STATE ELECTION: Bellarine candidates put their pledges on the table

WITH the 2018 State Election to be decided this weekend, the Bellarine Times has compiled a wrap-up of what our Bellarine candidates are pledging.

Lisa Neville – Labor Party/Member for Bellarine

 A re-elected Labor Government will deliver for the Bellarine:

• Declare the Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula a Distinctive Area and Landscape under the Planning and Environment Act, setting permanent height controls and town boundaries to protect our environment, landscape and local lifestyle
• Barwon Heads Road duplication – $318 million investment.
• More police, as part of the record recruitment of an extra 3135 police
• Upgrade the Ocean Grove Ambulance Station
• Dedicated Mobile Intensive Care (MICA) paramedics for the Bellarine Peninsula
• Installation of traffic lights at Orton and Presidents Avenue, Ocean Grove – $2.5 million
• Installation of traffic lights at Portarlington and Hermsley Road Curlewis – $2.5 million
• An additional $1million for upgrade of Queenscliff Community Hub, (Funded $2.95 million)
• Newcomb Secondary College – $6 million for completion of rebuild.
• Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary School Ocean Grove – $2 million for upgrade
• $500,000 for Master Planning of Clifton Springs Primary School
• Drysdale Sports Precinct – $5 million for Stage 2 sporting facilities
• $1 million for establishment of Barwon Heads Community Arts Hub
• Boost for recreational fishing with upgrades to Queenscliff and Point Richards boat ramps and abolishing all boat ramp and parking fees
• New masterplan for the Portarlington Recreation Reserve – $50,000.
• Barwon Heads Football and Netball Club and Cricket Club for new lighting – $225,000
• Upgrade of facilities for FC Leopold and Leopold Cricket Club at Estuary Reserve – $225,000.
• $38,000 towards upgrading the Ocean Grove Golf Club.
• Provide another 49,900 additional specialist appointments over the next four years for the Barwon area as part of the boost to regional Victorian health services, which also includes recruiting another 1,100 new nurses and midwives.

State-wide commitments that will benefit the Greater Geelong region:

• Investing $209 million to build another 1,000 public housing properties for people in need across Victoria, including Geelong
• Delivery of 15 hours of three-year-old kinder for all Victorian children
• Delivery of 100 brand new schools across Victoria over the next eight years, including new schools for growing parts of Geelong
• Building five new dedicated Children’s Emergency Departments at hospitals across Victoria including one at the Geelong Hospital, providing dedicated waiting rooms, treatment areas and child-friendly facilities for children and families, all separated from the broader Emergency Department
• A $100 million boost to the Regional Health Infrastructure Fund that will benefit Barwon Health
• $340 million to replace old trains on the Geelong and Ballarat Lines, through the building of 54 new VLocity carriages to make up to 18 new three-car trains for these regional lines
• 50 per cent rebate for installation of solar battery storage units for 10,000.

 

Brian McKiterick – Liberal Party

 An elected Liberal Government will deliver for the Bellarine:

• $15 million for Bellarine North Police Station
• $1 million for minor works at Drysdale, Queenscliff and Portarlington police stations
• $290 million to duplicate Barwon Heads Road from Settlement Road through to Lower Duneed Road. As part of this project the level crossing at Marshall on the Barwon Heads Road will be grade separated with a road over rail solution.
• $1 million to fix safety and congestion at the intersection of Orton Street and President’s Avenue in Ocean Grove.
• $270,000 towards the installation of lights at Estuary Reserve in Leopold
• $50,000 for Clifton Springs Primary School to install a solar PV system and deliver energy efficient lighting solutions to tackle their soaring power bills
• $1.8 million to complete the long overdue Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club clubhouse and rebuild the unsafe operations centre
• A feasibility study into a secondary college in Leopold
• Will block inappropriate development in the Bellarine and Surf Coast.

State-wide commitments that will benefit the Greater Geelong region:

$16 million to boost Victoria Police infrastructure facilities on the Bellarine

• Deploying PSOs at the Geelong transport interchange
  Delivering a Victoria Police shop front at Geelong Westfield
  Make the Torquay Police Station 24/7
• Expand the local CCTV network to include the Torquay foreshore
  Reintroduce the Police in Schools programs for local schools across Geelong and the Bellarine
  Implementing a Public Sex Offenders Register to keep our community, especially our children, safe.

$67 million Emergency Services and Public Safety package which will ensure our emergency services like the CFA and SES have the facilities and equipment needed to keep Victorians safe.

Establish the new Blue Infrastructure Fund, which will return all revenue from boating fees back into better boat ramps, car parks and other boating infrastructure.

 

Naomi Adams – Animal Justice Party (AJP)

The Animal Justice Party has SIX key campaign areas for the Victorian State Election:

FREE HENS FROM CAGES

Caged hens are unable to stretch, explore, scratch in the dirt, or spread their wings. We will ban battery cages.

BAN LIVE EXPORT

Each year, millions of animals suffer on lengthy sea journeys. We won’t stop until we achieve a ban on all live animal exports, forever.

