Transport Solutions

We’ve successfully campaigned for the government to upgrade train signalling to improve our train network, buy more trams (and build them right here in Melbourne!) and investigate electric buses.

But we still have much more to do to fix our public transport system.

The Greens have a plan to improve public transport and protect Melbourne’s liveability as our city grows.

We need to bring public transport back into public hands, so that it runs for the public good, not private profit.

We will extend Melbourne Metro and start planning for Melbourne Metro 2 today.

Melbourne Metro 2 is a sustainable alternative to mega toll roads like the East-West toll road and the West Gate toll road. It will connect Fisherman’s Bend with Southern Cross and Flagstaff, Parkville, Fitzroy North, and Clifton Hill.

We also need to upgrade South Kensington Station and make more trains stop there. The Greens will install high-capacity signalling on the Craigieburn line, so trains can run every 3 minutes at Kensington and Newmarket stations.

We also have costed plans to upgrade our most overcrowded tram routes and make them more accessible, and build a new east-west tram in the city’s inner north.

And we’ll build safer cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, and run more frequent and reliable buses including on route 402.

See our statewide transport policies along with details and costings here.

No More Toll Roads

The East West toll road was a disastrous project that would have put more cars on the road, created pollution, and left us in debt for decades.

The Greens joined with the community in a long campaign to stop this toll road, and together, we won!

But now the Labor Government is building the West Gate toll road, a huge new toll road from the Western suburbs into the CBD. The Liberals want to revive the East-West toll road, which could destroy Royal Park and our inner suburbs.

These disastrous toll roads would flood our city with thousands of cars each day, and contribute to congestion and pollution.

These toll roads won’t fix congestion, but they will deliver mega-profits to private toll company Transurban.

Our alternative to toll roads will build better public transport, get trucks off local streets, and ease congestion with West Gate off-ramps for trucks.

Check out our campaign to stop the West Gate Toll Road here.

Celebrating the end of the East West toll road with the local community.

Schools For Our Kids

All kids should be able to go to great public school in their local community.

Sadly, public education has fallen behind in Victoria. Victoria has the lowest funding rate for public schools of any state in Australia.

I’m proud to have worked with the community to secure $19.8m in funding for a new Docklands Primary School.

Now, I’m calling for a proper commitment to a new or expanded primary school in North Melbourne, and a new Docklands High School.

Victoria has the lowest level of funding for our public schools per capita. We need to bring Victoria’s funding up to the national average. We also need to fix the maintenance backlog across all our public schools within two years, including the hall at Kensington Primary.

The Greens would also restore and properly fund TAFE as the leading provider of low cost, high quality vocational educational training in Victoria. 

See our statewide schools policy detail and costings here.

See our TAFE policy detail and costings here.

A Home for All

Everyone deserves a safe and secure home, but housing in Melbourne is becoming totally unaffordable and Labor is planning to sell-off public housing land in the inner-city.

The Greens initiated an inquiry into public housing, which found that more than 80,000 Victorians are waiting for public housing home. But Labor’s plans to privatise public housing land across nine inner-city estates is a disaster.

The Greens plan to stop Labor’s sell-offs of public housing land and build 40,000 new public housing homes over six years to fix this crisis.

Our plan also includes putting a cap on rent rises and setting strong, minimum energy-efficiency standards for rental homes.

See more detail about our public housing policy and costings here.

Better Healthcare

All Victorians need access to quality, local healthcare. Funding should be allocated based on need, not politics.

Labor has cut funding for community mental health, which will be disastrous for many people in our community. We also need to invest more in preventative health, and better fund community health centres.

The Greens' plan also includes free ambulance cover for all Victorians, so everyone has access to life-saving care when they need it.

See more detail about our community mental health policy and costings here.

See our free ambulance cover policy and costings here.

Supporting Renewable Energy

The energy market is broken. It’s dominated by a few big companies who are pushing prices up and holding back the transition to renewable energy.

Labor and the Liberals continue to let coal companies run our energy system and get away with ripping off Victorians with skyrocketing energy bills.

As the Greens’ Spokesperson for Climate and Energy, I’m proud to have helped secure a Victorian Renewable Energy Target and more investment in renewable energy.

The Greens’ have a plan to transition Victoria’s energy from coal to 100% renewables by 2030. We will also reverse the damage done by privatisation, by bringing our energy system back into public hands.

Our plan is to:

• Build large-scale, publicly-owned renewable energy and big battery storage in the Latrobe Valley
• Create Power Victoria, a public energy retailer to bring down prices for all Victorians
• Put solar panels and batteries on every Victorian school
• Change the laws and give grants to allow renters, people in apartments and public housing tenants access to solar
• Upgrade the transmission network to unlock a renewables boom across north and west Victoria.

Our plan will deliver the clean energy future we need.

You can read the detail, including costings, of our plan here.

Replacing Dirty Coal

Earlier this year, Dan Andrews and Labor extended the licenses for two of Victoria’s most polluting coal plants, Yallourn and Loy Yang, until as late as 2048.

Coal is dangerous and toxic. It is destroying our climate and making people sick. We cannot afford another 30 years of toxic coal pollution.

