I think we need well-funded, top tier public services that leave no Victorian behind. The Liberals will not deliver this any more than Labor will.
Hi, I'm Jessica. I'm running as the Victorian Socialists candidate for Brighton in this year's state election to fight for a world which is better, fairer, more environmentally sustainable, and more radically democratic than the one we live in.
I've been a Hampton local for more than a decade, and worked as a teacher in a number of our area's primary schools.
I think it's disgraceful that the state Labor government has underfunded our public schools to the point of crisis. Our teachers, principals and education support staff are the lowest-paid in the country and chronically overworked - driving a shortage that deprives our kids of the quality learning experiences they deserve.
Our school facilities themselves are also largely in a state of disrepair. The state government rations out funding for capital works so stingily that schools can languish for years with substandard or unusable facilities. Brighton Beach Primary was assessed as the second-most dilapidated school in the state in 2023 before receiving some grants for repairs.
Brighton Primary School has struggled with termite-infested classrooms, unsafe cracked brick walls, and an over-reliance on demountables well past their expected lifespan. These problems don't just exist in Brighton; they are endemic in schools across the state.
Meanwhile, the state and federal Labor governments have struck a deal which makes Victoria's schools the worst-funded in the nation. Funding for schools has been frozen to 2023 levels. This has to change.
Having been a socialist my entire adult life, I've campaigned for marriage equality, for Palestine, for refugee rights, and against the racist far right. I've stood on picket lines to support workers fighting for better pay and more control over their conditions at work.
I think we need well-funded, top tier public services that leave no Victorian behind. The Liberals will not deliver this any more than Labor will, because they want an unequal system which generates profit for private providers.
We need high-quality, well-maintained public housing, and much more of it, to help address the housing crisis. We also need better-connected and higher-frequency public transport to make sure everyone can move freely around our city for work, education, healthcare, shopping, leisure, or for any other purpose.
There is no shortage of money to pay for these services; there is only a lack of willingness in government to tax the billionaires and big corporations who are hoarding it.
Ordinary, working-class people are the ones who create all wealth in society and make everything run. We deserve to be the ones who decide how society operates, using our resources for the benefit of the vast majority instead of using them to line the pockets of the rich.
The mission of Victorian Socialists is to work towards a world in which ordinary people have exactly that power. If this is something you would also like to see, join us.