Housing shortage a myth
Councillors participated in a very wide ranging discussion that quite clearly explained that it is a failure of the private market to deliver affordable housing. This is not a new issue, nor is it a cyclical problem. This is a problem of the private market and always has been. There has been growth in rooming houses because of an increase in the sub-residency model and illegal building works.

Some of the key issues covered included:
The need for registration and policing of rooming houses
Unregistered rooming houses
Fire safety issues
The coordination of council departments in the policing of registered and unregistered premises
- Need for the licensing of rooming house operators
- Need for an increase in the penalities for unlicensed premises
- Need for third party complaints against operators
- Need for the government to use their own data.

ABS data shows that there is currently enough vacant housing to house all Victorians but policies such as capital gains tax and negative gearing act to encourage landlords to sit on vacant properties


Climate change and social justice – what does this mean?
The VLGA has decided that its response to the State Government's Climate Change Green Paper* will essentially be framed in terms of the impact of climate change and strategies to address climate change on equity and health.

There are many ways climate change will affect the community disproportionately and this is directly linked to capitalism. Until such time as we deal with this structural inequality we will not be able to share the shrinking resources equitably and fairly. We do not have a society that distributes wealth or health equitably.

There is an urgent need for local governments to start addressing this inequality. And when it comes to climate change there are many worrying examples of how those on low incomes are going to be affected far more greatly by climate change impacts than those who are well off.

For example, many people are probably not aware that more people were killed in the heatwave leading up to Black Saturday than in Black Saturday itself.

Another example is that we will soon have to pay more for water because of the desalination plant. Those on low incomes will find these increased costs the most difficult to absorb and will certainly be in a much more difficult position compared to those on higher incomes who have already been able to afford to install water tanks and water efficient appliances. A more equitable response would be to support households to achieve water independence through water tanks, storm water harvester and cheap water saving measures

Those on low incomes and those who are older or with disabilities will also find the extreme heat more difficult. While those on higher incomes can afford passive solar design for their houses, insulation, weather sealing, cooling units and holidays to cooler parts of the world, while those on low incomes cannot.

Other examples of vulnerability to climate change include: the higher price of foodstuffs due to changing climate, aging, access to services, and rising prices for energy use and petrol to run cars.

Councils are in the unique position being closest to the people and we can deliver or lobby for projects that will reorient services and supports to those most disadvantaged. We can tax big businesses (this is constrained in local government) to offset service provision to those most vulnerable instead of allowing the gap to widen.


* A 'green paper' is draft policy document and discussion paper, usually provided for public comment

Upcoming Inaugural 'Bike Futures' Conference: 15 - 16 October 2009, Melbourne.
There is massive change happening in bike riding, and local government is at the centre of it. The future is bringing more change, more riders and more challenges at every level.
Bicycle Victoria are proposing to hold a conference that will provide professional development through increased insight, improved technical skill and awareness of best practice in a collegiate manner appropriate for elected representatives and staff in local government.
I'm hoping Brimbank Council send a strong contingent of council officers and councillors.

The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2009: second reading
This week in Parliament, The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2009 will have its second reading. The Bill seeks to offer protection to the most vulnerable Victorians in both public and private housing rental markets. This Bill is to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (RTA) which governs the relationship between tenants and landlords, and invests rights and responsibilities in each party.
This Bill could be characterised both as improving the human rights of Victorians and minimising their impact on the changing climate. The indignity of living in a residence that does not have basic working amenities should not be a reality for people who co-habit such a wealthy country as Australia. This Bill makes it possible for basic living conditions to be complied with by landlords, enhancing the human right to adequate housing.
Such a right is included in Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Australia is a signatory, but such a right was excluded by Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006.
Setting insulation, heating, water and energy efficiency standards can be a targeted way for thousands of Victorians to lower their carbon impact. If the Brumby Government has the courage to adopt this Bill (or reject it and later introduce it as their own, which has happened on previous occasions), the social equity and environmental benefits for Victoria would not only be far reaching, but encourage continual improvement of living conditions into the future.

Transition Towns Forum
The MAV is convening a meeting on Thursday 4 June from 10.30am – 3pm at the Spring Street Conference Centre, Melbourne to discuss the role of councils in facilitating an accelerated take-up of the Transition Town (or city or neighbourhood) initiative across Victorian communities.

Here's a recent article by Leo Hickman of UK paper the Guardian on the latest developments of the Transition Towns model for local action for community resilience and tackling climate change and peak oil head on.

Reconciliation Rocks at IramooReconciliation Rocks
Reconciliation Rocks is a joint collaborative event instigated by Western Region Councils covering Brimbank, Maribyrnong, Moonee Valley, Wyndham City Councils, Melton Shire Council and Victoria University. The event was held at Iramoo Sustainable Community Centre in St Albans.
The day attracted around 100 people who enjoyed a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, free indigenous themed barbeque, music and dancing. We got to wander amongst the grasslands and wetlands of Iramoo and learn about the work for local sustainability and biodiversity preservation by this important local institution.

