NSW Liberals Talk Big but Deliver Nothing on Homelessness
NSW Greens Housing and Homelessness spokesperson Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown has responded to the Liberal's homelessness announcement today by questioning the priorities of the Premier and highlighting the hypocrisy of the Minister for Family and Community Services. “While setting targets is welcome, the targets announced by the Liberals today would amount to housing fewer than 5 people every week across the whole state! Surely we can do better than that.
Media Release: Greens in Newtown and Ballina support your right to party
Greens Members for Newtown and Ballina have confirmed their support for the Australian Festivals Association’s (AFA) demands on the NSW Government as the internationally renowned Bluesfest threatens to move the festival to Queensland. The Director of Bluesfest has squarely pointed the finger at this government for their actions. Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown "The Greens absolutely support the AFA’s calls, in fact we consider what they are asking for to be the basic minimum standard for community consultation and evidence-based policy making,” said Jenny Leong, Greens MP for Newtown. "We’ve seen the Liberals and Nationals impose lockouts, attempt to shut down our city and stop us from dancing - and now they are throwing the same sort of uninformed and outdated views on our festivals and it’s having enormous consequences. "The Greens were the only party in the NSW Parliament to stand strong and oppose the lockout laws when they were introduced - our position is clear - we oppose the Sydney and CBD lockouts, we support pill-testing and we want a thriving and creative live music scene,” she said. “We need to stop the over policing of festivals - including banning sniffer dogs - and support our musicians and the music industry in NSW." Tamara Smith MP, Member for Ballina “Today’s statements from the Director of the award winning Bluesfest are a real worry, this festival is such an important part of the local economy and our community,” said Tamara Smith, Greens MP for Ballina. “Regional festivals don't want to suffer the same fate as Sydney when lockouts were introduced and to see a hugely successful Festival in its 30th year, fighting for its existence is shocking. “This government seems hell bent on dismantling our music industry and closing down cultural events - it’s shameful. “Bluesfest are just the latest business owners to worry about how to keep the lights on in the face of restrictive and over the top government actions and they are likely not the last." Background: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-12/bluesfest-threatens-to-leave-nsw-over-government-policy/10802330 https://amnplify.com.au/an-open-letter-from-the-australian-festivals-association Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown, tabled the petition signed by 10,000+ people in support of Keeping Sydney Safe and Open in 2016 - her speech is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zodvK5NVMQ
Media Release: Greens - Waterloo redevelopment plans need a radical rethink
Today's announcement by the NSW Minister for Social Housing, Pru Goward on the plans for the redevelopment of the Waterloo housing estate represents one of the NSW Liberal National government’s largest sell offs of a public asset, according to NSW Greens Housing spokesperson, Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown. “This is public land and right now there’s an urgent need for a significant action to address the housing stress people in our city are currently experiencing. “In the current crisis, it is unacceptable that 70% of the proposed development on this public land will be turned over to corporate developers to make massive profits – it’s time to call a halt to this scam.
Inner City High School Catchment
After a long wait and much anticipation, the catchment area for our new Inner City High School on Cleveland Street was released on Friday - and to be frank about it, it's utterly absurd. As you can see from the map below, the catchment takes in areas as far away from the site as Darling Point and Woollahra, but the school will not be accessible to families who live directly across the road from it, let alone the nearby areas of Redfern, Darlington and Chippendale. The fact the catchment skirts around areas with high concentrations of public housing in Redfern and Waterloo is also much cause for concern.
Urgent Call to Delay Demolition of Sydney Football Stadium
In response to media reports that the demolition of the Sydney Football Stadium will begin this week, bypassing due process, we have written to the Minister for Planning seeking his urgent intervention. Our office has been contacted by several residents who are concerned that this major project is being rushed through without the required checks and balances, and without considering the serious impacts on the local community. If you would like to add you voice to the call for urgent intervention from the Minister for Planning, please get in touch via jenny.leong@parliament.nsw.gov.au or contact Minister Roberts directly here
Media Release: Parliamentary Inquiry Recommendations expose WestConnex debacle
The Greens respond to the Report by the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Impact of WestConnex which was secured by the Greens and the community. Greens Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP: “The evidence and Recommendations of the Report demonstrate that this project has been a debacle. “The planning, delivery, financing and lack of transparency has caused significant negative impacts on the community. “The damage that his project will have on our community is far from over with years of devastating construction and billions of dollars of expenses still to come.
