Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My electorate, the electorate of Maribyrnong, is in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne. It's a fantastic area to live in and raise a family, and I want to thank the people there for choosing me again as their local member. One thing which you're aware of in an electorate like Maribyrnong is that, whilst many people are doing well, not everyone is doing well. It is important that we have community services at the local level which look after people and give them all opportunity. We talk a lot in this place about fairness and opportunity, but not everyone starts from the same point.

So I was very pleased when the Moonee Valley City Council had in its long-term capital plan a proposal to invest $42½ million in a community centre, a local hub, which would provide opportunity for people living in the Flemington area to access particular resources. For example, for the families living in public housing, the students would be able to study at the community hub. Many of the people in the southern end of my electorate in public housing don't have backyards or have very small backyards. They have large families. They're crowded, but they're families who want their kids to get ahead.

So a lot of work had been done by the Moonee Valley City Council and the ward councillors in that part of the council area to provide opportunity for the residents of my electorate living in that area. There had been a long-term capital budget plan of $42½ million. There had been extensive community consultation. So you can imagine the surprise and disappointment of residents in that part of the electorate and their ward councillors when some other councillors on the Moonee Valley City Council decided to cut the budget in half, from $42½ million to $20 million.

This decision will significantly reduce opportunities for people from more disadvantaged backgrounds in Maribyrnong and in the city of Moonee Valley. The case for slashing it hasn't been made. There'll be a public meeting tomorrow night. Councillor Nicole Marshall, Councillor Jim Cusack, Danny Pearson, who is the state the member for Essendon, and others have made me aware of this retrograde decision to cut in half a long-term plan to provide a community hub at Flemington that would have provided sports facilities, study facilities and a place for people to gather safely.

I ask the council to reconsider its decision to disadvantage the less well-off in Moonee Valley and the Flemington area. I think the council hope that the residents simply won't complain there and that the decision will be ignored. There's a public meeting tomorrow night. I can't attend as I'm in Canberra, but I just say to those in the majority of the council who've made the decision to disadvantage people in the Flemington area, especially those living in public housing: don't underestimate people merely because they don't have the same opportunities as you. Every family has the right for every child to get the resources that local government can provide.