Greens oppose the expansion of the Marrickville Metro

The Greens are opposed to the expansion for the following reasons:

• Increased traffic congestion and parking issues.
• It will hurt local community shopping villages
• Privatisation of community space
• The Metro is not located near good public transport or a major arterial road
• It is surrounded by residential areas
• The Metro can renovate without doubling in size!

The state government has taken the decision on the Marrickville Metro expansion away from the local council under controversial Part 3A of the Planning Act.  Please lobby Carmel Tebbutt on this matter.  She is Deputy Premier of the NSW Labor Government.  She can stop this development if she really wanted.  She should stand up for local residents against the expansion of the Marrickville Metro, despite AMP donating over $256,000 to the NSW & Federal Labor Party in the past ten years. (source: Democracy4sale.org)

For more on the Greens position on the Marrickville Metro expansion click here.

To download the Greens leaflet on the Marrickville Metro expansion click here.

The community group opposing the expansion, Metro Watch have an excellent website: www.metrowatch.com.au

• Sydney Morning Herald – Marrickville blocks mall development
• ABC – Marrickville Council against Metro expansion plans
• InnerWest Live – Marrickville Metro WTF?
• StreetCorner – Council and residents rally against Marrickville Metro expansion
• GreenLeft Weekly – Residents in bid to stop shopping centre expansion

AAP: Greens say Grayndler win unlikely

August 23, 2010 – 2:49PM

AAP

The Greens concede they may not clinch the Sydney seat of Grayndler, but are jubilant there is an outside chance of securing it.

Grayndler, in the city’s inner west, is now a marginal seat following Saturday’s federal election, they say.

Two-candidate preferred counting between Labor and the Greens in the traditionally safe Labor seat began on Monday morning, with results expected late on Monday afternoon.

// Labor’s Anthony Albanese is well ahead on primary votes, but the Greens are expecting the lion’s share of preferences from the Liberals and minor parties.

Sam Byrne, the Greens candidate for Grayndler, is over the moon his party is in a with a chance, but doesn’t expect to win the seat.

“It’s a long shot for us to win now,” he told AAP early on Monday afternoon.

“The fact that we are even talking about the possibility is amazing.

“It’s such a big swing,” he said, referring to a 6.8 per swing to the Greens on primary votes.

While there was only “an outside chance” of securing the seat, Mr Byrne said, he would be watching the counting of every vote.

“It was one of the safest Labor seats in the country,” he said.

“Any talk of (the Greens) winning is amazing. It’s remarkable.

“For the next election … we’ve got a great launching pad for that.”

Mr Byrne attributes the Greens’ strong gain in the electorate to their long-term presence.

“We’ve had Greens on the local councils for 20 years in this electorate,” he said.

“It’s a long building up of trust with the electorate.”

He believed Labor’s failure on climate change and its policy on refugees had cost it votes.

Albanese on brink of losing his seat

Albanese on the Brink of Losing Seat
22 August 2010

media release

Counting in the now very marginal seat of Grayndler will continue on Monday in a race between Labor factional warlord and Minister Anthony Albanese and the Greens’ Sam Byrne.

“One of the safest Labor seats in the country is now too close to call with a 25% margin wiped away,” said Sam Byrne.

“This historic vote for the Greens in Grayndler is a rejection of Labor’s lack of principle and failure of leadership on many issues including climate change, refugees, public health care and Sydney Airport.”

“The progressive Grayndler voter knows that the Greens are now their only genuine option.”

“Even if we do not take the seat this time, we are now better placed than the Greens in the seat of Melbourne were three years ago to turn Grayndler Green at the next election.”

“With Leichhardt and Marrickville Councils having already gone Green and now this fabulous result in Grayndler, we Greens are looking forward to putting our positive vision forward to the local state electorates of Balmain and Marrickville at the coming election in March.”

“Thank you to everyone who voted Greens in Grayndler this election.”

Contact: Sam Byrne 0408 231 509
Photo opportunity: 11am Sunday 22 August 2010 – Pollies Tree, Back of NSW Parliament

++++++++++++++++++++++

See email from Grayndler Returning Officer below:

from Nathan Doria
to Nathan Doria
date 22 August 2010 00:13
subject Two Candidiate Preferred – GRAYNDLER [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

UNCLASSIFIED

Following the first preference result from Grayndler polling places on 21 Aug 2010 the AEC believes the incorrect two candidate preferred selection was made and therefore it is necessary to make a new selection prior to the fresh scrutiny commencing.

The selected candidates are Anthony Albanese and Sam Byrne.

Grayndler fresh scrutiny of house of representatives ballot papers will commence on Monday 23 Aug 2010 at 10 am.

Location of scrutiny is:

Unit 3, 33 Maddox Street ALEXANDRIA

There will be 10 staff involved with the fresh scrutiny.

Please note the two candidate preferred result is only an indication of preference flow, final results will not be known until a full distribution of preferences has been completed.