PROTECT DUCKS

Each duck shooting season, thousands of ducks are wounded and killed. We will call for an immediate end to duck shooting.

SAFEGUARD OUR NATIONAL EMBLEM

Kangaroos should be protected and not seen as resources or pests. We will urgently change legislation to protect kangaroos from commercial killing.

 TAKE GREYHOUNDS OFF THE TRACK

Greyhound racing leads to over-breeding and the killing of thousands of healthy dogs. We will fight to secure a total ban on greyhound racing.

INCREASE PENALTIES FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY

We will change the law to ensure appropriate sentences for perpetrators of animal cruelty.

Other local animal issues:

COMPOUND 1080

We need to ban the toxic bait Sodium Mono Fluoro Acetate (‘1080’). This compound is used in baits to kill ‘pest’ animals such as rabbits and foxes. It is a horrific way for them to die, and there are other alternatives to protect farmlands. This poison also kills non targeted species, including wildlife and domestic animals. It is a slow, torturous death, and this bait is used on our Bellarine foreshores, reserves, and semi-rural properties.

PUPPY AND KITTEN MILLS and COMPANION ANIMALS 

The Animal Justice Party is also deeply concerned about the number of unplanned, unwanted and neglected dogs and cats in the Western region, including on the Bellarine. I volunteer with a rescue-rehab organisation whose volunteers work tirelessly addressing these issues. We will fight to address ‘backyard breeding’ and ‘puppy and kitten mills’. We will also push for improvements to policies regarding de-sexing and improve and streamline the return of beloved companion animals to their humans.

THE ENVIRONMENT

I will advocate for environmental projects, particularly those that impact our wildlife and oceans. The Animal Justice Party has policies on environmental issues including climate change, and we are committed to renewable energy and acknowledge that the most detrimental impact on the environment is animal agriculture. Therefore, we want to end ‘factory farming’.

HUMANS

As a psychologist providing counselling in community health on the Bellarine, I am also concerned about the wellbeing of humans in our community! I will work towards improving services and infrastructure, to ensure health and wellbeing, and community connectedness, for all residents.

 

Rachel Semmens – Australian Greens

Australian Greens will campaign for:

Land use and Planning:

I want to provide the Bellarine community with some certainty by ensuring consistent controls including mandatory height limits and protection of green wedges and town boundaries. Local governments will also be represented at all levels of planning and their communities will have opportunities for ongoing substantive and meaningful participation in planning decisions. Importantly, VCAT must be accessible and affordable to all. The Greens are not beholden to property developers so we are well placed to truly represent the wants and needs of the community.

Climate Change and Energy:

We will make significant investment in large scale publicly owned renewable energy, bringing energy back into the hands of the public where it belongs. We will upgrade the energy grid across western victoria unlocking huge potential for wind and solar power. We will phase out coal and create new jobs in the renewable energy sector. The Greens will declare a permanent ban of onshore and offshore gas exploration – never again will fracking occur. Amongst the enormous benefits of these changes will be significant savings to people’s energy bills.

Roads:

The Greens absolutely support the maintenance of roads in regional areas, for transport and safety for all road users, including cyclists. There are a number of roads across the Bellarine where designated bike and pedestrian lanes are desperately needed. The Greens will make this happen – but we will make this happen with careful consideration to important wildlife corridors.

Public Transport:

I can absolutely commit to providing an efficient and reliable bus service across the Bellarine. It is essential, not just for travel into Geelong and beyond, but for commuting across the Bellarine in order to access economic opportunities, health services, education and training and provides the opportunity to be a fully functioning active member of the community. By reducing people’s reliance on cars we also reduce congestion and pollution.

Education:

Funding schools should be based on equity and need with full transparency of all funding decisions for school upgrades, maintenance and the building of new schools. And how wonderful would it be if our schools were powered by batteries and solar. The Greens will make that happen too.

Crime, Law & Order:

I believe that if you want to get real about community safety, invest strongly in preventative measures, including housing services, mental health services, employment services. Fund legal aid and community legal centres. Allow courts a full range of sentencing options to fit the unique circumstances of each offence.

 

Jackie Kriz – Victorian Socialists

Victorian Socialists will campaign for:

• A whole-of-state jobs and industry plan.
• Decent affordable housing for all.
• An expanded public transport system that works.
• Communities that can resist racism and over-policing.
• Better schools, with no hidden costs to parents, in every neighbourhood.
• More parks and green space.
• Union rights to organise.
• Public ownership of the power and public transport companies.
• The creation of a Great Forest National Park and a transition from old-growth logging to plantation timbers and replaceable products.
• A massive public investment program to make the Latrobe Valley a global hub for renewable energy.
• An end to the scapegoating of migrants and the children of migrants. Our candidates will always call out racism and stand proudly with these communities.
• An end to discrimination and racism against Indigenous people.
• Programs for women that address gendered poverty and women’s health, as well as family, domestic and partner violence.
• Action on LGBTIQ discrimination.