Supporting our local COVID-19 recovery
Throughout the pandemic, the Greens MPs and I have always supported a health-led approach to the pandemic. All along, we supported the Premier’s and Chief Health Officer’s actions to keep Victorians safe. However, we also haven't shied away from advocating to improve decisions where there were mistakes or extra needs in our community.
Throughout our negotiations and advocacy with the Andrews Government, when they needed our vote for COVID-19 specific laws, we were able to achieve important outcomes for the community, including:
- Increased relief grants for people struggling to pay their rent.
- An extension to the ban on rental evictions from September 2020 to March 2021.
- Grants for destitute international students.
- A review of unfair COVID-19 fines for disadvantaged young people.
- A commitment to creating specific COVID-19 laws going forward, so the state of emergency does not need to be constantly renewed.
- An Ombudsman Inquiry into the public housing lockdown and implementation of the recommendations from this inquiry.
- Significant improvements in the way public housing communities are treated and resourced. This includes; on-site testing and health clinics, translated materials and community consultation, and employing local people as health concierges.
We are also advocating for local businesses and people still affected by the lockdowns.
If you’re involved with, or run a local small business that still needs assistance, please contact me on [email protected]. We can let you know what state government support you may be eligible for, or promote your business on our social media.
The residents and businesses in Melbourne’s CBD and Docklands have been especially hard hit by lockdown. If you’re a CBD or Docklands resident, we’re running a survey and holding a series of roundtables to help us better understand how we can help revive our inner city. Please fill out our survey here or register for one of our three resident roundtables:
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Tuesday 18th May, 1-2pm RSVP here.
- Wednesday 2nd June, 6-7.30pm RSVP here.
- Wednesday 16th June, 6-7.30pm RSVP here.