Regards,

Nathan Doria| Divisional Office Manager
Haymarket Site
Australian Electoral Commission
T: 02 9375 6323 | M: 0413 274 686 | F: 02 9211 6396

Marrickville Metro development in the Sydney Morning Herald

The Greens are opposed to the expansion for the following reasons:

• Increased traffic congestion and parking issues.
• It will hurt local community shopping villages
• Privatisation of community space
• The Metro is not located near good public transport or a major arterial road
• It is surrounded by residential areas
• The Metro can renovate without doubling in size!

For more on the Greens position on the Marrickville Metro expansion click here.

The community group opposing the expansion, Metro Watch have an excellent website: www.metrowatch.com.au

Watch Sam On YouTube

This short video shows Sam talking about giving refugees a fair go, aircraft noise, transport, and how we can make the inner west an even better place to live.

Why is Gillard campaigning in Grayndler?

The election campaign in the safe Labor seat of Grayndler took an interesting twist yesterday with Prime Minister Julia Gillard making a campaign stop in Leichhardt, right in the heart of the seat held by Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Anthony Albanese. But why?

“It’s very unusual for a Prime Minister to visit a safe Labor seat in the middle of an election campaign,” said Greens candidate for Grayndler Sam Byrne.

“This development suggests Labor knows they are on the nose in Sydney’s Inner West. What is their polling saying?”

“Our local campaign is in full swing and people are telling me on the streets they are very annoyed with Labor’s appalling dog whistling on refugees and their total failure of leadership on climate change.”

“The Greens offer a compassionate approach to refugees and have put forward real solutions for tackling climate change such as our proposal for an interim levy on carbon pollution.”

“Gillard’s visit suggests that Labor has suddenly woken up to the fact that they can no longer take the voters of the Inner West for granted because the Greens offer a real progressive alternative.”

Labor holds the seat with a two party preferred margin of 24.9%. The Liberals can’t win here.

Contact Sam Byrne 0408 231 509

Greens election bid for Grayndler and balance of power

Following the election announcement, Greens Candidate for Grayndler, Sam Byrne, is asking voters to put the Greens first in both the House of Representatives and the Senate if they want a progressive, positive alternative to the old major parties.

“Our local campaign is in full swing and I am excited about the Greens prospects in Grayndler and for gaining the balance of power in the Senate,” Sam Byrne said.

“A vote for the Greens sends a powerful message that you want a community approach to politics founded on social justice and protecting the environment.”

“A top priority for the Greens is real action on climate change. The Greens are going into this election offering a carbon tax that would start reducing emissions straight away.”

“To reduce carbon emissions in NSW we must stop the runaway expansion of the coal industry and start investing in renewable energy, creating new jobs.”

“The Greens public health approach prioritises more funding and resources for dental health, mental health and aged care services. Labor’s plan has failed on these fronts. The Greens place community health needs ahead of commercial interests.”

“The Greens transport policy focus is to reduce carbon emissions in the transport sector by investing in world class public transport systems, moving freight off roads and onto rail, and a massive increase for cycling infrastructure. Bob Brown has proposed a high speed rail link from Melbourne to Sydney and Brisbane.”

“Key issues in this electorate include delivering a replacement airport for Sydney and same sex marriage.”

“In the Senate the Greens have provided stable, experienced leadership, improving a range of government legislation to give better outcomes for all Australians.”

“The Greens negotiated with the government to improve the economic stimulus package, creating thousands of new jobs and saving existing jobs, whereas the Coalition blocked the stimulus package.”

“The Greens would use the balance of power in the Senate responsibly to get better outcomes.”

“I look forward to campaigning over the next month and speaking to many more people in the electorate. I will listen carefully to their views.”

Contact Sam Byrne 0408 231 509

Greens leap to 16% in Newspoll

~
The Greens have scored their highest ever national NewsPoll rating rising 4% to 16% with both Labor and the Coalition falling 2 points each.  Greens leader Bob Brown told ABC radio that his party will “continue to working to give the Australian people a good alternative to both the  major parties who are increasingly frustrating Australian voters”

This may be a statistical anomaly, or signify many voters getting fed up with the mud slinging, point scoring and hypocrisy of the two big parties.

In the last few weeks Tony Abbott has admitted he can’t be trusted to tell the truth, while Kevin Rudd continues to backflip.  His latest backflip is on the use of government advertising for blatant political purposes with ads on both the Mining Super Profits Tax and Health reform.  

Prior to the 2007 election, Kevin Rudd said the Howard Government’s use of taxpayers money for blatantly political propaganda was “a cancer on democracy”.  Now, sliding in the polls, Rudd has exempted his own government from oversight on taxpayer funded government advertising.  Greens leader Bob Brown has criticised the government and will move for an Inquiry on government advertising and legislation to stop taxpayers money being used for such blatant political purposes.

