When I knew Liam* a few years ago, he was a dairy farmer on the outskirts of Melbourne. Liam would tell me of his dream, to sell his farm to a developer who had knocked on his door one night. He would pocket the millions and retire to a country town.

The Greens have just won a major concession from the state Labor government, which will strengthen the integrity of our parliament and make it easier to hold the government to account. 

A lot has changed since I was elected in 2018. But my vision for Brunswick remains one where you can easily walk to a beautiful green space, safely ride your bike to the shops, or hop onto frequent, accessible public transport - perhaps to catch a gig on Sydney Rd.  Together, we can build a better Brunswick for all of us!

Thousands of people pass by or through Melbourne General Cemetery every day, but we aren’t treating it as a precious inner-city open space. Much of it is very dry and degraded, with minimal vegetation, and many old graves are in disrepair. It could be much better.

It’s official: Brunswick will get a skyrail like Coburg some time in the next five years. So what can we expect? 

If something terrible happens on Friday night and you call an ambulance, how long will it take to arrive? That’s not normally a concern for those of us living in the inner city, but this year ambulances have too often been unable to get to serious emergencies on time. We all know why.

Recently in parliament I made a speech denouncing the government's concerning new anti-forest protest bill. This bill will give authorities new, broad search and seizure powers, and discretion to restrict free movement in our forests based merely on suspicion that someone may commit an offence in the future. Plus, peaceful forest defenders will now face enormous $21,000 fines and 1 year jail sentences. The Greens utterly oppose this bill. It's a real shocker, and the government knows it – just listen to the minister heckling me.Watch my full speech:

In a year with federal and state elections and with a big increase in healthcare spending, we should talk about how we could improve our health system, so it’s not always struggling to cope. That’s why I asked people in my electorate to tell me about their personal experiences with the health system and what they'd like to see improved. 

Sydney Road could be much easier to walk or ride a bike along, and with a rethink we could make it a much nicer place to shop, hang out, eat and drink, or see some music – no matter how you choose to get around.  But to get there, we need the state government to step up and finally bring in the changes we know the community wants.

We’re into our third week of parliament for 2022, so it’s time I updated you on what’s happening both in the Brunswick district and in parliament. There has been plenty happening!