The Solar Suburbs Program
About 2000 households have signed up with clear Solar at the last count. I am so pleased that Brimbank is leading with at least 280 households signed up.

Foundry Towers at Sunshine
A planning permit was issued by VCAT following an appeal against Council's November 2006 decision to approve the development.
The development is for 3 towers, two of these at 9 storeys and one at 8 storeys.There are however a number of conditions on the permit that must be met before works can commence.

Former detective appointed to Brimbank Council investigation
The Victorian Government has appointed a former detective with the Fraud Squad, David Walker, as an Inspector of Municipal Administration to investigate potential breaches of the Local Government Act at Brimbank City Council.

National waste policy to be finalised later this year
A national policy that will clarify the waste management responsibilities of local, state and federal governments is expected to be finalised by November. Container deposit legislation does not seem to appear in this clarification.

Say no to CPRS
Legislation to establish a national Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) has been introduced to the Federal Parliament and the Government remains determined to pass the package of Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bills in the winter session. Of significant interest to local government is the amended Bill states that legacy emissions from landfill will not attract a carbon liability under the CPRS. Unfortunately the legislation is deeply flawed, and the emissions reductions targets upon which it is based are recklessly faulty.

Community Safety Meeting held at Council
I had called on Council to organise a community safety meeting. This meeting was attended by a range of representatives from Victoria Police, local MPs, Councillors, the Department of Transport, and Connex.
While it was useful from the vantage point of officers dealing with these issues, there was no invitation by officers to local community members who live in our neighbourhoods and streets to contribute.

10 cents can change the world
Today saw Greens MLC, Colleen Hartland, present over 4000 postcards to the Minister for the Environment supporting the Greens Container Deposit Legislation.

A Green New Deal for Victoria
Friends of the Earth are putting together a paper, A Green New Deal for Victoria. It is a first attempt to articulate how we think Victoria can and should respond to the coming crisis of the recession, climate change and peak oil. They have done this as a blog to invite your feedback and involvement in developing this document. There is a huge amount of excellent thinking in the community about how to deal with these issues, and this is an attempt at collaborative, community-based approaches to developing solutions. FoE welcome your thoughts and suggestions on how to improve this document. Please send feedback before May 18. You can find it at: http://greennewdeal.wordpress.com/

St Aloysius College
I spoke to a group of year 10 students today about the role of a councillor. They were an impressive bunch and visits like these are one of the more fun things I get to do as a councillor.

Federal Budget
On Tuesday evening the Rudd Government unveiled their second Federal Budget.It includes a number of items relevant to Brimbank:
• Regional rail link funding of $3.2 Billion
• Kings Rd interchange to be completed by 2013
• East west rail tunnel, $40M to commence the project
To the relief of a lot of Australian households, the Rudd Government did not issue a surprise announcement withdrawing the Solar PV $8000 rebate (Solar Homes and Communities Plan)

Climate action on pause – without or without CPRS
Australia needs real domestic action on climate change. Unfortunately, the Rudd government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is deeply flawed. The Government has announced that it will delay the Scheme by one year and deliver another $2.2 billion in compensation to Australia’s biggest polluters—in addition to $7.4 billion the polluters are already gifted with Australian taxpayers money. Meanwhile paltry targets lock the country into dangerous levels of emissions.

Lantrak Fined
The EPA have fined Lantrak Pty Ltd $5671 for dumping almost 1,500m3 of acid sulphate soil* at a clean fill site at Carrington Drive, St Albans.

*“Acid sulphate soils produce sulfuric acid which release toxic quantities of iron, aluminium and heavy metals into surface water, groundwater and other soil.”

Climate change - Act NOW
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Hobart on April 30 signed on to the Federal Government’s paltry National Renewable Energy Target (RET) and agreed to exemptions of up to 90 percent for the most intensive emitters of green house gases where these are export-related.

Broadband and the cycle of privatisation
It’s raining big budget government spending items at the moment. One of the recently announced ones was the “fibre-to-the-home” National Broadband Network (NBN) valued at $43 billion. The Commonwealth will have a 51 percent stake in the project that will deliver potential download speeds of up to 100 megabytes per second (Mbbps) to up to 90 percent of the Australian population – exceeding Rudd’s 2007 election undertaking by a long margin. It will generate 25,000 jobs a year over the eight years it will take to roll out.

Draft Budget and Draft Council Plan adopted
Each councillor got three minutes to discuss a year's worth of budget commitments. For me, the most striking thing about this budget is that we are effectively creating and compounding more problems than we can fix in our lifetimes, let alone within our tenure as local councillors.
I spoke on
a) enhancing the municipality's climate-readiness with well-thought out programs for sustainable living rather than $1.5m on new roads
b) rejecting the Civic Centre ($2m in this budget commits us to the whole project) and instead implement the Creating Better Parks Strategy in its entirety
c) an urgent review of Council's rates system to properly account for hardship and better reflect the social and environmental cost of the multimillion dollar industries in our municipality.
The Council Plan was also approved in its draft form on Tuesday night.

Residents, please have a read of it and have your say.