Brunswick Labor.net

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.

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.

As noted this week in the Moreland Leader Carlo will be voting in favour of the Abortion Law Reform Bill.  The second reading debate began in the assembly last night, and Carlo spoke after 11pm... 

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) — I rise to support the Abortion Law Reform Bill. It is an important piece of legislation which will decriminalise abortion in Victoria. The proposed law will remove abortion from the Crimes Act and will reflect, I believe, current medical practice. I say from the outset that I support a woman’s right to choose. She should be able to make the choice that is best for her without fear of prosecution or fear of being considered a pariah.

 Mr CARLI (Brunswick) — This Friday I will be attending the presentation night for the Brunswick Zebras junior soccer club, the largest soccer club in my electorate and certainly the largest soccer club in the Moreland area. It is a big occasion for a really successful junior soccer club. It was founded in 1947, when Italian immigrants founded the Juventus club. However, over time the club broke away from the senior club and specialised in juniors — and it is increasingly focusing on girls and women.

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.

Speech to parliament by Carlo Carli on the Brunswick Secondary College.

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) -- As all honourable members are aware, you cannot believe everything you read in the newspapers, and that is certainly true in relation to the article in the Sunday Herald Sun of last weekend about an incident that occurred at the Brunswick Secondary College.
The suggestion in the article is that the school has been too lenient on a student who was involved in this incident. This article is a result of an anonymous letter written by three students that was sent to the shadow Minister for Education, the member for Nepean, and it somehow ended up in the hands of the newspaper. There are inaccuracies in the article.
The facts were not checked with the school. The school was incredibly decisive and showed enormous leadership. When the incident occurred the student involved in it was suspended for a week.

I must say Brunswick Secondary College is an extremely safe school.
It has a great reputation. I send two of my children to that school. I realise it is a great school and they realise it is a great school. The school has worked hard to get a good reputation and be considered safe; it does not need this sort of inaccuracy presented in newspapers as a result of a leak like the one made by the member for Nepean.
It has been a very distressing incident for the school community. I know the school community will rally behind the school leadership, the acting principal
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER -- Order! The member's time has expired.

Speech to Parliament, Wednesday April 9th...

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) -- I wish to congratulate the City of Moreland for staging on Sunday, 13 April, the second Cyclovia event. Cyclovia was first staged in Moreland in 2006, and it involves closing Sydney Road to cars for 4 hours between the hours of 10.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. Basically it allows locals to walk, cycle, push the pram, rollerblade or take whatever other means of active transport they choose. It is really a celebration of reclaiming the streets, promoting health and promoting active forms of transport.


The movement has become worldwide. It started 30 years ago in Colombia, and it has now spread to countries like France, Italy and beyond, and obviously it has arrived in Moreland. It is a local event which tries to emphasise the importance to people's health of being active in their choice of transport, and which celebrates modes of transport other than the motor vehicle. It is an event which is designed not to totally close off Moreland from traffic, and obviously there are other roads that are made available for cars, but it certainly allows Sydney Road to be a great celebration point.


Moreland is the centre of the renaissance of cycling. My electorate of Brunswick has the highest proportion of people commuting to work in Melbourne. Many people now travel using bicycles.

_{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.

Last week Moreland City Council launched the Coburg Initiative, a $1 billion plan for the urban renewal of central Coburg. Feedback from this has been almost universally positive and Coburg residents in particular have shown themselves ready to engage and get involved in making their suburb a better place to live.

Below the fold is a speech given to Parliament on the 31st of October regarding this project.

The Melbourne and Olympic Parks Amendment Bill is being debated in Parliament. The Bill makes some changes to facilitate the construction of Melbourne's Rectangular Stadium next to the current Olympic Park and will be used by Football and Rugby.

On Thursday 12 July Carlo Carli spoke to an Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission Forum on the Charter of Human Rights & Responsabilities.

Below the fold is his speech on the role of the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee in scrutiny of legislation and of our human rights.

In periods of adversity communities pull together, and that is exactly what has been happening in Moreland amongst the 12 soccer clubs in the area. Those clubs have now established the Moreland football forum. Over the summer only four soccer pitches were being watered, and basically a number of clubs did not have any facilities, any grounds or any training areas. The teams and the clubs came together and started to share grounds and support each other in a period of adversity. They are also providing a unified voice to deal with the council to ensure that there is a contingency plan for watering next season that will sustain the various clubs.

The clubs are numerous. There are 12 clubs in the Moreland area.

I did a little estimate and found that there are 149 teams, with something around 2500 players; the vast majority are juniors; women and girls are the fastest growing component, which is growing at an exponential rate; and there is also all the growth that followed the World Cup and the success of the Socceroos.

The 12 clubs have set aside their sporting rivalries to work together in a common cause. They are working together in a time of adversity to ensure the viability and sustainability of world football in the Moreland area. I congratulate all 12 clubs for their willingness to work together.

Together with Christopher Anderson in my office I have written a submission to the Eddington Review opposing any proposed cross city tunnel. This tunnel could have serious environmental, social and economic consequences which will seriously effect the liveability of inner Melbourne.

I argue that it is not feasible to build our way out of congestion. We need to invest in alternative modes to meet the transport and freight task.

My submission can be viewed here.