Socialist Party Australia - SP Cllr Stephen Jolly's monthly newsletter, July '05

Dear Comrades
As the first of SP's six-monthly Yarra Council newsletters are about to be letterboxed in every home in the Langridge Ward (Yarra City Council, Melbourne), this email newsletter will simply report on July's Council meeting. If you live in the Langridge Ward see your letterbox for the newsletter, if not check out this website soon.
If you can help letterbox your street or even more (or make a donation towards the production costs).

The Council meeting last night (12/7/05) voted on the budget, after hearing an excellent submission for more support from representatives of the North Richmond public housing estate. I was the sole vote against the budget.

I argued that as there was no real attempt by Council to engage the community in the budget, we had "manufactured apathy". The Council has meeting after meeting on less important issues - but not on the multimillion dollar budget!

Therefore, I argued, only "the well connected or the well organised" get looked after in this budget. I said we need to support a people's budget which involves all of the community. SP will campaign for this to be done in time for next years budget.

I added that Yarra has massive operating costs as they have too much management which eats into resources for community services and frontline officers. I described it as "the dictatorship of the suits".

On Smith St, Council voted to accept the Steering Committee recommedations (I chaired the Steering Committee). This will now be sent to the Planning Minister and we must push hard to get him to 'call in' the Banco application at VCAT.

I was pleased that Green Councillor Jenny Farrar voted to support the recommendations, including the last minute amendment to lower maximum heights on Little Oxford St to 9m from the original 11m.

This amendment was passed at the last Steering Committee meeting in a 4-2 vote (with 2 abstentions including Cllr Farrar). I was one of the 4 in favour.

With the debate won by the community over the last few days, Cllr Farrar then jumped in and moved the amendment, giving unwary people the idea that it was her idea in the first place. This opportunist behaviour is typical of the Greens and unfortunately, has happened before.

The Council-run public meeting on Smith St/Banco back in March was called with Cllr Farrar originally very much uneasy about it. On that night she was not too keen on the CAG resolution for the establishment of a Steering Committee. Yet weeks later a Green leaflet in everyone's letter box in the Melba and Nichols wards had Cllr Farrar claiming she herself had called the public meeting!

The same thing happened over child care at the June Council meeting. In the face of 150 children and carers gatecrashing the meeting to raise the issue of the child care crisis, Green Cllr Gurm Sekhon jumped in to move the resolution giving the impression he was in the frontline of the debate.

In fact on child care and other issues SP have made the running. Then, when the debate is won, others have jumped in to claim the glory. This is unprincipled behaviour and is not being honest with the community.

I think SP has perhaps been naive on this issue up until now. We will not let this happen in the future. I can just see Green election leaflets at the next elections, "we've done this, we've done that", in effect taking credit for the work of others.

Last night, I asked a 'Question without Notice' about the selling of car park spots when they are supposed to be for use by residents in units. This means more cars in Yarra. This must be stopped and a report is coming back on what we can do by way of by-laws to ban it.