Tuesday, 21 June 2022

Hume City Council

Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) (12:58): My call to the Minister for Local Government is to report urgently on Victorian government initiatives to overcome the fractured relationships now publicly revealed between Hume City councillors. The just-published Local Government Culture Project report highlights the cost of disputes in legal bills, but there is a higher price to pay if infighting stymies the vision, funding and partnerships I have built for decades, now delivering results that reimagine Broadmeadows from a rust belt to a green belt and a brain belt. This strategy has inspired $1 billion in investment for 5000 new jobs at the Ford site at no cost to taxpayers, transforming this derelict site from the rust belt to a green belt.

Australia is one of a small number of countries manufacturing vaccines. Broadmeadows is the epicentre for pandemic outbreaks and remedies, manufacturing more than 50 million doses against COVID and with a $1.8 billion deal to manufacture new vaccines against influenza soon nearby. This is the brain belt. Vaccine manufacturing is saving lives at home and abroad and is the best diplomacy. I am delighted the Australian government is using vaccines to save lives in the Solomon Islands. Instead of infighting, I call on Hume City Council to urgently announce its proposed $40 million investment to unlock the value of the Broadmeadows town centre as a catalyst for economic and social development. This is what must be done to deliver new industries and jobs and a better future.