
It’s time to be smart on crime
For years right wing politicians have used crime as a convenient way to win viewers and votes. A battle between the old parties on who can serve the harshest punishment and, in recent times in Victoria, implement the harshest bail laws.
In 2018, former premier Andrews boasted that Victoria had the toughest bail laws in the nation and that there were more people on remand on that day than there had been at any point in the state’s history. In 2014 19% of prisoners were unsentenced. But tightened bail laws forced more people into custody unsentenced and by 2021 it had increased to 44%, and for women and children it was over 50%.
By responding to media and opposition attacks by tightening bail laws, the Government inadvertently created a trap for vulnerable Victorians who were least able to defend themselves and too often found themselves caught in a legal quicksand where they were forced to wait for their day in court on remand in prison. First Nations Australians were particularly affected, especially women. At that time over 60% of Aboriginal women in our prisons had not been sentenced to be there.
Meagre bail reforms were introduced following Veronica Nelson’s death in custody, and the coroner’s inquest which found Victoria’s tough bail laws had a disproportionate impact on First Nations people, women and young people. But now, both Labor and the Liberals are back on their tough on crime stance, and are threatening to reintroduce the harsh bail laws that saw Veronica Nelson and so many others held in custody unsentenced.
Everyone should feel safe in their community and on the streets. But the same tough on crime, over policing approach that we’ve seen from successive Labor and Liberal governments, pipelining billions of dollars into prisons and police, simply doesn’t work.
We need to be smart on crime by investing in evidence-based solutions. Proper funding for early intervention and preventative services, and mental health and drug and alcohol support, as well as looking at how to improve the key environmental factors that we know drive crime in the first place like people being unable to afford food and housing. I spoke in Parliament on the evidence based solutions available to address crime. I believe Victorians are looking for fresh ideas on crime, and want a Government that will be smarter on crime, not cruel.
50 cent public transport
After a massive campaign from the Greens, the QLD government introduced 50 cent public transport fares. And if they can do it, so can we.
Last month we introduced a plan for 50 cent public transport fares, taking you anywhere you need to go, from city to country, from Brunswick to Ballarat. Our plan would cover metro and regional trains, buses and trams and would save commuters $50 a week.
Taking public transport in Melbourne is expensive. A full fare daily ticket costs up to $11 these days. If you’re travelling 5 days a week, in a month that’s over $200 spent on public transport alone. With households under massive pressure from the cost of rent and mortgages, groceries, and everything else, we want to relieve some of that pressure by making it cheaper to get around.
The Queensland fare price drop has resulted in an increase in public transport use by almost 20%. Imagine what cheap public transport could mean for Victorian families, who would be able to take the kids to the beach in summer for pocket change.
Cheap public transport is good for the wallet, it will help reduce congestion by getting more cars off our road, and will help lower transport emissions. And 50 cent fares are possible by making the big banks, property developers and corporations, like gambling companies, pay their fair share of tax.
Our plan proposes an initial 6-month trial of 50 cent public transport fares across Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Public housing inquiry
For anyone who’s been following Labor’s plan to demolish all 44 public housing towers in Melbourne, the movement to stop the demolition and save public housing has continued through the new year.
The Age’s recent article on the towers is a must read, or you can find a summary on my Instagram page.
As we approach the deadline for public submissions, it’s more important than ever to support public housing residents by submitting to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the demolition plans.
These plans don’t stack up – and Labor knows it. Any plan that starts with demolishing 7,000 public homes and displacing 10,000 tenants, is not a plan that’s going to help us deal with the housing crisis. It’s not helping the residents who are being forced out of their homes and communities, and it certainly doesn’t help the over 100,000 people currently on the public housing waitlist.
In fact, the only people it seems to help are the developers who are rebuilding these sites with two thirds private housing.
Our pressure is working. Labor MPs are coming out to oppose this plan, and we want to make this inquiry the final nail in the coffin, but we need your help. Head to my website for a guide on submitting to the public housing inquiry, or reply to this email if you want to get involved in the campaign – we have some big plans in the works.
What’s on in the neighbourhood
If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may have noticed that I regularly post events and opportunities that are happening in the Brunswick area. Here’s my most recent post where you can find out about events and opportunities including community grants, local school fetes, festivals, and ways to get involved.
Thanks for getting this far! Remember, if there’s anything you want to raise with me, you can always get in touch with my office on [email protected] or (03) 9384 1241.
Until next time,
Tim
