2017-11-10
Hon Tim Clifford
Having an office in Midland is a highlight of being an MP, it connects me with the people Ive signed up to work for. Having grown up in a country town, theres something familiar about Midland, perhaps because it sits at the entrance to the city it manages to hold onto some of its country feeling. The East Metropolitan region encompasses a large area that takes in both regional and urban centres with diverse populations and Ive greatly enjoyed meeting with constituents. Last week we even had a constituent drop in a bowl of mulberries freshly picked from their community garden.
Its gratifying to get to meet the people I represent, we have people drop in for all sorts of reasons, whether to see if I really look like the giant photo of me on our window, or to talk to me or my staff about any troubles they just cant seem to get resolved without the help of an MP, or most recently to talk about the Midland Oval development.
The Greens have built a reputation on protecting the environment and campaigning alongside the community. My office recently held a community picnic in response to The City of Swans Masterplan to redevelop the Midland Oval reserve into residential, commercial and retail space.
The Midland Oval was originally bequeathed as a recreational space to the people of Midland over 100 years ago and has since been used as a sporting facility, community open space and velodrome. I have committed myself to stand alongside the Midland community to oppose the loss of public open green space.
Over 60 community members attended to demonstrate their opposition to the plan and to describe their vision for the oval. Our window has become somewhat of a feature of the town more so since we decorated our window with our communitys vision for the Oval.
Back in Parliament, the Estimates hearings provided me an opportunity to ask a number of questions relating to my various portfolio areas. Keeping the new Labor government to account is incredibly important. I asked questions around housing, renewable energy, games, and transport to help inform our future campaigns.
Stay tuned in the next issue for our campaign on renters rights and to hear about my investigations into the Games industry.