What Geelong leaders Are wishing for in 2022
AFFORDABLE housing and worker shortages are key issues Geelong’s leaders want addressed in 2022 as the region prepares for federal and state elections. G21 chief executive officer Giulia Baggio and Committee for Geelong boss Jennifer Cromarty say both levels of government need to invest in the region’s infrastructure projects and housing to ensure it is prepared for significant population growth over the next decade.
The Labor-held federal seat of Corangamite, is shaping up to one of the most marginal seats in the countries and has previously attracted significant election commitments and spending from both sides of government.
The Geelong Advertiser asked key leaders their top priorities for the region, what projects they want government to fund, the concerns facing the region as we live with Covid and what infrastructure projects they want completed in 2022.
G21 boss Giulia Baggio
A SHORTAGE of affordable housing and workers across the region are a handbrake on our economic recovery. We need immediate help from state and federal governments to set up key worker accommodation.
We need to improve our intra-regional public transport network and build more active trails to connect people to jobs, study and recreation. Avalon Airport and Geelong Port are major gateways needing rail and road upgrades to make the most of our growing tourism and freight industries.
We must work more closely with First Nations communities, address the digital divide and skills gap and attract more clean energy investment to G21.
G21 is rapidly becoming Victoria’s clean energy region with the recent switch on of the Moorabool Big Battery, the approval of the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere at Rokewood and GeelongPort’s $100m investment in green hydrogen production.
Key projects for 2022 include preparing roads for tourists and freight to use the new Spirit of Tasmania terminal at GeelongPort.
Geelong Convention and Exhibition Centre has been funded through the City Deal and needs to get under way in 2022. Let’s hope we see cranes in the sky.
The Australian National Surfing Museum and Cultural Centre at Torquay needs funding, as does Barwon Heads road duplication Stage 2.
We also need $3.5m to implement The Gordon TAFE’s new initiative “Skilling the Barwon’’ to help address job shortages.
Committee for Geelong boss Jennifer Cromarty
THE Geelong Convention and Exhibition Centre – already funded – needs to commence in 2022.
Funding the necessary infrastructure for the arrival of the Spirit of Tasmania in 2022 in support of the GeelongPort’s significant private investment.
We need to finalise “Plan Geelong”, the long-term strategy to guide council’s approach to investment in and advocacy for the economic development, population growth, environmental sustainability and community services of Greater Geelong.
We must finalise the plan and delivery of a second tunnel between Geelong and South Geelong station, consideration potential for a subway station in Central Geelong.
We also need ongoing development and funding for the Green Spine, $15m for Stage 1 of the You Yangs precinct masterplan and $90m for Geelong Gallery expansion into Geelong City Hall.
We are very keen to see commitments for public transport planning for Geelong, a trial of Advanced Rail-less Trams in the Geelong CBD and a new train station at Avalon Airport,
I think Geelong is well placed to recover from the pandemic with strong population growth – which is a precursor to government investment and support. However, managing this growth sustainably is a challenge which requires co-ordinated efforts from all levels of government and community.
This includes significant investment and incentives for growing our residential population in Central Geelong from 2000 to 12,000 residents.
South Barwon MP Darren Cheeseman
SOME of the priorities for the region that the Andrews Labor government seeks to support and deliver include the Barwon Heads Rd upgrade, the Waurn Ponds and Marshall Train Station upgrades, the Armstrong Creek West Community and
Childcare Centre, the Bellaire and Grovedale West School redevelopments, the Surf Coast Aquatic Centre, the Armstrong Creek Library, and more social houses through the Big Housing Build program.
Geelong Council has made an application for funding to the state government through the Living Libraries Infrastructure Fund, and I have written a letter of support in favour of this application.
I am also running a petition to gather community support to call on the state and federal governments to provide funding for this project.
Bellarine MP Lisa Neville
WE’RE focused on driving Geelong’s recovery from the pandemic – staying open, supporting businesses and creating jobs through our record pipeline of major projects.
Whether it’s building the new Arts Centre, continuing vital planning for Geelong Fast Rail or upgrading Barwon Heads Rd – we’ll keep delivering the job-creating projects Geelong needs as it grows.
Over the past seven years we’ve saved and rebuilt TAFE, and will continue supporting our vital training sector – so businesses in and around Geelong have access to the staff and skills they need.
Western Victoria MP Andy Meddick
THE Northern Aquatic and Community Hub at Norlane must be completed. This key piece of infrastructure will fill a void in services to the North of Geelong that has been long left out of infrastructure of this type.
We should prioritise a new site for Geelong Animal Welfare Society, the Eden Project at Anglesea to combine ecotourism and mine rehabilitation, a plant-based meat manufacturing hub in Lara and establish a Safe Spaces for LGBTIQA+ youth.
Social and affordable housing will remain an issue for all governments.