The government claims spending $38 million on advertising is necessary to counter the mining industry.  This is bull shit.  The Prime Minister can get on TV every night and argue the case.  The fact that Rudd is a bit hopeless at selling government policy is not a good reason to raid taxpayers money.

This comes hot on the heals of Rudd’s other backflips:

Emissions Trading – 2007: “the moral challenge of our generation”.  Now: put on the backburner until 2012 or later.

Asylum seekerS – 2007: Labor promised a sensible compassionate approach.  Now: Desert detention centres reopening and suspension of processing of asylum claims for refugees from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan (Afghanistan now safe?  C’mon Mr Rudd!)

Childcare – 2007: Labor promise to build 260 new childcare centres.  Now: Only 38 will be constructed.

The Sheen of Kevin07 has been badly tarnished as Rudd moves to the right and he’s another sneaky politician who is gutless on many issues.

Labor is calculating that it can abandon progressive voters on issues like climate change and human rights, and they’ll cling on through blind loyalty.

The rise in the Greens vote shows that many progressive voters will not be taken for granted and are willing to switch support to a more progressive party.  In Sydney’s Inner West this switch will be even more prominent.  Anthony Albanese might find himself in trouble come the election.  He better speak up and get some results within the Rudd Government, or he’ll be replaced by a Greens member for Grayndler who will actually stand up for what people in the Inner West think and want.

Marrickville Council condemns treatment of refugees

Media Release 23/05/10

At last Tuesday’s council meeting, Marrickville councillors unanimously condemned the Federal government’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and voted to write to their local federal Minister, Anthony Albanese and Immigration Minister, Chris Evans seeking the closure of all Australian detention centres.

“My motion to support the rights of refugees, to lift the freeze on visa processing of Tamils and Afgans and to close all offshore and mainland detention centres was passed by all councillors at the meeting which is an indication of the general sense of outrage in the community at the federal government’s actions, said Greens councillor Cathy Peters

“Marrickville is home to thousands of refugees from all cultures and

our community wants refugees and asylum seekers treated fairly according to international human rights law.

“We don’t want to see Christmas Island and the Curtin dentention centre used to exile innocent people as they wait months and years for a poor functioning bureaucracy to process their legitimate claims  for  asylum.

“The Rudd government’s treatment of refugees shows how cynical politicans will abuse human rights if their pollsters think it will boost

votes in an election year.  We saw it throughout the Howard years and then when leadership was promised with the ALP, we find only empty rhetoric masking similar reprehensible actions.

Enquiries:  Clr Cathy Peters

0419444974

MINUTES :   Marrickville Council Ordinary Council meeting May 18, 2010

CO510 Item 17 SUPPORT FOR REFUGEES AND 2010 WORLD REFUGEE WEEK

File Ref: 4056-06

Motion: (Peters / Phillips)

That Council:

a) make a contribution to World Refugee Week by displaying banners on the Petersham Town Hall and Newtown Neighbourhood Centre acknowledging the Council’s support

of refugees and promoting World Refugee Week and the Rally for World Refugee Day planned for Saturday June 26;

b) write to the Federal Minister for Immigration, Senator Chris Evans and also local MP Anthony Albanese, expressing Council’s concern at the freeze on visa applications for

Sri Lankan and Afghan refugees and asking for an immediate removal of this freeze in line with international human rights law; and

c) write to the Federal Minister for Immigration, Senator Chris Evans and also local MP Anthony Albanese, expressing Council’s concern at the reopening of the Curtin detention centre and asking that asylum seekers be housed in our communities while

awaiting visa and asylum applications and that Curtain and Christmas Island detention centres be closed immediately.

Motion Carried

For Motion: Councillors Byrne, Wright, Phillips, Peters, Olive, O’Sullivan and Kontellis

Against Motion: Nil

Absent: Councillors Macri and Hanna

Marrickville Hospital site – 6 star green future

23 May 2010

The Greens successfully moved for the development of the old Marrickville Hospital site to be six star environmentally sustainable and carbon neutral to ensure that Council lives up to its environmental credentials.

“The old Marrickville Hospital site development will be a significant development in a prominent location and should set a good example to the community,” said Greens Councillor Max Phillips

“By moving for six star sustainability and carbon neutrality we are taking environmental leadership and will show case what is possible.

“Six star sustainability means water, energy use and other environmental impacts are minimised.  Solar panels, micro wind turbines and efficient co-generation can be integrated into the design.

“Although the initial monetary cost may be more, the environmental cost is minimised and in the long run, sustainable buildings save energy and water costs and are more pleasant and productive places to live and work.

“Melbourne City Council took a lead in its cutting edge ‘Council House 2’ building.

“With state and national governments failing to take action on climate change, it is important that councils don’t drop the ball too.

“Really the state government should phase in far greater environmental sustainability standards than the current BASIX levels.  Six star sustainability should be the norm, not the exception.”

Contact: Cr Max Phillips 0419 444 916