November Yarra Council report
I had a very important victory on Yarra Council in November. I won a vote, after hard lobbying and a brilliant public meeting, for Council to put in cash and resources to save the vital ‘The Cottage’ center which is situated next to the Atherton Gardens public housing estate in Fitzroy.
The Cottage is run by the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) who decided to close it on November 30th as part of a cost cutting exercise (this, by the way, didn’t stop Yarra Council voting to give BSL community grants at the same November meeting - I was the sole vote against).
The Cottage provides a playgroup, toy library, occasional care and, most importantly, individual counselling to children and families. The service is almost mainly used by women and children from the Horn of Africa, plus some Vietnamese and other nationality groups. Many of these families have gone through amazing trauma and need special assistance.
Pressure from residents and the Atherton Gardens Residents Association helped to force the powers that be to cobble together a patch-up deal. Council voted to contribute $38,000 plus donate a family support staff member for half a week; $60,000 from the State Government; and $60,000 from BSL. This will allow two workers to operate out of the Cottage for 12 months providing the counselling services (the toy library was saved a few week ago and money for occasional care and the playgroup came seperately from the State Government).
All of this shows that residents don’t have to be victims. When a bad decision is made, community mobilisation can acheive real results.
Busking
We didn’t go so well on the issue of busking, where after a push by buskers and myself to stop Yarra’s reactionary ban, a Council officer report in November recommended a policy reversal. However two letters from Richmond traders were enough for the ALP and Greens to vote done the officer recommendation until further consultation over an undetermined amount of time!
Buskers have decided to defy these laws this Saturday, November 19th when they will rally in Brunswick St, Fitzroy at 1pm opposite the Evelyn Hotel to have a mass busk where I will be guest speaker. Please try and attend.
Mass defiance of Yarra’s anti-busking laws are a small example of how Howard’s anti-terror and IR laws should be dealt with.
Mayor
Next month we vote on Yarra’s Mayor for 2006. Our general position is that we won’t go for the job until we have a progressive majority on Council - otherwise you’d be trapped by the conservative numbers and ineffectual. Therefore we will look at the candidates and work our way through them - who is the most likely, Green or ALP, to fight for public housing tenants and ordinary people in Yarra in 2006?
Good resolution victories I won last night:
1. Officers to come to December meeting with plan to introduce colour coded parking permits - different colours for business and residents
2. Officers to come to December meeting to tell us how where we can find bigger office space for Parkies Inc, our local Aboriginal organisation. This is vital as Parkies Inc and Council prepare to announce a major initiative to deal with public drinking and related issues on Smith St. Watch this space.
3. Supported Kathleen Maltzhan’s motion to force State Government to bring into the open their secret plan to give pokie operators a 20 year extension, 7 years in advance. Let the people decide! Watch this space for public meetings and a public rally on this issue.
I will be overseas from 2nd December until 14th December at the International Executive Committee meeting of the CWI, the alliance of socialist parties worldwide that SP in Australia is affiliated to. For the record, the ticket is not paid for by Council.
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Looking forward to seeing you at the social, at the Old Colonial Hotel, 127 Brunswick St, Fitzroy (opposite Atherton Gardens estate) on Saturday 17th December from 7pm. Tickets $10 each ($5 concession). Ring me on 0433113421 or SP office on 96399111 for a ticket. A great night with great food, drink, speeches and discussion after one year of Socialist in Council.
