I have set up a new political party to contest and win the next Victorian State Election.
Principled and competent people from business, politics, and the community have been identified and agreed to stand under the Jim’s Party banner in every electorate in the State.
The two-party system has failed Victoria.
The Labor Party has shown itself to be both incompetent and unprincipled.
In 2020 it inflicted on Melbourne the worst lockdown in the country, yet Victoria had the highest death-rate from Covid of any State.
It has since been shown that the Premier had no medical, scientific, or health advice to justify throwing over 100,000 independent contractors out of work.
A botched quarantine was responsible for the deaths of many elderly and inform people.
Legions of high-paid bureaucrats have been put on, while starving education and public health.
Victoria now has the highest debt per capita of any State.
The Liberal opposition is feeble and incompetent, with no effective voice and no plan for change.
Yet Victoria is facing a crisis, with mass immigration but no plan to build more houses.
Young people cannot afford to buy, or are burdened with mortgages which make it impossible to raise a family.
Rents are skyrocketing, hurting those least able to afford it – if they can find a home at all.
We have become a State not just of Nimbys (not in my back yard) but of Bananas (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anybody).
The result is growing inequality.
The rich get richer, the rest struggle.
Lack of housing also drives urban sprawl, starving public transport and belching greenhouse gases.
Victorians waste millions of hours a year in senseless commuting.
We will enact policies to solve this crisis in a single term:
– Local governments in Melbourne will be abolished.
They are undemocratic and unaccountable, with no local press to hold them to account. They are a prey to special interests, prone to corruption.
– Zoning regulations will be massively eased, allowing denser housing – especially in the inner suburbs and near stations.
Clear conditions will allow building permits to be granted in days, rather than months or years.
– A progressive land tax will push under-used properties onto the market.
This will only apply to properties of above-average value.
Owners of lower-value houses, or landlords who rent them to tenants, will be exempt.
The money will be used to abolish stamp duty, making it easier to buy or to move to where the work is.
It will also allow better pay for front-line staff such as teachers and nurses.
These are sound, economic ideas, supported by such publications as The Economist.
They have worked well in cities such as Minneapolis – median house price $315k (AUS$482k).
Compare Melbourne $909k, and rising.
Vote for me to create a more equitable and better Victoria!