Pemulwuy project plan for largescale student accommodation on The Block
The Aboriginal Housing Company has submitted modified plans for the Pemulwuy Project which includes aboriginal affordable housing and student housing on The Block. These plans and the submissions regarding this new proposal are currently being reviewed by the Independent Planning Commission and you can find details here.
Media Release: WestConnex M4-M5 tunneling depths a disaster for Inner West
According to the WestConnex M4-M5 Link interactive map showing the proposed tunnel depths throughout the Inner West, many homes located above parts of the route will be potentially irrevocably damaged, according to Greens Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP and, Jamie Parker MP, Greens Member for Balmain. Jenny Leong MP:“Work on the M4-M5 WestConnex 8-lane tunnel should be stopped immediately as the impact on many residents’ homes along the route will be disastrous.“Depths of between 16-25 metres under many residential streets in Camperdown, Annandale and Leichhardt are extremely worrying given the severe impacts we have already seen on homes in other areas at deeper tunneling depths,” she said.
Newtopian Outreachers – Thank You & Community Celebration
Congratulations to all the incredible volunteers at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre who were honored last week at the Newtopian Outreachers – Thank You & Community Celebration.
Bourke St PS Fete
It's always a good time at the Bourke St Public School Fete and 2018 was no exception. This year the theme was Bourkey's Big Top and the school welcomed the locals into their grounds to celebrate everything that makes our community so great.
WestConnex Inquiry hears scathing evidence
The NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the impact of WestConnex concluded it's 4 days of hearings on November 7, 2018. This Inquiry brought together damming evidence of insufficient planning and haphazard management of the project by various government agencies from RMS and Planning to Treasury. The shocking impact WestConnex has had on local communities and the negative impacts it will continue to have in relation to the ongoing years of construction, air quality and traffic congestion in the Inner West was described by many community representatives and health and transport experts. The financial machinations and movements of key personnel from government to financial institutions and construction companies with interests and contracts in WestConnex, were exposed. The Committee heard from 78 witnesses including 33 community and specialist speakers and 35 government and agency speakers. You can find all the Transcripts here. Additionally the Inquiry received 556 submissions as well as the submission from Jamie Parker MP, Greens Member for Balmain which included an extra 975 online submissions from constituents. The Committee will hand down its Recommendations by December 17, 2018.
Affordable housing forum draws huge attendance
Housing has become unaffordable for many people living all over Sydney. I was happy to speak recently on behalf of the NSW Greens at the large community affordable housing forum, "We All Need a Home" in Parramatta which was presented by a group of community advocacy organisations. The panel of local, state and federal politicians and housing experts heard from local residents about how hard it is to make ends meet when the rents are so high and the lack of security of tenure means people are forced to move regularly, adding large additional costs and dislocation them from their community. We know that a very large percentage of people living in Parramatta are renting - over 6,000 according to the Census which is 68% of residents. The mean unit rent is about $500 per week and house prices have skyrocketed with the mean sales price for a home now over $900,000. These statistics mean that housing is just simply unaffordable for a significantly large proportion of people in Parramatta. The Greens are committed working with community groups to push housing reforms in the NSW parliament which include giving all councils in NSW the right to prepare affordable housing contribution schemes for specific precincts, areas or developments within their local government areas. Inclusionary zoning is an crucial step to actually providing affordable homes and not just facilitating the construction of investment properties. We will also keep advocating for key reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act including the call to abolish no grounds evictions as well as changing state legislation so that annual rent rises are pegged to the CPI. While we have seen some positive changes to renters rights this year as a result of our lobbying and that of many peak housing groups, there's still plenty more to be done.
Jenny Leong MP Condemns the Governments Attacks on Privacy
Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown has condemned legislation from the Liberal/Nationals that allows the licence photos and personal information of regular citizens to be shared with public and private law enforcement agencies.
Jenny Leong MP on WestConnex Corruption
Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown has put on the record the extraordinary revelation that Goldman Sachs (the company paid $16.5 in public money to facilitate the sale of the of WestConnex and the Sydney Motorway Corporation), own a $6.2 million share in the company it was sold to.
