In response to a question from the Q+A audience about integrity in politics, I spoke about how lobbyists outnumber politicians 15 to 1 in Canberra.

Lobbyists for everything from the fossil fuel industry to the supermarkets, I said, have successfully persuaded politicians to make decisions for vested interests, not the public interest — and that’s why we desperately need the #CleanUpPoliticsAct to pass.

That video has been seen on Instagram and TikTok over 100,000 times, starting conversations around the country about the urgent need to clean up politics.

We’re going to pass the #CleanUpPoliticsAct by building a national grassroots campaign that grows until the major parties have no choice but to listen — as they were forced to listen to independents about a national integrity commission in 2022.

In this newsletter, an update on the community’s push to get a new bike path in Kooyong, our inaugural Alison Harcourt Awards Night, and how we could tackle inflation and the housing crisis — at the same time.

Time For The Hawthorn To Box Hill Bike Path

The Hawthorn to Box Hill bike path is the big missing piece in Kooyong’s cycling infrastructure. Since as early as 1996, governments have known the 10km bike path would be required to link Melbourne’s eastern suburbs with the city.

Thousands more commuters would ride to work and hundreds more students would ride to school if it was built. The bike path would save lives and cut congestion.

It was great to speak to The Age about the growing community momentum for the bike path, after I joined supporters last weekend as they rode the proposed route.

Any decision to build new infrastructure like this should be merit-based. I believe this project has significant merit, and its previously undergone an independent assessment by Infrastructure Australia which concurred. I’ve been in conversation with all levels of government to see what we need to do to progress the bike path.

This is the chance to finally get it built. To find out more about the community campaign, click here. To sign the petition to get the bike path built, click here.

Our First Alison Harcourt Awards Night

Congratulations to all the wonderful students who last week became the first recipients of the Alison Harcourt Award.

It was a great way to recognise some outstanding students for their contributions to our community. It was even better to have Alison there in person for the awards.

For those who don’t know, Alison is a pioneering scientist who sets a remarkable example for our community.

In the mid-1960s, she did groundbreaking work on poverty in Australia, developing the famous ‘Henderson Poverty Line’ — a concept used to understand and fight poverty in Australia.

Alison also discovered an algorithm that caused a major breakthrough in computer programming, and which is still used today to improve our transport systems and phone networks.

She even applied her scientific know-how to Australian politics, successfully advocating for a change in how Senate ballot orders are decided to ensure they’re truly random.

Alison exemplifies everything Kooyong is about. I thank her for providing her permission for the award to be named after her and thank her for attending the awards night.

Tackling Inflation And The Housing Crisis

The Federal Government has a $313 billion problem it doesn’t want to talk about — the Stage 3 tax cuts.

For the past few months, economists have been ramping up their warnings about Stage 3. They fear the program — introduced by the former Liberal government and set to come into effect mid-next year — will light a fire under inflation at the worst possible time.

I agree. While I do think more work must be done to broaden our tax base so we become less reliant on personal income tax, now is not the time for Stage 3.

Stage 3 would increase rents, increase the price of groceries, and increase our power bills.

I welcome warnings from some of the country's leading economists, including the Grattan Institute's Brendan Coates, and independent economist Nicki Hutley, that Stage 3 will be highly inflationary.

I’ve been proposing we modify the tax cut plan by retaining the 37 percent tax bracket, which would save $8 billion a year. We can spend a large portion of that $8 billion on building 100,000 new social and affordable homes over 10 years.

This would not only help to fix the housing crisis, but also reduce pressure on rents and house prices — which would also help tackle inflation.

It’s clear the experts think Stage 3 should be modified. It’s time for the Federal Government to listen to them.

What’s On With Mon

As always, my team and I are here to help where we can.

All the best,