Policies

No more population building for a ‘Big Australia’ (there’s already enough of us dependent on foreign oil)

Hold Australia’s strategic reserve oil storage in Australia not in the United States.

No more shale gas exploration or production.

No more offshore gas exploration.

Urgently explore for onshore conventional oil and gas deposits, characterise these resources and develop an extraction, processing and distribution plan to last 100 years.

Build a natural gas to di-methyl ether (DME) plant to ensure that in the event of a liquid fuel crises arise, Australia can still produce sufficient fuel to keep diesel engines running in order to maintain food supplies and other basic supply lines.

Repudiate the existing gas contracts and shutdown shale gas extraction.

Allow only companies with majority Australian ownership to operate Australia’s oil and gas production operations.

Issue exploration licences and mining leases to only companies with majority Australian ownership.

Introduce Tradable Energy Quotas (TEQs) or Total Carbon Rationing for rationing out fossil fuel energy.

Be well prudent of risk in transporting hydrogen in natural gas pipelines as to lose the pipelines could be problematic

Ban sport being played through aircraft (local sport for local teams).

Rebuild Victoria’s network of train lines to food producing areas but not to accommodate high speed trains.

No more flying food around the world.

Require landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their housing stock (that should help kill housing speculation)

Council work with a select number of service stations in Darebin to ensure that in the event of a prolonged electricity outage, they have the means to pump fuel to vehicles for emergency and municipal services.

Council run an electric vehicle fleet so that in the event of a liquid fuel crisis there will be vehicles available to provide municipal and ancillary services.

Ensure Australian Gas Networks regularly sniffs Darebin’s streets for gas leaks.

No more population building for a ‘Big Australia’ (no more GDP).

Crown Casino has lost its social licence to operate.  Close it and turn it into a homeless shelter.

If a company or parent company is registered in a tax haven, ban them from doing business in Australia.

Enforce real estate agents, property developers, solicitors and accountants to comply with money laundering laws.

Eliminate cryptocurrencies.

Nationalise gold mines and do not allow gold to be exported (like China and Russia do).

Make the RBA build a gold reserve and keep it within Australia.

Pay for oil in gold.

Re-establish the Commonwealth Bank of Australia as a national bank (like Kiwibank).

Report true inflation and unemployment figures (like Roy Morgan does) not ‘corrected’ ones put out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Hands off our bank deposits—stop ‘bail-in’!

Council establish the means to be able to lend cash to people and businesses to ensure that in the event of a prolonged internet or electricity outage, basic supplies can be paid for.

Discourage business use of cryptocurrencies in Darebin.

Provide Community Exchange Network with funding to promote and administer exchange goods and services in Darebin.

Ban pokies in Darebin (to stop money laundering and cash leaving the community).

Council fund polling to accurately gauge current and future mortgage and rental stress facing Darebin residents.

No more planning permission for outside large advertising boards and no advertising to be lit at night.

Council to employ staff for a maximum 4 days a week (more people get the work).

Council contracts biased to favour labour-intensive services with lower energy throughput, not just cost of service.

Discover the waste in Council by pushing for it to be certified to ISO 9001

No more population building for a ‘Big Australia’ (reduce electricity demand).

Reduce the grid reliability target to 99%

Build grids for simplicity and longevity using an Australian made electrical switchgear and transmission lines.

Ban 5G – more energy use, life can be lived without it, encourages surveillance capitalism

No artificial heating of swimming pools unless it is only by direct solar thermal.

Close Darebin’s ice rink.

No floodlighting of sports fields.

No advertising to be lit at night.

Prepare buildings with stand-by generation to provide air conditioning for the public in heat wave emergencies.

No more population building (let property prices collapse).

Energy appraise every southern household and give those with poor ratings $20,000 to improve energy efficiency.

TAFEs be focussed on how teaching to maintain things for simplicity and resilience.

Make issuing of building permits solely a Council function.

No more residential buildings higher than walkable up the stairs.

No more land clearing for agriculture and houses.

Don’t privatise land title registry and keep paper titles.

Take Melbourne Water to court over flood risk of the Preston Market site that exposes the Council to future litigation.

Require Melbourne Water to comply with Victoria’s Climate Change Act 2010 when making submissions to Darebin Council

Buy the Preston Market from Salta and Medich as a distressed sale.

Council coordinate locals to work through Darebin’s existing housing stock to energy and water improve it.  Priority is experience teaching the willing skills, keeping young working with their hands and each other, and doing quality work.  Without haste.

