Brunswick Labor.net

Today Carlo Carli called upon the State Government to offer financial support for the redevelopment of the Brunswick Baths.

Speaking in Parliament he made the case for our local community and sought government support to ensure the future of this marvellous facility which has been going strong since 1913.

See over the fold for his full speech.

Monday night's 'Future of Sport in Brunswick' forum was a great success with about 60 people turning up to discuss proposals about the future of Gillon Oval, Raeburn Reserve, Clifton Park and Brunswick Park.

The mood of the meeting was quite negative towards Moreland Council's draft structure plan. Many representatives of sporting clubs informed the meeting that until Carlo Carli had written to them they had not been informed of the structure plan at all. However participants were keen to put forward a resolution that was positive and suggest a way forward.

The meeting also wants the public consultation period extended (it ends on Friday).

A copy of the resolution can be accessed by clicking on the image to the right. 

Moreland City Council is holding a series of community meetings and opportunities for people to express their views about the redevelopment of the Brunswick Baths on:

A stall will also be set up at Barkly Square Shopping Centre to provide the opportunity to discuss views with the planning team on;

All Brunswick Labor members will welcome today's news from Canberra regarding changes to the detention system for illegal immigrants. Today's announcememnts are a vindication of the hard work by Labor for Refugees and rank and file members of the ALP in Brunswick, and elsewhere, over the past seven years arguing for change in both ALP policy and the nation's policy.

Minister Evans speech, New Directions in Detention, outlines a new appraoch.

The challenge for Labor, having tackled the worst excesses of the Howard immigration legacy, is to introduce a new set of values to immigration detention – values that seek to emphasise a risk-based approach to detention and prompt resolution of cases rather than punishment....
Today I want to announce that Cabinet has endorsed a policy containing seven values that will guide and drive new detention policy and practice into the future.
These values will result in a risk-based approach to the management of immigration clients.

The Government’s seven key immigration values are:

1. Mandatory detention is an essential component of strong border control.
2. To support the integrity of Australia’s immigration program, three groups will be subject to mandatory detention:
(a) all unauthorised arrivals, for management of health, identity and security risks to the community
(b) unlawful non-citizens who present unacceptable risks to the community and
(c) unlawful non-citizens who have repeatedly refused to comply with their visa conditions.
3. Children, including juvenile foreign fishers and, where possible, their families, will not be detained in an immigration detention centre (IDC).
4. Detention that is indefinite or otherwise arbitrary is not acceptable and the length and conditions of detention, including the appropriateness of both the accommodation and the services provided, would be subject to regular review.
5. Detention in immigration detention centres is only to be used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable time.
6. People in detention will be treated fairly and reasonably within the law.
7. Conditions of detention will ensure the inherent dignity of the human person.

Labor’s reforms will fundamentally change the premise underlying detention policy.

Congratulations Federal Labor.

Carlo told the meeting while there were good and bad things in Eddington the report opened up an opportunity not just to oppose the tunnel, but also to acheive a paradigm shift in favour of funding for public transport in Victoria.

The meeting resolved to oppose the cross city road tunnel and set up a community campaign in response to the Eddington report.

In 2007 the Brunswick ALP Branch ran a campaign to bring the plight of the Brunswick Baths to public attention.

1000 people signed the petition either at the Sydney Road Street Party, at the baths or online.

Council listened to the community and committed to renewing the Brunswick Baths and is now seeking State and Federal Government support.

Yesterday the LHMU Cleaners Union launched its collective bargaining campaign at Federation Square. The LHMU is campaigning for cleaners to earn a minimum princly sum of $400 per week.

Speaking at the launch were Victorian Deputy Premier, Rob Hulls, Bishop Hilton Deakin and others including Carlo Carli. Youtube video's of teh day as well as stories from cleaners about their industry are available from www.youtube.com/cleanstart.

You can also join the Cleanstart facebook group.

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) -- Tomorrow, 9 August, the International Transport Workers Federation and the International Trade Union Confederation have called an international day of action over the arrest and detention of two Iranian trade union leaders.
I too want to voice my concern and protest at the imprisonment of two trade union leaders in Iran.

Mansour Osanloo, president of the Tehran bus workers union, has been arrested three times over the past year and a half, and he continues to be in detention. He was arrested while travelling on a bus on 10 July. He has been charged with conspiracy against national security.
Also Mahmoud Salehi, a founding member of the Saqez Bakery Workers Association and the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers Organisations, has been arrested and is being detained. He has major health issues, and it seems his health is dramatically deteriorating as a result of inadequate health care.

There is an international movement to seek the release of these two trade union workers and to ensure that the rights of trade unionists and the right to organise in Iran are protected. This involves numerous activities around the world, particularly putting pressure on Iranian authorities

A new study compiled by Griffith and Curtin University Professors David Peetz and Alison Preston, has examined workers’ wages on AWAs with wages from certified agreements.

The Howard government has argued that WorkChoices would encourage increased wages, particularly through AWAs. In the absence of any analysis by the federal government, this report provides the first study of the effects of these reforms.

The study is proof that AWAs are a fast-track in the race to the bottom in terms of wages and conditions.
AWAs are achieving exactly what the Howard Government intended - to make life harder for ordinary Victorian men and women trying to make ends meet.

Findings of the study include:

• Typical Victorian workers on AWAs earn 23 per cent less than their counterparts on collective agreements.
  
• Median wage rates for AWAs in Victoria were significantly lower because there were fewer high-paid mining jobs and a bigger take up of AWAs in the hospitality industry.
  
• Australia-wide, the study showed a typical worker employed under the Federal Government’s AWAs earned 16% less than a typical worker on a registered collective agreement.
  
• It found Australians employed on collective agreements were paid a median $24.50 an hour, some $4 an hour more than those on median AWA earnings.
  
•  Over half of AWAs abolished entitlements such as overtime pay, penalty rates, public holiday payments, shift loadings and other allowances.
  

Victorian workers are worse off due to Workchoices, which is why Labor’s pledge to abolish it is good politics and good policy.

Coburg ALP Branch will meet on Tuesday 17 July, at 7.30pm in the Coburg Library Meeting Room.

This month our guest speaker is Veronica Ilias, LHMU Assistant Secretary for Childcare, who will update the branch on the Every Child Counts campaign to change Kennett era regulations governing childcare.

New Members are always welcome.

For more information contact Chris on 0403 056 494 or Nosrat on 0401 682 092.

The LHMU, supported by Community Childcare Victoria is holding a forum on Monday April 2 to brief Parents, the community and childcare workers on their campaign to have Kennett Era Childcare regulations changed.

The forum is on Monday April 2, from 7pm at the Australian Greek Welfare Society, 7 Union St, Brunswick.

The LHMU Childcare Union has just launched a campaign urging the Victorian Government to change Kennett era regulations governing conditions at childcare centres.

For more information visit the campaign website or watch this video

Last night Carlo Carli MP made a short speech to Parliament regarding the Brunswick Baths.

In the speech Carlo indicated his support for any funding application Council might make for the State Government to contribute a proportionate amount for any upgrade of the Brunswick Baths.


The full text of the speech is below the fold.

Yesterday was the Sydney Road Street Party, Brunswick's biggest community event of the year.

Brunswick & Brunswick South ALP Branches had a stall with Carlo Carli MP and Kelvin Thomson MP outside the Brunswick Town Hall. Hundreds of signatures were collected for the Save Brunswick Baths campaign, which will be presented to Council shortly.

If you missed out you can sign the petition here.