Author: melformerribek
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The Victorian government just walked onto the street and started throwing fistfuls of money around. It’s hard to think of a more shameless, flagrant, simplistic vote-buying exercise. Will it work? Well, it’s certainly hard to take the government seriously, and in an age of tremendous geopolitical and economic uncertainty, you’d like to think the adults…
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The introduction of broad-based Land Taxes is the “GST of our time” and as such, is deeply unpopular. However, if we are serious about making housing more affordable for young people, then we must directly address distortions in the housing market. Housing affordability for those on lower incomes continues to increase. Think tanks (not me)…
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Stamp Duty is a tax on real estate transactions. Abolishing Stamp Duty decreases the cost of buying a property. Not only would abolishing Stamp Duty make housing cheaper, it would also allow people to change their housing more easily. Reducing the cost of property transactions would allow people to upsize and downsize more easily, making…
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Sadly, the state of debate on housing remains dismal. Politicians have been repeatedly called out for peddling policies that exacerbate the problem, driven by short-term electoral gain. The OECD has 22 recommended policies to make housing more efficient, more inclusive and more sustainable. ⭐ items are the remit of the state government. Governments have run…
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The miserable experiment with the councillor’s code of conduct has reached its inevitable conclusion – a time-wasting weaponised apparatus to impose dinner party standards on the political process. James Conlan, Oscar Yildiz, Adam Pulford, and Jay Iwasaki have all run afoul of the rules. Cr Iawsaki’s is especially egregious as he was called out for…
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The Power Saving Bonus should be retained and expanded, and other subsidy programs scrapped. Reduce the cost of administering the patchwork of schemes and deliver relief directly to people who need it. Cost of living is the key issue in this election. Inflation is rising, exacerbated by the current spike in petroleum prices due to…
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I’ve written about this before, and this year it was even more stark. The Bruswick Music Festival has turned its back on the local community. Here is my email to local councillors. Brunswick Communities for Nature had another successful festival outing but the feeling that the festival had completely changed is further evidenced by the…
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Increasing density and more complex rules for higher-density development mean the future for Brunswick is slower. But the current ad-hoc, inconsistent, poorly signed changes should stop. The inner north is riddled with ever-changing speed limits which make it genuinely confusing for motorists and pedestrians. Speed limits, when not the default, need to be much better…
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Brunswick and the inner north have been at the forefront of higher-density planning for the last 25 years. While increased density is very welcome in many parts of Brunswick, it has also led to many planning failures, and there is no excuse for these not to be addressed. Merri-bek (when Moreland) had the biggest Planning…
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In the last 20 years, VicTrack, Melbourne Water and other government entities have sold off public land as “surplus”. At the same time, local councils have had to purchase private land for open space. Redevelopment of Jewel Station is now limited because the “surplus” land was developed for housing, making Skyrail less economically feasible. This…
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I am announcing my intention to stand for the state seat of Brunswick in the forthcoming 2026 state election. As a three-time candidate for the South and Bulleke-Bek wards in Merri-bek Council, I value the importance of diverse and robust local electoral contests. 2025 started with Trump 2.0 and ended with the Bondi mass shootings.…
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Cr. Iwasaki was kind enough to reach out to me personally in response to my criticism of the censure of Cr. Yildiz. It is not my place to publish his opinion, but I will supply mine. Thanks Jay, I appreciate you reaching out personally, and in particular the clarification about a majority of Councillors not…
Mel Yuan for Brunswick 