2022-11-25
I am truly honoured by the trust that local residents placed in me and our campaign, and I am dedicated to delivering a better future for all of us.
By Stephen Bates
I have to begin by thanking the hundreds of volunteers who donated hours, money, and their own resources to the campaign to win Brisbane. It truly takes a village to win an election, and I am dedicated to working tooth-and-nail on behalf of all of you to deliver a better future for all of us.
I am truly honoured by the trust that local residents placed in me and our campaign to fight for our local community and for the issues that matter. That includes things like climate action through a moratorium on all new coal and gas mines; bringing dental and mental into Medicare; tackling the housing crisis by building one million social homes; and empowering the local community to fight back against inappropriate development.
I know that myself, Libby, Max, Larissa and Penny will make a formidable team alongside the rest of our incredible federal Greens MPs fighting for our local communities, Queenslanders, and everyday people across the country. We’ll be pushing the government to meaningfully improve the lives and livelihoods of everyday people by taxing billionaires and big corporations so everyone can live a good life no matter their bank balance or postcode.
Showing our constituents a new kind of politics
The electorate of Brisbane is home to the second youngest population in the country and over 180,000 residents. It is a vibrant epicentre of arts, culture, sports and entertainment, and proudly hosts many of our LGBTQIA+ community venues, events and organisations. We are made up of 53.5 percent renters, and families make up 23.8 percent of households. There are over 2,500 residents who identify as First Nations peoples, and more than one in five speak a language other than English at home. I couldn’t be more grateful to have the opportunity to represent such a diverse and iconic part of the country.
We entered our electorate office with a big task ahead of us. We were greeted with around 200 voicemails and 2,000 emails from people across the electorate. Everything from general grievances to congratulations, and from needed passports to emergency access to housing. I am extremely fortunate to have a team around me that were all too happy to rise to the occasion. We wanted to show the people of Brisbane a new kind of politics: one of engagement, consultation, and where they come to see talking to their MP as a norm and not an abnormality.
We have been hard at work finding solutions for our constituents. The crises that exist within our political and economic systems trickle down into the lives of people in the Brisbane community. It is the job of myself as the MP and our office to make sure we are not only fighting against these systems at the federal level, but also doing everything we can to assist constituents in their struggles at the frontline of these crises.
Already, my team has successfully advocated for a middle-aged disabled woman being forced to live in her car after years of failures from the Department of Housing to find her forever home. We fought for a childhood abuse survivor battling addiction to be placed in a mental health facility after six months of being left without treatment.
Through our office, countless community members feeling voiceless and powerless in their attempts to navigate the Department of Immigration have been granted passports, visas, and travel rights for their families. We have supported elderly aged pension recipients to finalise their applications and secure the financial assistance they are entitled to. We have campaigned for flood-impacted families who have been waiting months for support from obfuscating insurance companies to finally be heard. And local community groups whose concerns have been sidelined by property developers and governments have been amplified directly to decision-makers by our team.
These are just a handful of the examples of what we have already been achieving, among the thousands of emails, phone calls, and constituent walk-ins regarding issues from every level of government and its failures. This work is truly just beginning. The already extraordinary level of requests for support have been increasing exponentially while word gets out about our team. I’m so grateful for each and every one of my staff who work tirelessly, all of which manage multiple cases on top of their regular work late into evenings, to ensure that the residents of Brisbane feel that there is a bastion of hope in politics, and that they finally have a local representative who is working for them.
Electorate-specific issues
Our electorate will be host to much of the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We are going to be one of the most heavily impacted electorates, with ten venues already confirmed in our part of the city. I know many in the community see the Games as an opportunity for investment in public infrastructure and job creation. However, many are also worried about what this will mean for local residents. I, too, am becoming concerned, due to the distinct lack of community consultation.
Last year, the Queensland Labor Government pushed a Bill through State Parliament outlining how the Olympic Organising Committee will be formed. The Crime and Corruption Commission flagged the Bill as a corruption risk, because the elected officials will not be required to disclose conflicts of interest, or be subject to right to information laws.
