‘Business as usual’ politics has failed us. We need radical change.
Hi I’m Owen and I’m running in this November’s state election as the Victorian Socialist candidate for Bendigo East.
For too long the Victorian state government (no matter who’s in charge) have taken the regions for granted. Key transportation, housing and environmental infrastructure developments have been delayed again and again.
It’s a policy failure that only 5 percent of trips into the Bendigo CBD are made by public transport at peak times. For a city of our size we have a relatively compact urban growth boundary so there’s no reason why the absolute majority of us cannot be serviced by the existing train line or high frequency buses at peak times.
On housing, the state government needs to take the lead, building medium density public housing in the city centre. Currently most of our housing stock consists of 3 to 4 bedroom houses in the suburbs. Yet for people who come here to work in our hospital, teach, or study at our schools or universities, renting a whole house is often uneconomical. It’s also a house that could otherwise be occupied by a family.
Public housing should be available to all who want to live where they work, not just the most vulnerable in our society. To achieve this public housing stock needs to be massively increased.
Bendigo and surrounds have faced extreme environmental challenges. In the last term of parliament we have seen both fire and flood. We need to investigate all possibilities for renewable energy production. Either solar on unproductive land or Bendigo Hydro using pumped mine water.
‘Business as usual’ politics has failed us. We need radical change.
Vote 1 Owen Cosgriff Victorian Socialists Bendigo East.