Last week, our Mayor and Deputy Mayor hosted candidate tours across the City. Along with Council Officers, candidates from Albert Park and Caufield visited key sites and were able to have a range of discussions on issues and priorities for each area.
The tours took candidates from across political parties, including independents through sites in the City that have been identified as key priorities for our community.
Our advocacy priorities for 2022/23, include key projects, policy changes and funding requests we want to be considered by the Victorian and Australian Governments. These priorities have been informed by community input into our Council Plan.
Our advocacy priorities are divided over six key priority areas:
- Early Education and Care
- Economic Recovery from COVID-19
- Public Spaces, Sports and Recreation
- Social and Affordable Housing
- Sustainability, Renewable Energy and Waste Management
- Transport, Mobility and Safety.
Our advocacy campaign
In the lead up to the state election, these priorities have formed the basis of our advocacy campaign, which includes letter writing, meetings, candidate tours and forums. We have conducted more than 45 meetings in less than two months, which is a huge number of important conversations.
The purpose of these meetings is to encourage election commitments that align with our priorities, as well as pursuing conversations around some of our larger ongoing projects like Elwood Foreshore, South Melbourne Market and Metro Two.
Other key advocacy work in the lead-up to this election included hosting a Transport Forum with local representatives from the three major parties. This forum was attended by more than 100 community members (in-person and online), and it gave them an opportunity to engage with sitting MPs on transport issues that were important to them.