What’s more, this Committee will be responsible for at least $5 billion in funding, with any budget blowout to be covered by Queensland taxpayers. This doesn’t bode well, because every Olympics since 1960 has massively overrun its budget by an average of 172 percent (in fact: the 2000 Sydney Games cost twice as much as expected). That’s why it’s so important the planning and delivery of the Games be exposed to public scrutiny and accountability!
Furthermore, living in a large city like Brisbane means we are subject to a certain level of activity and noise. However, it is a serious issue when residents are misled by developers and exposed to unreasonable and excessive impacts, be it noise, light or air pollution.
Residents across Brisbane have experienced unsustainable levels of flight noise, especially following the opening of Brisbane Airport Corporation’s (BAC) second runway. In fact, some residents are experiencing aircraft noise exceeding 90 decibels (more than two times the recommended level from the World Health Organisation) every three minutes during peak times. This is as loud as a lawnmower right next to you. In response to this, we have been working with the community to pressure government decision-makers for deliver on community demands, which are:
- An overnight curfew between 10pm and 6am;
- An hourly flight movement cap of 45 flights per hour;
- A long term-operating plan to ensure continuing consultation between the airport and the community; and
- Ensuring more flights go over the bay.
These demands will bring BAC in line with airport regulations across the country and around the world (including Sydney). If this issue impacts you, be sure to sign up to email updates and indicate your position in my community survey. Early next year we will be hosting a community strategy meeting and large community action alongside neighbouring communities in the Griffith and Ryan electorates.
Youth leadership
Young people turned out in their droves this election and continue to be a leading voice in the struggle for climate justice across the country.
Since being elected, I continue to be amazed and inspired by the work of young people in the Brisbane community. I have been fortunate enough to attend School Strike 4 Climate events, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition Conference in Brisbane, and have spoken at numerous schools across the electorate about what it is like being a young person in politics.
I have also been using my position to listen closely to the voices of young people – my peers – on where I should focus my advocacy efforts and their message is clear: climate action, mental health access, higher education, and a greater voice in our political system.
This message has been crying out to governments for decades and yet they refuse to act. Young people have had enough of simply being listened to. They want tangible policies that improve their lives at the material level. They want politicians to actually listen to them. They want action.
I am proud to be working with youth organisations and peak bodies across the country to advocate for the needs of young people and continuing the incredible work done previously in this portfolio by Senator Jordon Steele-John. Over the coming term, we will be fighting for greater youth participation in policymaking, getting mental health fully covered by Medicare, wiping student debt, and finally reducing the voting age to enfranchise 16 and 17 year olds.
LGBTQIA+ liberation
After the previous decade of hate, the LGBTQIA+ community is cautiously optimistic about what the future may hold. I am very excited to have the opportunity to contribute to this portfolio space and continue the tireless efforts of Senator Janet Rice.
Within the LGBTQIA+ portfolio, I forced a division on my amendment to establish a Human Rights Commissioner for LGBTQIA+ people. I was grateful to have the support of many independent members of the crossbench, who recognised the pressing need to extend anti-discriminatory measures to queer and gender diverse people within our communities, as well as the backing of stakeholder groups like Just.Equal Australia.
Establishing a commissioner for LGBTQIA+ people would have sent the message to queer and gender diverse people that this government is willing to address the years of awful treatment the community has experienced at the hands of the last government. While it was incredibly disappointing to see Labor vote down an amendment which would have made life better for LGBTQIA+ people, the fight is not over. I will keep pushing to establish a Human Rights Commissioner for my community, and especially given the high queer population of Brisbane.
A Human Rights Commissioner for LGBTQIA+ people is a start but there are numerous issues the queer community faces across Australia that need to be addressed, such as:
- Dead-naming in our education institutions;
- The findings from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, and the lack of apology from the government for the forced discharges of LGBTQIA+ defence force personnel;
- A national ban on conversion therapy; and
- The upcoming religious discrimination bill promised by the Labor government.
After years of open homophobia and transphobia by politicians, we have the opportunity to turn a new page and provide not only hope for the LGBTQIA+ community, but real tangible policy outcomes that will dramatically improve the community’s quality of life.
The struggle for equality will continue and I am honoured and proud to be in a position to help lead the fight.