Papers & Speeches

My speech in the Victorian Parliament on the condolence motion...

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) -- I also rise with sadness to support the condolence motion myself and on behalf of the people of the Brunswick electorate. The scale of this horror was so great that all communities have been affected. I want to concentrate my contribution on the impacts and the response from my community, but at the same time I also want to congratulate the people of Victoria on the way they have rallied together in this period of great adversity.


I also commend the City of Moreland, which moved very quickly to provide both people and resources. It did so with a heavy heart, because one of the council's longstanding employees and a much-loved worker, Jacinta Bartlett, died in the fires along with her husband, Gary, and daughter Erin. Fortunately her other daughter, Maddison, survived and was hospitalised. Also, the chief executive officer of the City of Moreland had his house burnt down and barely survived the fires.


In conjunction with the local community the council responded quickly. The workers gave blood and saved money. They set up an education trust for Maddison so she can continue her studies in the future. They certainly rallied. The health centre sent grief counsellors and social workers to help people deal with grief. The radio station 3RRR organised collections of important things. It collected toiletries and gave up a room upstairs. People did their extra shopping and came and brought toiletries, which were repackaged by volunteers and sent to the fire areas. Clem Bastow, a radio presenter, came up with the idea, and I think it really demonstrated the support offered by that local community.


People have genuinely opened up their wallets, emptied their cupboards and volunteered in this great period of tragedy.


I also helped out with the Italian language program when SBS held a telethon. After the Italian program that morning SBS radio ran its Greek, Arabic and Vietnamese programs, so I stuck around for those. The telethon raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. It demonstrated a number of things. It demonstrated the genuine success of Victoria's multiculturalism. People were rallying as Victorians, regardless of where they came from in the world.


Another aspect was that many of them -- who had often come from difficult or tragic circumstances and had found refuge in Australia -- saw giving as repaying the generosity of Victoria. They were there to contribute in any way they could, and financial contributions were certainly an important part of that. Later I went to the headquarters of the Italian newspaper, Il Globo, and its radio station. They raised $500 000. It is amazing how the ethnic communities rallied for their community -- their Victoria. A number of people pointed out that bushfires are to Victoria what earthquakes are to many parts of the world -- the great adversary that has to be fought.


Schools also raised money. My son's school basically asked all students to bring gold coins so that they would not have to wear uniforms. It raised $5000. You would expect it to raise $800, because that is what a gold coin each amounts to, but the kids brought notes and their piggy banks -- they contributed everything they could.


CERES -- the Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies -- is a much-loved alternative energy and lifestyle centre in my electorate. Pete Auty, a trainer, tea maker, storyteller, poet and personality at CERES, is originally from Flowerdale. His beloved Flowerdale was burnt down, and not only is CERES raising money but it will also send people to help in the rebuilding of Flowerdale. It has adopted Flowerdale.


I will conclude by reading an excerpt from a poem by Pete:



" The little pink cottage surrounded by black, "


" The mud-brick houses reduced to wrack, "


" The ruin, the wreck, the human cost, "


" The homes that are gone and the lives that are lost. "

We have had in the northern suburbs a spate of incidents with rooming houses and illegal boarding houses. Last night Carlo Carli riased the issue in Parliament and sought stronger legislation to protect the vulnerable.

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) -- I wish to raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Consumer Affairs. I would like the minister to ensure greater protection for overseas students in the housing rental market.

There was a case in Melbourne earlier this year when Nepalese students were cramped into three houses. One of the houses, a three-bedroom house in Coburg, was set up for 48 students; another for 28 students; and another for 18 students.

These were appalling conditions and showed extreme exploitation by the owner of those properties, who was also of Nepalese origin. It was a terrible situation.

I understand the government is giving greater protection to overseas students in terms of rental properties, particularly properties associated with student accommodation and particular educational institutions.

What I am asking for is greater protection through the residential accommodation strategy to ensure that we have changes to the Residential Tenancies Act so that the phrase 'fit and habitable purpose' is put into the act. There should also be more intervention powers for the director of consumer affairs to ensure that we can deal with these incredibly appalling cases where overseas students who come with very little resources are heavily exploited.

They are vulnerable people. They are often exploited by people who are from a similar or the same ethnic background but who turn out to be incredibly exploitative. In the Coburg cases, the council raided the properties and found they were filthy. The conditions were terrible.

The students were housed in dormitory-style rooms where mattresses were stacked from the floor to the ceiling. These were not fit conditions.

There is a responsibility on both the Australian and Victorian governments to act to protect international students. They are of enormous importance to us; they are certainly economically important but also important in terms of the life that they give to the city. It is also important that we deal with unscrupulous landlords, so I ask the minister to act to ensure that the legislation and the ability for Consumer Affairs Victoria to intervene is made stronger.

Since the release of the East West Needs Assessment Study Report there has been a vigorous debate over its recommendations.

There is a very strong community view that:

• Action is needed to meet demand for sustainable transport services
• Action is needed to address social disadvantage
• Action is needed to ensure that the transport sector makes a contribution to meeting ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets
  

Our community has told us via public meetings, conversations in the shops, on the street corners, via phone, letter and email and on the internet that their priority is for a better sustainable transport network. They want better public transport networks that provide real access and choice. They want better walking and cycling infrastructure to cater for people who walk and cycle to work, to shop and to socialise.

There is some confusion up at Moreland and more than a whiff of political opportunism on the part of some councillors in regards to the State Government's decision to aid the development of activity centres like Coburg.

Below the fold is my full speech last week on the State Governments support for Coburg 2020...

As I said, this is a shared vision of mine, as the local member for Brunswick, and of the member for Pascoe Vale. This is a vision that will have an influence on both our electorates. We understand the importance of Melbourne 2030. We understand the importance of a more sustainable city. We want to get on with the job. We think we have been given the tools to get on with the job. We are very keen to work with Moreland council, and I think the majority of Moreland council is keen to work with the state government and its local MPs. But, as I said, there are those members of the Greens party in Moreland who would rather play politics with these important projects.

They are trying to turn an important project of urban renewal into an area of political conflict, to be able to attack the Victorian government and their state representatives.

_{The following speech is due to be delivered at the Fabian Society on March 5, 2008.}

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Congestion is an accepted part of life in large cities. It always has been. Ancient Romans complained about congestion, and Londoners in the 17th century had similar complaints. And with half the world’s population now living in urban environments it is part of our modern experience. We deal with it by adapting, and when it becomes unacceptable by using modes of sustainable transport – trains, trams, buses, bikes or feet. Or we make decisions to defer our trip or change how we do things.

We can respond to congestion in a number of ways. Either by building more road space, or promoting modal shift to public transport, walking and cycling or we can use existing road space more efficiently.

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) -- Brunswick Secondary College had some fantastic successes at the grand final of the 2007 Rock Eisteddfod Challenge. It was an enormous success by Brunswick Secondary College. I know of the Acting Speaker's long association and that of his family with Brunswick Secondary College. This is very good news. This school had terrific success in a competition with metropolitan, regional and independent schools and students from all over the state. It is in fact the largest youth performing art program in Australia, and Brunswick did extremely well. It won awards for choreography, for stage use, for performance skills, for concept, for drama, for design and function, and for visual enhancement, lighting and design, and it won the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge entertainment award. It was an enormous success.

I congratulate Catherine Weatherhead and all the team and all the students on this fantastic result. It is much appreciated by the school community at Brunswick Secondary College and, I must say, by the local community. It was a terrific night and a terrific event. We are already looking forward to the Rock Eisteddfod for 2008 and further success for Brunswick Secondary College.