Mel Yuan for Brunswick

Olivia contacted me by email with the following concerns and here are my responses.

Accessible transport along Sydney Rd, especially for when works along the Upfield Line commence

See my pledge to support the Sydney Road Accesible Tram stops. With the Skyrail project likely abandoned, the need to make Sydney Road more accessible likely reduces.

Affordable Housing

Local government is limited in what it can achieve in providing affordable housing. Any amendments to the Local Planning scheme are likely to have a near-trivial effect on both the supply and demand for housing. I am critical of the state government’s AirBnB tax which will likely have no effect to increase housing supply in the inner north. The State government is enacting a range of policies to increase supply of housing by making Planning reforms, but this will remove much of Local government’s Planning responsibilities and severely curtail residents’ rights. The Commonwealth government need to reform the tax arrangements for housing that distort the housing market. See this The Conversation article for more.

Active transport

Local government can improve the uptake of non-car transport by providing safe, accessible, connected footpaths and bike lanes.

Climate change

See my responses on Climate change:

• Vote Climate
• Climate Action Merri-bek

Biodiversity loss

I am one of the organisers of Brunswick Communities for Nature and we have a program of 10 years standing to encourage people to plant indigenous plants in their gardens, nature strips and all green open space. Merri-bek’s Nature Strategy provides a strong framework for further biodiversity work. But Council must walk the talk in using indigenous-first plantings.

Cost of living

Local government is limited in assisting with the cost of living crisis. The most direct impact it could have is to reduce rates, which would reduce costs to household. It is unlikely that landlords would pass rate reductions down to renters. Council could seek to increase direct service provision to those in need, however Council is somewhat limited in using Healthcare and other social services identification to ensure its efforts are redistributive.

Widespread concerns about the cost of living will likely see a change on Federal government at the next election.