Require the Planning Dept to account needs to act in the “present and long-term needs of all Victorians” – Planning and Environment Act 1987.

Require the Planning Dept to in person consult with all local residents near developments.

Audit every dwelling in Darebin and quantify the 20% of things to be done to get 80% of the energy benefit.

Audit every dwelling in Darebin to estimate its ability to grow food and the condition of the soil.

Do not give planning consent to residential buildings that are uninhabitable or wrongly habitable without a functioning lift.

Provide large carparks with toilets and washing facilities to support people who end up living in their car.

Campaign to make issuing of building permits solely a Council function.

No more population building for a ‘Big Australia’ (reduce water demand).

Ensure that municipal water supplies and sewers can function in the absence of the internet.

Require Melbourne Water to prove that the water supply and sewer lines can function in the absence of the internet

Provide a report detailing state of repair of water and sewers and the rate of maintenance needed for them to last another 100 years.  

Install rainwater tanks/containers so that the water in them could be used in an infrastructure disruption

Council to inspect rain water tanks for adequacy of mosquito exclusion

Every residence to have sufficient space and light to grow a vegetable garden.

Pay Australians a proper wage to work on farms and let food prices rise.

Do not introduce land tax (penalises backyard gardens).

No more land clearing for agriculture.

No more importation or manufacture of artificial flavours.

Identify local spaces, sports parks and golf course land, which could be easily adapted to grow food on a large scale.

Design swimming pools so that they could be turned into aquaculture farms.

Do not collect rates from owners of vacant blocks who let neighbours garden them.

Change planning by-laws to require every residence to have sufficient space and light to grow a vegetable garden.

Council coordinate trap evaluation and control of Queensland fruit fly.

Establish community compost bins by locale.

Council distribute paper doggy poo pickerupers for composting in local compost bins or green waste.

Let beer makers participate in the Darebin Food and Wine Festival.

Have a category to recognise beer, wine or spirits produced from produce entirely grown in Darebin.

Establish and coordinate bulk farm to Darebin residents’ plates to help underwrite farmers’ crops.

Decide on how waste will be reused/recycled/disposed of based on energy consumption.

Provide Freecycle with funding to promote and administer it in Darebin.

Better publicise Councils waste pick-up service (to discourage illegal dumping).

Reduce fees to tip from cars/utes/vans and two wheeled trailers.

Ban open fires from heating homes unless they burn charcoal.

Require houses to be demolished to be moved or dismantled (not smashed up)

Provide a report detailing state of repair Darebin’s natural gas lines.

Make public transport free and run by the government.

All light motor vehicles sold in Australia must have at least 85% of their engine and running gear parts interchangeable.

Ban helium balloons (helium is precious)

Council to oppose selling what remains of the copper telephone network (so that there is a basis to reconstruct local communication networks in the future).

40% tree canopy cover across our suburbs by 2040.

Reduce Plenty Rd and Bell St by one lane for bicyclists and horses

Council reports be judged by digestibleness and not by weight of paper.

Buy the Strathallen Golf Course course for a habitat link but as as distressed sale from La Trobe University.

Plan how to achieve a self-reliant country for the next 100 years

Re-institute a Sustainability Street type programme to bring together residents who want to meet neighbours and build community resilience.

Facilitate local community block access to spaces (schools, empty shops, churches) where it is possible to meet to share food and do activities in (local swaps, BBQs, garden, play area)

Council fund polling to accurately gauge amount of physical community connectedness.

Train stations employ peole to stand guard all day over bicycles (no high tech combo app solutions)

Have little logos that can be put on fences, letterboxes simply saying BFPLH (meaning Bike Friendly Person Lives Here) so that people know in that house someone gives a shit, if my bike breaks down I could leave it there or get help

Stop supermarkets and department stores and the like from importing bikes made from shit quality components that the buyer discovers doesn't last a season

Only permit meat to be sold to people who hold a Meat Licence.

Ban from pet ownership people who in the last 10 years have been prosecuted for animal neglect or cruelty.

End corporatised horse racing and the TAB.

Permit only one meat eating pet per household.

Introduce a by-law that households owning dog breeds that require exercise must ensure that this is done once a day.

Have a Council Officer always on stand-by to investigate and validate constantly barking, aggressive and non-exercised dogs.

As economic collapse forces the abandonment of pets, plan for how they can be humanely killed and composted (like Britain and its horses).

Council distribute paper doggy poo pickerupers for composting in local compost bins or green waste.

Council lead the eradication of Indian Mynas from Darebin.