Are you a member of a political party, political group, or community advocacy group? (eg; Labor, Liberal, Greens, Socialist, My Place, Angry Victorians, Better West, environment groups, etc)
My partner, neighbours and I founded the Stop AkzoNobel Pollution Action Group (SANPAG). I am a Committee Member of SANPAG. I’m an elected Swinburne Branch Secretary & National Councillor with the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). I am a rank-and-file member of the Labor party.
What is the most important issue facing your electorate?
Speaking with the residents and business owners here, the consensus is that we need to uplift the liveability and profile of our area. This is a multifaceted subject, but it can be done by improving connectivity such as better, safer paths and improved walkability and rideability. We must tackle environmental impacts from industrial polluters such as odour and noise pollution and chemical pollution from factories and the airports. Tackling socio-economic issues and improving transport and infrastructure are also fundamental priorities for Brimbank that underpin the revolving door of disadvantage. It is my goal to get Brimbank back on track and deliver dignity back to our people.
Should/how can Council support local businesses?
I have actively visited many local businesses in Harvester Ward to gauge their views on what Council should be doing to support our community and local economy. While I am business minded, and have a business degree, I want to hear from those affected because they know what needs to change better than anyone else. Staggeringly, the consensus was that many established business owners with decades of tenure had never been visited by a local Councillor ever before. I am changing that today, so that our local businesses can thrive in Brimbank.
In a nutshell, each business has different needs and challenges; therefore, Council should provide collaborative fit-for-purpose solutions. Businesses are the heart of our community; I know people who travel from Camberwell and Croydon to Brimbank to visit our culturally diverse shopping options for specific Polish or Vietnamese delicacies. We need to harness our diversity and get Brimbank on the map as a destination of choice for shoppers and visitors, thereby increasing customer base and revenue for our local businesses and economy. Because when our local businesses thrive, their families, our people thrive too.
Every time you buy local, you are helping business owners buy a sports uniform for their child, dog food for Rex and meals on the dining table.
Should/how can Council support local creatives and industries?
Art is how we express our deepest feelings and experiences; it is how we connect and transcend beyond survival. When we have creativity through art, we foster discussion, cohesion, representation and expression rather than repression. I was heavily involved in theatre studies in high school, and this paved the way for me to embrace culture and creativity, leading me away from anti-social behaviour as a teen. My partner and her family are extremely creative artists from drawing and painting to published authors, so I understand deeply the value of artistic expression and how supporting this enhances our community and creates jobs and opportunities for recreation and connection.
I have received questions about artistic opportunities in our community, from painting murals on the Sunshine Silos and blank walls to investing more in our Bowery Theatre and local creative festivals.
Since living in Sunshine, I have been impressed by the local arts scene but saddened by the lack of promotion by Council. We need to protect and expand in more of the great programs Brimbank has recently put together, particularly for our youths. My young children have loved seeing plays and local street performers playing in the Sunshine Street Band. These moments of joy are how we connect and spread positivity.
Should/how can Council help alleviate the impact of climate extremes on local communities and ecosystems?
The West is overwhelmingly the worst affected by the effects of climate change as we are suffering from urban heat-island effect. We have a lack of trees which impacts our biodiversity. Accordingly, our average temperature is higher in summer, and our air quality is poorer overall, causing the overall liability and walkability of our community to decrease, and increasing distress for our residents. On very hot days, it is dangerous to walk in the extreme heat down Furlong Road, McIntyre Road, Ballarat Road and elsewhere because there is simply no tree coverage for kilometres.
We need to tackle this today, not tomorrow, or in months to come. Trees take 10-20 years to establish broad canopy, environmental eco-systems can take decades to regenerate. If elected, I want to promote using Australian natives and create ecosystems which complement our wildlife living within our parks and gardens.
Should/how can Council help alleviate cost of living and homelessness?
