Sarah Connolly

I am a Member of the Victorian Labor Party.

Our Government has recently announced our policy on data centres, which are currently some of the toughest in the nation. This will require new data centres to supply their own renewable energy, use recycled water, and invest back into the communities they are built in. They should absolutely not be powered by nuclear.

Our Government is delivering major transport infrastructure projects that are getting our community moving.

Works are progressing on Melbourne Airport Rail and the Sunshine Station Superhub project, which will allow for 1,000 weekly services to run through Sunshine, and deliver new rebuilt stations at Albion and Tottenham. This project is also vital for enabling electrification out to Wyndham and Melton, the latter of which has received planning funding. I will note that last year, this project was threatened by Peter Dutton’s commitment to scrap $2 billion from Sunshine Station, and it remains to be seen if Jess Wilson and the Liberal Party will similarly descope this project as part of their $40 billion in cuts.

I will also oppose any attempts made to cut trains from our network, such as what the Coalition have proposed to do with our 9-carriage V/Lines on the Wyndham Vale line, leaving the line ‘thin’ in their own words, and setting us back decades.

In addition to rail, I am supportive of increasing coverage of our bus network across Melbourne’s west. Since being elected to Parliament back in 2018, I have successfully delivered three new bus routes, including the 152 and the 154 in my Electorate of Laverton, and have seen increases in frequency for the 153 and 408 bus services.

There is more to do, and as more of Laverton’s bus network covers new and developing estates, I believe we are in a position to pivot to increasing frequencies across a number of busy high-patronage routes across the Electorate, such as the 152.

As a Member of Parliament who takes in the largest industrial precinct in Melbourne’s western suburbs, I am determined to mitigate the impact of air pollution on neighbouring suburbs.

Last summer, odours emitted from our heavy industry plagued my community in Sunshine and the neighbouring suburbs. I worked closely with the EPA to keep the community informed of the work we were doing to address these breaches, and have proactively requested that the EPA conduct a blitz ahead of this summer to ensure this doesn’t repeat next summer

Homelessness is a complex issue, and requires more than just additional housing stock to address the scourge of rough sleeping in our community.

Our Government has funded additional assertive outreach teams, including in Melbourne’s West, to proactively engage with individuals who are sleeping rough and connect them to the services they need.

We have also expanded the Community Connectors program to Sunshine and St Albans Stations, which will also expand on this work.

I absolutely support a woman’s right to choose, and will oppose any attempts to restrict or ban abortions. Labor has announced that if re-elected, we will reduce the cost of accessing abortions, so that all women, regardless of postcode, can get the healthcare they need.

Our Government is getting on with being tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. People shouldn’t be jailed or punished simply for being poor, but we should and must do more to tackle violent crime in our community, and ensure that offenders are held accountable for their actions.

Key to responding to violent behaviour is the establishment of our Government’s Violence Reduction Unit. This is based on a successful model in Glasgow that delivered real, lasting impacts on reducing violent crime, by treating it first and foremost as a health issue and supported and coordinated programs to address the conditions that trigger violent behaviour. We are hopeful that over time, Victoria’s VRU can replicate those successes here.

We know we need more police, but the biggest barrier to getting more police is not a lack of funding, but rather that we cannot train enough of them fast enough. That’s why in addition to funding an additional 1,500 police officers, Labor will build a new Police Academy campus in Wyndham. There is only one campus located in Glen Waverley. This new campus will help attract more local recruitment of police in Melbourne’s west, who are more likely to remain stationed here in the west.

In addition to this, we have funded an additional 400 police reservists – retired police officers who will return to the force and help man our stations, keeping them open whilst police spend more time out in the community and on the beat.

We have also funded an additional 200 PSOs, to patrol our rail network and major shopping precincts, as part of our Active PSOs program and Operation Pulse respectively.

Furthermore, Labor will develop legislation that will give effect to ‘Jack’s Law’, ensuring that police are equipped with the tools and power they need to detect and prevent knives and other weapons from being on our streets.