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Local schools and other Melbourne Budget winners

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Ellen Sandell
State MP for Melbourne
20 May 2021

I've just come out of the Victorian Budget lock-up and I wanted to let you know what today's budget means for our electorate of Melbourne.

🎒Funding for our public schools

Today's budget included over $90 million in funding for four schools in Melbourne. Following our campaign with local parents, I'm so pleased that Kensington Primary will be getting over $7 million for urgent repairs and upgrades! There's also funding (announced last year) for North Melbourne Primary's expansion with a second campus, and for big upgrades to Carlton Gardens Primary and Mount Alexander College.

It's been my pleasure to work alongside our community to help secure this funding. Today I'm a proud local MP thinking about the bright future ahead for the kids and young people in Melbourne.

🏙 Rebuilding the CBD, including arts and culture

Our creative sector and the Melbourne CBD have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Budget includes $200 million for revitalising the inner city including CBD arts and cultural events like Melbourne International Film Festival. While we know we still need a LOT more funding for the arts, we're pleased with this funding.

Central Pier at the Docklands will also get much needed funding bring people back to the waterfront.

🏡 Supporting the public housing community

Last year, Melbourne residents living in public housing faced the harshest lockdowns of anyone in Victoria. While I supported a health-led approach to keeping us all safe, I was also willing to speak up against the poor treatment of public housing residents during the hard lockdown.

Following the Ombudsman's Inquiry into the lockdown, I'm pleased to see $6.5 million for the Government to improve their engagement with communities living in public housing. I'll be keeping a close eye on this as it rolls out.

As well as these local wins, the budget included some other important good news.

Mental health will get a much needed and long overdue funding boost, and an important Greens policy – a new ‘windfall gains’ tax will stop developers unfairly profiteering off land sales – has finally been taken up by the Government!

But while I wish it was all good news, I am disappointed to see this budget will cut $3.6 billion from the public sector and cut the future wages of essential workers like teachers, public health and public service workers, who worked so hard to keep us safe during the pandemic. The budget also fails to commit urgently needed money to restore our environment. These are areas I'll be discussing with the Treasurer and the Government, and working hard to overturn.

If you're interested in further information about what's in today's budget announcement, no matter how big or small, please don't hesitate to contact me.

It's my privilege to be your local MP and today I'm especially proud of the work our community has done together for our local schools.

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Ellen Sandell
State MP for Melbourne
20 May 2021
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