Our branches are part of the Greens grassroots approach to democracy

Joining the Greens Party means having access to a local Greens branch. Based on local government areas, these hubs are vital avenues for our members to talk about politics and policy, join local campaigning, keep up to date with local issues and have direct access to Greens representatives.

Most of all, local Greens branches are a way for our members to join like-minded people, fellow Victorians who are also passionate about progressive Australian politics. Greens members are extraordinary people, and by providing them with the space to foster proactive political and social change, the Greens aim to instil a long legacy of making a difference in the community.

All Victorian Greens members are automatically members of the Australian Greens. Being a part of our growing party means together, through the principles and aims of the Greens, we can stand up for what matters.

About Merri-bek and Hume

The Hume branch merged with the Moreland branch in late 2020 to become the Hume-Moreland branch. In 2022, with the renaming of Moreland council to Merri-bek council, we are now the Merri-bek and Hume branch.

Proximity to Melbourne University and the larger biomedical precinct in Parkville, combined with the growing number of apartments, means Merri-bek is seeing more workers in the knowledge economy moving in. Also, a steady stream of bikes flows from the Upfield bike path and many other streets as students and workers find alternatives to overcrowded public transport.

Merri-bek residents are usually at the front of progressive politics, and the environment has joined social justice as a leading concern for locals. Ceres Environmental Park and the Australian Energy Foundation (formerly the Moreland Energy Foundation) are obvious signs of this, as well as the present noise of bellbirds on the Merri Creek as a result of many years of tree-planting by residents. Because of the nature of the built environment and a lack of open space in Moreland, the area will be one of the places in Australia hit hardest by the heat island effect during increasingly hot summers. The Merri-bek and Hume Greens will be at the forefront of campaigning for fast action on climate change in the community and at all levels of government.

Hume is one of Australia's fastest-growing and culturally-diverse communities and is home to nearly 249,000 residents. It is located in Melbourne’s northern fringe, just 15 kilometres from the centre of Melbourne.

Our People

Merri-bek runs from inner city Brunswick in the south, taking in Pascoe Vale and Coburg and includes Fawkner and Glenroy in the north where it finishes at the Western Ring Road. These have always been working class suburbs with smaller houses, and a lot of renters, so progressive causes do well here. A large number of post-war immigrant Greek and Italian families have been joined by Turkish, Lebanese and more recent waves of immigrants so that Merri-bek’s streets echo with a variety of languages, and Sydney Rd and Lygon St boast a fabulous range of restaurants.

Hume is built around the established suburbs of Broadmeadows, Tullamarine and Gladstone Park in the south, the developing residential suburbs of Craigieburn, Greenvale, Mickleham, Kalkallo and Roxburgh Park in the north-east and the Sunbury township in the north-west.

It is made up of a vibrant mix of contrasts including new and established residential areas, major industrial and commercial precincts and vast expanses of rural areas and parkland, as well as The Melbourne Airport. Over 35 percent of Hume residents were born overseas and come from 156 different countries. Hume residents speak over 150 languages.

Over 400 residents from Hume and Merri-bek are now members of the Hume-Moreland branch of the Greens, which meets regularly to hear invited speakers, to run local election campaigns and support our elected councillors. Our people are passionate and cohesive; someone should put them into Parliament.

You can contact the Merri-bek and Hume Greens via email merri-bek-humebranch@vic.greens.org.au

OUR POLICIES

Our local policies are developed by members of our branch. We're a diverse group, but work together to find a way forward that suits everyone. This is one of the benefits of becoming a member – click here to join.

When a policy is created or reviewed, everyone is invited to share their ideas and give feedback on draft policies. Policy committees and working groups sometimes steward the process, bringing together and discussing evidence – it's often a complex process. We take time to work through disagreements and build consensus, and these ratified policies are the result.

Our local policies set out our aims (what we want); these can be read alongside our state policies and our federal policies. Our elected councillors are guided by and should advocate and vote for our local policies, and use these to inform their own policy initiatives, announcements and negotiating positions. Our rules allow for elected members to vote in line with their conscience if they object, on the basis of conscience, to a specific policy.

RATES AND COUNCIL FUNDING

Investigate the reintroduction of higher differential rates for vacant or unused land to improve incentives for owners to develop or sell land to others who will.
Investigate changing council fines so that amounts better reflect the individual’s capacity to pay, rather than the existing flat structure.

LOCAL DEMOCRACY

Investigate, implement and expand strategies for genuine popular control over decision-making through precinct committees and/or citizens' assemblies elected by lottery (rather than self-nomination).
Seek to involve residents more directly in making decisions about council matters that affect them.
Support the empowerment of young people to participate in council democratic processes by creating pathways for experiential learning, observation and meaningful participation.
Protect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
Local government to be as accountable and transparent as practical.
Shift the culture of council and council-decision to be less adversarial and more collaborative in nature.
Protect council elections from electoral interference and corruption.
Elections, and the operations of local government, to be free from the influence of donations from vested interests, particularly property developers and the gambling industry.