Western Victoria MP Stuart Grimley
A GEELONG Specialist Family Violence Court should be completed in 2022. We are yet to have a timeline for the com
petition of the upgrades. The latest crime statistics have shown that family violence has been on the rise.
Other priorities include more social and affordable housing, reducing the Bethany Men’s Behavioural Change program waiting list, funding and creating a business case for the Geelong drug court and funding strategies to get businesses back to the Geelong CBD.
Governments should increase funding for mental health services, such as headspace, to reduce waiting times. However, government must ensure extra funding goes directly to frontline services, rather than administration or bureaucracy.
Geelong is one of the best placed regions in Victoria to emerge positively from the Covid pandemic. The governGeelong ment must see the return of public servants to their workplaces. Having these people in our CBD will make a huge difference to the small businesses in the area.
Geelong, the Bellarine and the Surf Coast are also major tourism hubs. After almost two years of being in and out of lockdowns, I can see the thousands of Melburnians and interstate travellers coming to our region.
Victorian senator Sarah Henderson
WHETHER it’s upgrading the Great Ocean Road or the Princes Highway, building the NDIA headquarters, funding Avalon’s international airport, delivering the $1bn howitzer defence vehicle project for or rolling out the Geelong City Deal, the Morrison government is helping to transform our region. However, much more needs to be done.
The Victorian Labor government, which is responsible for major roads and rail, has been far too slow in delivering vital infrastructure.
As our region grows rapidly, where is the progress on the Bellarine Link Rd, stage 2 of the Barwon Heads Rd upgrade, Geelong fast rail or the duplicated rail tunnel linking south Geelong to Geelong, to name a few major projects?
What about the women and children’s wing of University Hospital, to which the Morrison government is helping fund, that Labor promised to build? This project appears to have collapsed.
Driven by the Morrison government’s investment in our health and economic recovery, 2022 is looking bright.
Looking ahead, I hope we see a revival of Matthew Guy’s regional rail plan to give our community the rail service we deserve.
We need a proper regional planning body to plan our future growth which must include suburban rail, a new public hospital, state-of-theart road connections and the proper preservation of our environment and green spaces rather than the ugly suburban sprawl we have seen under Labor which has compromised parts of the Geelong region and the Bellarine Peninsula. The continued revitalisation of the Geelong CBD must be a key priority.
Corangamite MP Libby Coker
IN 2022, we must support working families with kids by providing affordable child care. Fees have gone up more than 35 per cent under the Coalition. Labor would reduce the cost of child care, with 97 per cent of families better off. No family would be worse off.
The timber and building supplies shortage under the current government is crushing the homeowning aspirations of many people in my electorate. The cost of a basic entry-level home in the region has increased by about $28,000 in three months. That has to change.
Housing affordability and rental availability are massive issues across our region. A federal Labor government would commit $10b nationally to build social and affordable housing, bolstering work being done by the state government.
Labor has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, should it win government.
I want to see innovative projects, like Labor’s community batteries, introduced into our region to reduce the cost of energy, stimulate the economy and support local enterprise.
As one of the fastest-growing regions in the nation, with rapidly growing areas like Armstrong Creek and Torquay, we need big infrastructure. That’s why federal Labor and I, recently promised $125m to build Stage 2 duplication of Barwon Heads Rd.
Western Victoria MP Bev McArthur
WE NEED a transport infrastructure plan for the Greeter Geelong area and indeed, the entire Western Victoria Region, encompassing rail, road, air and sea that connects all existing and future travellers and commerce – not just for the next election but for the next 50 years.
We require a decentralised health system. The education system needs to now concentrate on preparing students for further study and changing employment pathways.
We need rural Victoria to be treated fairly with enabling infrastructure including road, rail and communication connectivity. Under Daniel Andrews, rural Victoria has been cemented as the poor cousins of those inside the tram tracks of Melbourne where his votes are centralised.
The Andrews government needs to let private businesses – the wheelhouse of the Victorian economy – get back to work unimpeded by stupid diktats and regulations that cost money, waste precious time and serve only to limit success and entrench a segregated society. In short, Geelong will excel if government plays its role and lets business and enterprise get on with being entrepreneurial and progressive.
Corio MP Richard Marles
GIVEN the past two years, the thought of an upcoming Covid normal summer is a refreshing prospect. Let’s hope that Omicron allows that.
From bushfires that raged through the country during the black summer of 2020 to the spread of Covid-19, as a nation we have faced extraordinary challenges over the last two years. This year, 2021, was meant to be defined by our recovery from the devastation of 2020. However, with an initial slow vaccine rollout, 2021 has been instead another year which, for the most part, was played out as we sat behind virtual screens.
It is a remarkable collective achievement that we now have more than 90 per cent of the state of Victoria fully vaccinated. This would not have been possible without our healthcare workers, particularly at Barwon Health, so, to them, I say thank you. Because of everyone’s efforts, we can truly get back on to the task of building back from Covid, as we look to 2022.