This is a difficult topic, as the challenges facing Australians (and Brimbankers) are broad and diverse. Plainly saying we should “drop council rates” might help home-owners, but not renters living in our community. Likewise, we have a growing number of people facing homelessness, including people sleeping outside, in their cars or couch-surfing. Brimbank has the highest rate of homelessness and we are not doing enough to support our vulnerable people. The fastest growing cohort of our people facing homelessness is single women over 50, this is very distressing given the vulnerability of these women who are someone’s mother, grandmother, sister or friend.
This is a complex issue and requires a thorough, considered solution. I plan to explore options for housing diversity, outreach services for those who are struggling, and improving liability of our community. In walking the streets of Harvester, it is not uncommon to see abandoned houses or vacant lots. Many have been abandoned for decades left to rot. Council must take a more active role in preventing this land banking and misuse of valuable housing. Additionally, Council must get behind contemporary housing initiatives to construct social and public housing options with urgency. This will take cooperation with local State and Federal Government, but we can’t continue to throw our hands in the air and put this issue in the ‘too hard’ basket.
In my local area, in my capacity as a local resident, I’ve personally helped this issue by establishing a free food pantry throughout the COVID pandemic. I’ve also hosted multiple giveaways/donations, including children clothing, household appliances, furniture, etc. I would love the opportunity to step into Council to tackle this issue from multiple angles.
What should Council stop spending money on?
It’s very easy to stand from the sidelines and yell that “council should stop spending money on x y z”, but that can’t happen without a thorough assessment of the impact or benefit to our community members, or a cost-benefit-analysis for example. We hear a lot of misinformed politicians and keyboard warriors say ‘stop spending on ideology’ with no real context or basis for these strange claims.
In my experiences as a resident of Sunshine, I do wonder why we have outsourced our bulk-garbage collection to third party service providers, when we could utilise our council bin trucks, equipment, and staff to continue these collections ourselves?
Outsourcing services to third party providers is often a step taken to cut costs in the short-term by signing a contract at what looks like a discount rate but actually drives up cost in the long-term when we become reliant on a third party to deliver a service and they raise their prices. In addition, Council workers are our community members, they deserve fair pay and secure jobs, not to have their work outsourced to discount providers that don’t pay fair wages and casualise the workforce.
Keeping Council work in-house and running well means our experienced people are able to control and improve services locally rather than rely on large multinational companies that act as an unnecessarily middleman making a profit off contracting out these services.
This is a difficult question, that deserves a comprehensive answer once an audit of council expenses and services has been conducted. I plan on pushing for this if elected. What I can promise, is that I will never cut any services without community consultation and feedback.
Should the public be allowed to ask live, unscripted questions of councillors during council meetings?
Transparency, clear communication and serving the community are fundamental to me. In a survey of residents, the top issue identified is integrity of council. Councillors should be engaged with our community and welcome questions when called-upon.
My background as an elected Union Official, I am often called by my members and employees, being asked pointed, or loaded questions. It’s my firm opinion that you can’t run for council if you’re not ready for these questions.
However, it is also important that Council meetings are efficient and accessible, my concern with unscripted live questions is that we have seen some other Councils bombarded with silly or even vexatious questions that take up a lot of airtime. We need to strike the right balance so that unhelpful, deliberately divisive questions that are designed to hurt some of our vulnerable community members can be screened.
Can you please provide a short personal statement detailing what your priorities are if elected, and what your vision for your electorate looks like.
I’m here to serve the community. As a Sunshine resident, I have a proven track-record of representing the community on various local issues, from stopping pollution from the factories at McIntrye Rd, to advocating for local parks and green spaces, additional footpaths, and establishing a free-food pantry. I want to bring the community’s voice up to council. I do not want to dictate solutions for our residents or business owners, rather, I’d like to work collaboratively to establish fit-for-purpose solutions. Pairing with this, my entire focus is based on improving liability and sustainability of our community, from housing diversity and transportation options to parks and gardens, reducing environmental impacts and overall lifting the profile of Brimbank to make it a destination of choice for newcomers and seasoned westies alike.