Despite our huge community campaign, Labor left the retirement of the Hazelwood coal power station in the hands of a huge multinational corporation driven by profit.

Hazelwood’s unplanned closure abandoned the community, with no plan for the future.

The Greens have a plan to transition out of all coal in Victoria by 2030, starting with replacing our most polluting power station, Yallourn.

Our plan will create jobs and a clean future for all Victorians.

We’ll build $500 million of publicly-owned storage in the Latrobe Valley and support new offshore wind projects to bring new jobs and industries to the region.

You can see the details and costings for our plans here.

Protecting Nature

Our stunning forests should be protected for all Victorians to enjoy and as habitat for endangered species. Instead, Labor continues to log these forests to make cheap paper. The old parties are pushing endangered species, like the Leadbeater’s Possum, to the brink of extinction.

The Greens will continue to fight to end logging in native forests and create the Great Forest National Park and Emerald Link.

Our national parks protect habitat and water supplies, and allow Victorians and visitors to connect with nature. The Greens will continue to campaign to restore funding to save our National Parks from neglect and corporate development.

As Greens Spokesperson for the Environment, I’m proud to have secured 130 more rangers for our National Parks through negotiation with the Government. But our National Parks need more support.

The Liberals slashed National Parks funding in 2014 and Labor has the worst record on new National Park Creation in 60 years.

We need to restore National Parks funding, create new parks to preserve precious habitat and stop destruction by invasive species.

Our environment is under constant threat from pollution, unchecked development and climate destroying projects.

The Greens will continue to work with local communities to stop projects like the monster gas ship proposed for Crib Point in Westernport Bay, fracking on our farmland and destructive gas exploration along our coasts.

We will also introduce a 10c refund on bottles and cans, and stop cruel practices like duck hunting, battery hens and sow stalls.

See the detail and costings for our plan to Save Our Parks here.

You can find out more about our other initiatives to protect our environment here.

Creating Jobs

Around the world, jobs are booming in renewable energy and sustainability.

The Greens have helped create and secure long-term manufacturing jobs by supporting investment in clean industries like building trams, trains and wind turbines here in Victoria.

Despite our huge community campaign, Labor left the retirement of the Hazelwood coal power station in the hands of a huge multinational corporation driven by profit, not the public good.

Hazelwood’s unplanned closure abandoned the community, with no plan for the future.

The Greens’ planned transition will ensure this doesn’t happen again.

The Latrobe Valley has huge potential for new industries and jobs. The planned replacement of coal with renewables is just the beginning.

With the enormous energy network capacity already in the place, the Latrobe Valley is the perfect place to create a battery and storage test-bed for the world.

Creating the Great Forest National Park and increasing funding for national parks will deliver new jobs in tourism, park maintenance and preservation.

We’ll also support the transition for Victoria’s timber workers to sustainable plantation timber.

See our plan for the transition to renewable energy here.

Leading the Greens contingent of the Climate March, 2015. 

Politics for the Public Good

Politicians should act in the public interest, not under the influence of corporations like property developers or gambling companies.

When Labor and Liberal governments sell or lease public assets and services such as our electricity network, public transport, the Land Titles Office and the Port of Melbourne, corporations make huge profits, but people are left with more expensive and less reliable services.

Now Labor wants to privatise our public housing land, Federation Square and disability group homes.

The Greens will stop further privatisations and return control of vital public services like transport and energy back into public hands.

We will hold the government to account in putting the community and the public good first.

Find out more about our campaign to stop privatisation here.

Planning for the People

For too long, big property developers have had too much influence over the planning of our city.

After a long campaign led by the Greens, new donations rules have passed Parliament to ban big donations to political parties. Unfortunately, Labor still won’t ban donations from property developers or the gambling industry, and these rules don’t apply in Council elections.

The Greens have a plan to put people first in planning.

We will transform planning to deliver more affordable and sustainable homes, create thriving neighbourhoods and give communities more certainty.

Our plan includes

• Mandating affordable housing in all new property developments
• Encouraging more affordable, sustainable and community led housing
• Providing certainty by ensuring consistent planning controls, including mandatory height limits and minimum apartment sizes
• Rapidly increasing the sustainability of all new urban development, including solar panels or green roofs on new apartment buildings above three storeys
• Restoring the rights of the community in local decision making, including VCAT, to stop developers gaming the system
• Fixing the City of Melbourne gerrymander that gives businesses a greater say than local residents
• Protecting our local parks, green space, and heritage.

See more details about our planning policy here.

Science and Innovation

Victoria is a world-leader in medical research. Researchers have discovered new vaccines, drugs and treatments that are saving lives.

Sadly, Labor and the Liberals have let medical research funding slide, and we’re at risk of falling behind.

Our medical researchers need our support to make new discoveries that will benefit us all, create new jobs, and grow medical research in Victoria.

Our plan includes supporting Australia’s first Drug Discovery Centre and helping researchers turn their scientific discoveries into practical benefits.

We’ll also create the Victorian Centre for Gender Equity in Science, to break down the barriers to women’s success in research.