There has been no shortage of lobbying by business interests in Victoria against the coronavirus lockdown of the past few months. Certainly the lockdown has been tough on many businesses, and it has involved a lot of sacrifice on the part of Victorians.

An idiosyncratic Tudor Revival house in Brighton that was afforded no heritage protection by the local council has been saved following a community campaign to stop it being bulldozed... Meanwhile a parliamentary inquiry will be held into heritage protection in Victoria after the Legislative Council passed a proposal by Sustainable Australia Party MP Clifford Hayes.

For years both the left and right of politics have been busy pushing “open borders” and trying to banish debate about the size of Australia’s population from the public square. Instead of sensible debate we have had name calling (“anti-immigration, xenophobic, selfish”) and media de-platforming.

Independent candidates and political parties who get more than 4 per cent of first preference votes at this election will receive $8.62 per vote from the ACT Electoral Commission.

The Age reported on 16 October that ecologists are increasingly recognising the importance of green urban areas in Australia’s major cities for threatened species.

Despite the constant assertions from the ACT Labor-Green alliance that they run a ‘progressive’ government, one simple fact undermines this – the ACT election funding system.

An east-coast community-focused political party will use the Preserve Gnarabup campaign as part of its drive to contest seats in the South West at next year’s WA election.

Dear supporters and Sustainable Australia Party members,

I hope my letter finds you and your loved ones well.

I hope you are all staying strong during extremely difficult circumstances. This unprecedented pandemic is undermining the social and economic fabric of our state. 

As you will be aware, the past month has been dominated by the State Government's push to extend Victoria's State of Emergency.

I will touch on that, and many other issues, in this newsletter. 

Regards, 

Clifford Hayes MP

This week it has been reported that the Australian biotechnology company CSL has reached an agreement with the Australian Government to supply up to 51 million doses of a University of Queensland developed coronavirus vaccine to be available from mid next year if it proves safe and effective.

The Sustainable Australia Party welcomes the introduction of two anti-corruption Bills into the House of Representatives by the Independent Member for the Victorian Electorate of Indi, Helen Haines.

Transparent and democratic urban planning is essential in underpinning good environmental and social outcomes and delivering liveable cities. This is particularly the case with large and complex cities like Perth.

The state government's plan to extend its power to make new COVID-19 state of emergency declarations looks doomed as opposition and crossbench MPs accuse Labor of overreach.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has defended the need to extend the state of emergency by another year, describing the measure as an "insurance policy".

In the first couple of months both the Federal and State Governments seemed to be doing a great job of protecting Australians from the coronavirus pandemic.

A lot of pre coronavirus economic commentary was to the effect that the Australian economy has been struggling due to a lack of wages growth. Essentially wages have been stagnant for years.

MacroBusiness has reported that the New Zealand Ardern Government is acting to ensure that unemployed New Zealanders do not have to compete for jobs with workers from overseas.

CLIFFORD HAYES MP: What does this State Government want to be remembered for? I imagine the Premier would like his Government to be remembered by his “getting things done” mantra of construction, construction, and even more construction.

Victorians are all deeply troubled by the Victorian Government’s decision to confine public housing tenants in North Melbourne and Kensington to their rooms to try to stop the coronavirus pandemic.

For many years Australia was internationally renowned as the country where just about everyone could afford a home of their home. It was the Great Australian Dream. But for years now young people in Australia’s cities have struggled to afford a home.

The Federal Government’s $25,000 Homebuilder Stimulus scheme is a wasted opportunity.

The Sustainable Australia Party says that World Environment Day should be a time to reflect on the ongoing destruction of habitat both around the world, and here in Australia, and what we can do to stop it.

Dear Member / Supporter --

How did they corrupt our planning systems?

We know that the property industry wants our major cities to look like New York. But how could they possibly achieve something so undesirable and detrimental to most Australians?

A thought-provoking conversation with Kelvin Thomson from Sustainable Australia Party, recorded during the COVID-19 crisis talking about what environmental and economic sustainability is really about. We also talk about the tourism implications of the current situation.

With up to 26 per cent of the entire Australian workforce – or 3.4 million people – set to lose their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic[1], the Sustainable Australia Party has called for a balanced debate on population and immigration.

According to Kelvin Thomson - former Labor Party Shadow Minister for the Environment in the Federal Parliament who is the national spokesperson for the Sustainable Australia Party - those gains are likely to reverse as soon as things start returning to normal.

Those of us who have campaigned for an end to rapid population growth, or even simply defended the role of the nation state, have been subjected to unfounded, snide and false allegations and insinuations of racism and xenophobia.

Dear Member / Supporter --

Help register our WA state party

The coronavirus pandemic must be a wake up call about the dangers and limitations of our politicians' obsession with endless growth, and the need to focus more on health and wellbeing.

Today’s Herald Sun Editorial, “Rebuilding the Nation”, is a much needed breath of fresh air in what has been for a long time a very short-sighted debate about globalisation and free trade.

The Hon. Kelvin Thomson, Former Federal Member for Wills & adviser for Sustainable Australia Party’s Clifford Hayes, joins Michael for a discussion on high density living in the age of coronavirus.