Brunswick Labor.net

Upfield line trains will be six carriages long very day to 7pm (including weekends) following an announcement this morning by Connex.

I am very pleased by this announcement, and hope that it leads to a better service for the many public transport commuters in my electorate.

Students, casual workers, families and shift workers in particular will benefit from this initiative, which I have been lobbying for and many of my constituents have, in turn, lobbyed me for.

Babies and young families, home buyers and services are the big winners in the 2008-09 State Budget, Carlo Carli, Member for Brunswick said today.

“New figures released today show we are in the middle of a baby boom,” Mr. Carli said.

“Over 73,700 births recorded last year – the highest since 1971 and we are rolling out initiatives to make sure families have the services they need for their children.”

Minister for Sport, James Merlino announced another $45,000 grant to Moreland City Council to replace existing rasses on local sporting grounds with warm season grasses.

Managing the effects of the drought is a challenge for all Victorians. That’s why the Brumby Government has been working in partnership with local councils and their communities to keep grassroots sport alive and meet the challenges of the drought. These new surfaces will be a low-maintenance grass that is not only drought-resistant but will also be able to withstand more wear and tear.

The effects of the drought have forced us to think of new ways to keep sport alive in the face of climate change. Today’s funding is about giving the local community more opportunities to get involved in sport and recreation – no matter what the weather brings.

The sports grounds to benefit from new the turf will be AG Gillon Reserve, Fleming Park and Reaburn Reserve in Brunswick; Cook Reserve and Wallace Reserve South in Glenroy; Campbell Reserve in Coburg, Richards Reserve in Coburg North; CB Smith Reserve in Fawkner; and Cole Reserve North in Pascoe Vale.

The grant is part of the Labor Government’s $12.9 million Drought Relief for Community Sport Program that has already funded 72 projects to reduce the impact of drought in 42 Victorian local government areas.

Childcare operators who fail to supervise children, protect them from harm or subject them to unreasonable discipline will have their penalties doubled under new measures announced by Premier John Brumby.

The Children’s Legislation Amendment Bill, introduced to Parliament last week, meant Victorian parents would be the first in Australia to be able to check the compliance records of all children’s services online.

The new laws would also increase penalties for not providing proper learning and development programs for children, strengthening the Brumby Government’s commitment to improving the quality of education provided in childcare centres.

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.

Unmarried heterosexual and same-sex couples will be able to register their relationships for the first time in Victoria under landmark reforms passed in Parliament today.

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 Eddington Report on East West transport links will be released today. The details have been splashed around the media over the last few days. As expected there will be a recommendation for an East West tunnel to join the Eastern freeway to Citylink and then over to the western suburbs joining up at Ballarat or even Geelong Rd.

The surprise is that Eddington has recommended that no such exits be built. He has accepted the argument that any exit ramps aimed towards the CBD would increase downstream congestion. This makes the project much more marginal for private investors. The economic model of the financial backers of the project was that money was to be made funnelling and tolling traffic into the CBD. It therefore makes it unlikely that the tunnel can be funded as a private sector toll road.

Therefore without significant State or Federal funding the tunnel will never be built. I also expect the poor cost benefit of the project will see the tunnel project fall over. There just is not much traffic that flows from western Melbourne to the Eastern freeway or vice a versa.

Eddington also proposes a very large rail project. This involves an underground metro link between Caulfield station, through to North Melbourne and then Footscray stations. In the long term this project is probably necessary to increase the capacity of the loop. However the debate will be whether there are more worthwhile rail projects in the short to medium term. Certainly outer areas of Melbourne will want to see extensions to rail provision ahead of increased capacity.

The cost of Eddington’s recommendation will be around $20 billion. More importantly there is a desire by the Brumby Government for an extended debate.

As a supporter of sustainable transport it is important that the debate is broad and looks not at just the issue of more roads and rail but the conditions that will allow for mobility with a reduction of car dependency. We need to look at world best practice and we need to at the transport divide in Melbourne. A divide between the public transport, walking and cycling friendly inner areas and the car dependent outer suburbs.

Carlo Carli welcomed the news that today the Premier John Brumby announced: Victoria will remove ATMs from gaming venues by 2012, as part of the Victorian Government’s ongoing efforts to tackle problem gaming.

Mr Brumby said the restriction of ATMs from gaming venues would be part of the operations of the gaming industry post-2012.

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.

Carlo Carli MP has welcomed the announcement that all Melbourne metropolitan train passengers will get free early morning travel from the end of this month following a trial of the ‘Early Bird’ ticket.

The Early Bird Metcard, which provides free travel for passengers scheduled to arrive at their destination by 7am, would be expanded across all 15 lines on the metropolitan train network.

_{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.