FIRST NATIONS

Advocate and support development of Treaty between council and Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people.
Partner with and support the traditional custodians of local lands and waterways, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung, to ensure they are cared for sustainably in line with their cultural values and practices.
Work with Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung traditional custodians to secure the Ballert Maroop site in Glenroy for a First Nations cultural, community and health hub.
Work with First Nations peoples ability to achieve meaningful inclusion in, and control over, decisions that affect them.
Ensure that a certain proportion of procurement by Council continues to be earmarked for First Nations-owned businesses.

DISABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY

Prioritise the voices of disabled people across all areas of council policy, making our communities more welcoming and inclusive.
Ensure that all council facilities and infrastructure is accessible to people with mobility and other access needs.
Supporting disabled peoples’ ability to access and use support services in their local area.
Ensure council meetings and events are fully accessible to people living with disabilities.
Increase the provision of disabled parking, along with appropriate curb cut outs.
Improve provision of smooth crossings for people using wheelchairs or walkers on uneven sections of footpath (such as those intersecting with driveways or bluestone laneways).
Improved provision of raised ('wombat') pedestrian crossings, particularly near bus stops on narrower council roads, where the speed limit is 50 km/h or less.
Continue to advocate for accessible public transport within the municipality.
Ensure all bus stops, tram stops and train stations and their immediate surrounds are safe and accessible (particularly Broadmeadows and Jacana train stations).
Build stronger relationships between council and schools in order to better understand and cater to diverse needs of students and parents and meaningfully include disabled students when planning activities (such as 'ride to school' days).
Encourage businesses along Sydney Road to upgrade their premises to be disability-friendly, through adding and improving accessible bathrooms and other facilities.

COMMUNICATION

Improve online access to council documentation and data.
Improve provision of council communications and resources for non-English speakers.
Create opportunities to hear the views of young people across the municipality through an annual survey of young people in the municipality.
Partner with schools to involve students in communicating with parents and families about opportunities, activities and services provided by council.
Partner with real estate agents to provide new residents with information about council services.
Investigate development of an easily accessible website providing a search function for approved building developments, including a map/image function.

PLANNING

Encourage mixed, medium, and high-density development in established centres and renewal sites.
Promote measures that strengthen pedestrian permeability between and within mixed use developments.
Decisions relating to new developments to take full account of the future impacts of climate change on those structures and the people using them, prioritising resilience against floods, heatwaves and other climate-related disasters.
Reduce unreasonable use of heritage overlays to protect structures of minimal heritage significance where doing so prevents the construction of new, high-quality housing and services.
Complete work on the 'Brunswick Activity Zone' planning schedule and policies which actively reflect the need for more homes and higher-density living, in an area that has access to good services, and transport, but also ensures continued service provision and sustainable development that puts people first.
Identify opportunities for sensible reductions in the use of the lower-density 'Neighbourhood Residential Zone' (NRZ) designation in certain areas, including in Brunswick and Coburg, where there is an established need for more housing.
Continue to investigate opportunities for council to invest in community batteries, with the potential to transition to a community-owned non-profit renewable power provider.

HOUSING

Advocate for the creation of additional public housing, dispersed throughout the community and located near public transport, shops and services.
Construction of new housing – particularly medium- and high-density housing - located in areas with better access to infrastructure and services.
Support building affordable and not-for-profit housing on council-owned land.
Work with the community to develop affordable not-for-profit housing and other facilities on council land in central Coburg.
Ensure new housing is of quality, fit-for-purpose, and sustainable, including ensuring sufficient green spaces, public transport options and other key services are accessible.
Use council's power as enforcer of the state planning scheme to actively regulate and impose day caps on 'whole-property' short stay accommodation in residential areas, to incentivise their return to the long-term rental market.
Prioritise developments which ensure that the people living in them are involved in designing and building them ('deliberative development').
Take all necessary measures to curtail the destructive effects of property speculation on communities.
Investigate the possibility of establishing a council fund to make emergency payments to local renters enduring serious housing-related financial hardship, capped at a set amount per applicant.
Prioritise and incentivise, where possible, developments that have adequate architectural provisions for people with disabilities.

LOCAL BUSINESSES

Improve diversity and activity in smaller shopping areas outside of major commercial zones.
Promote the revitalisation of Union Square shopping centre and the Melville Road shopping strip.
Investigate ways to better support live music venues.
Promote the continued development of Merri-bek as a centre for biomedical technology.
Promote the continued development of Hume as a centre for learning and higher education.

ACTIVE TRANSPORT

Continue to develop a high standard network of walking, cycling and public transport routes, as an essential precondition for a connected and healthy city.
The use of continuous footpaths on high streets to prioritise pedestrians while indicating to drivers when they are entering or exiting a residential area.
Prioritise separated pedestrian and bike paths to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians, cyclists and users of mobility aids and scooters – particularly for the Upfield and Merri Creek paths.
Advocate for a reduced speed limit from the western end of Gaffney Street to Elizabeth Street on Murray Road.
Improving the signage and infrastructure on the Brunswick and Brunswick East cycle 'shimmies' – particularly at both the start and finish.
Investigate the feasibility of providing means-tested subsidies to residents for electric or cargo bikes.

