It’s time to talk about tomorrow

OPINION PIECE 

BY MICHAELA SETTLE

MEMBER FOR BUNINYONG

RECENTLY I visited the Ross Creek campus of Woady Yalok Primary School to see how the school, students and local Landcare group are working together to revitalise a wetland and create new spaces for the community to enjoy.

I was struck by how this pandemic has shown that every one of us has a vital role to play in our community.

The coronavirus pandemic highlighted some great things about our community. So many people prepared to go the extra mile to protect their community.

The pandemic has also shown us fault lines in our communities as existing inequalities have become starker.

It’s impacted some more drastically than others. One example is that more women than men have lost their jobs. Why? Because too often women rely on casual work to be there for school pick up and drop off.

There are many people in our community who need help right now. Those that have lost their jobs; businesses unable to trade for a time; families struggling to get food on the table; the homeless that need a safe place to sleep.

Governments will need to continue to invest in job creation through supporting business and encouraging new opportunities. But I think the big ideas and changes will come from our community.

It’s time to talk about tomorrow, about what we want for our future. I’m looking for your suggestions; big or small. How we can support our local business and industry? How we can create stronger, supportive communities?

There is a survey on my website, michaelasettle.com.au where you can post your ideas to bring us together.

Do you need an updated community hall or a digital platform that we can connect through? It might be a club that we could establish or a way to bring many clubs together. Maybe a playground to meet at or a skate park for the kids?

Or big ideas that could change the way we support each other, like how we can build volunteer teams.

Together we can build a better future for all of us.