ROADS, TRAFFIC AND PARKING

Trial, in partnership with the Department of Transport and Planning, a 30 km/hr speed limit on neighbourhood residential streets in Brunswick and Brunswick East.
Actively pursue opportunities to implement traffic-calming and pedestrianisation measures which treat cars as guests and de-prioritise them in areas that currently have, or are intended to have, higher levels of pedestrian activity.
Increase parking fees for large and/or heavy vehicles with low passenger capacity, proportionate to the additional risks they pose to human health and safety, with exemptions for electric vehicles with onboard batteries and vehicles modified for wheelchair use.
Advocate for transitioning Lygon Street to tow-away zones, with peak-hour tram only lanes, by extending existing Nicholson Street arrangements southward.
Investigate and implement additional safety measures for Melville Road, noting the high rate of accidents involving trams along the 58 tram route.
Investigate and advocate for measures to improve safety on the Bell Street bridge, such as the possibility of a separate bike-and-pedestrian bridge over Merri Creek and/or widening of the existing bridge.
Push for a trial of reduced speed limits along suitable sections of Murray Road.

LOCAL ECOLOGY

Improve the health of our waterways and green spaces, supporting biodiversity and recreation.
Take measures to minimise the urban heat island effect by increasing green spaces, significantly increase tree planting, and encouraging reflective and cooling building practices.
Nurture, protect and extend planting of indigenous flora and fauna.
Ensure all tree planting prioritises species that are beneficial to local wildlife.
Develop and map improved wildlife and pollinator corridors complemented with on-street identifier labels, with scope for incorporating private land via advice and planting assistance.
When new parks are established or existing parks are upgraded, prioritise accessible design features to allow disabled families to use community facilities safely and happily.
Increase the ambition of our urban forest strategy – doubling 2017 canopy cover by 2028.
Extend the chain of pond re-naturalisation of the Moonee Ponds Creek.

PARKS AND RECREATION

Support the application of universal design principles in parks and open spaces, to better ensure they can be accessed and enjoyed by all people.
Support funding and land purchases for new parks, prioritising areas and neighbourhoods with the least access to open space.
Expand council’s ‘park close to home’ program, helping to ensure residents have access to green open space within 400 metres of their homes.
Additional seating in parks and covered areas.
Strategic planting of additional tree cover in public parks.
Investigate ways and means of improving the cleanliness of streets and public spaces.
Tree planting and maintenance in public places, leading to improved canopy cover, shading for footpaths and key pedestrian areas.
Improve and expand arrangements that allow for green spaces to be multi-use across different sports clubs and other uses.
Improve support for under-funded community sports.
Provision and maintenance of high quality, affordable and accessible sports and leisure precincts.
Ensure that council grants to local sporting groups and facilities better reflect the number of participants and broader community benefits.
Invest in maintaining and improving streetscapes and nature strips.
Replace aged play equipment in parks with play equipment made from natural and/or recycled materials, where possible.
Create and nurture opportunities for urban agriculture in the city, including food forests and community garden spaces.
Continue to reduce the use of synthetic turf where possible to do so without compromising useability.
Promote the inclusion of significant garden features in all medium and high density developments.
Promote the use of the 'snap, send and solve' online reporting tool to improve quick resolution of issues by council.
Find ways to support the engagement, inclusion and participation of young people in the life of the community via expanding sport and recreation, early learning, social and arts programs.

RECYCLING AND WASTE

Ensure any proposals for additional bins for households do not add unreasonably to the amount of space required to store them.
Investigate ways to improve current bin collection schedules and services.
Improve households' access to and uptake of recycling options for other common waste streams with low current rates of recovery, such as textiles, e-waste, metal and timber products, to better divert them from ending up in landfill.
Increase rates of recovery of usable materials from waste streams.
Increase the rate of composting of organic waste.
Reduce overall and per-person rates of waste.

COMMUNITY SERVICES AND SUPPORT

Prioritise any measure(s) available to council that can reduce cost and time pressures on working people, allowing them to spend more time in their communities, make use of council facilities, and generally enjoy more fulfilling lives.
Identify opportunities to support the increased provision of mental health services in under-serviced areas.
Protect and invest in our local libraries.
Support funding for libraries to purchase new books and resources.
Support our libraries to provide a range of programs and activities for a range of demographics, ages and language groups in order to assist residents to better participate in the community and democratic processes.
Invest in providing additional support and services for survivors of domestic violence.
Develop a strategy for ensuring young people feel supported and connected to their communities.
Ensure that young people have access to meaningful recreational activity close to their homes and within their neighbourhoods via youth centres or funding support to existing community-based youth centres.
Direct environmental health officers to increase efforts to reduce sales of cigarettes to young people.
Improve the quality of the outdoor help and garden maintenance programs provided by council for seniors and disabled residents.
Seek to ensure the provision of additional support and services for survivors of domestic violence.
Improve general community resilience by identifying and developing sites suitable for providing refuge during extreme weather events and disasters – particularly heatwaves and flooding events.

These branch policies were last modified on 17 September 2024.

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