Bronwyn Pike MP Elected Member for Melbourne

How important is Docklands to Melbourne\'s continued economic growth, tourism and prosperity as a world class city?

Considering the history of the Docklands, and when you look around now and see the vibrant area it has developed into, Docklands is a very important part of Melbourne that has enlivened the city and brought the city to the water. From an economic point of view it is also an extremely important part of Melbourne with so many large corporations locating here, from that perspective, the importance of Docklands speaks for itself as a growing world class area.

As the second decade of Docklands development unfolds there has been a lot
of attention recently on Docklands being an area that has a strong skeleton in place but no heart and soul, do you agree with this and how will your party continue to address this issue in government?

I actually think Docklands is marvellous, look what has been created in just ten years. It\'s a vibrant precinct with a strong residential community, an area that is constantly growing with a large working sector and as a wonderful destination for visitors. I believe this is testimony to the strong leadership of the State Government. When I entered this electorate over ten years ago there were three buildings under construction and just take a look around today, we can\'t underestimate what has been created here. It took Melbourne City 175 years to create the shape and character it has today. The State Government is meeting the needs of Docklands and will continue to deliver.
Initiatives recently proposed to promote community and soul in Docklands include a local school, library and outdoor facilities including bike paths, what else would you like to see put in place over the next decade of development to enhance and create a cohesive community?

The community is a focal point. I think periodic community celebrations such as fun days and events are a wonderful opportunity to connect with others. We have a working community and we are looking to create more play areas and a school for children, as well as running tracks and open spaces to
be able to get out and enjoy.

It\'s really important that communities themselves connect with others and I have been really pleased to see resident groups grow. Last year I went along to the Christmas party here and it was great to see people from different ages and walks of life coming together.

What is the answer to Docklands connectivity deficiencies from the city; will a monorail, water vehicles, the proposed metro rail and or road tunnels be viable solutions, or is covering Wurundjeri Way the major issue that needs addressing to connect Melbourne city and Docklands?

There has already been quite a lot of work done with the connectivity issues; there\'s the La Trobe Street Bridge, there\'s the extension of Collins Street and we never thought that Bourke and Collins streets would meet but they do in Docklands, so as the area grows and develops more necessity will arise for points of connection.

If E-Gate develops it will need to be connected to Docklands and thereby connect into North and West Melbourne, so all these things are part of the maturing of an area. We have to remember, we are only ten years young down here and that all of this has happened in ten years, it\'s really pretty amazing. If you consider the pace of development over the past ten years and you think about the maturing of the community over the next ten years, we can\'t even begin to imagine how fantastic it\'s going to be. The Government wants to continue to be open to the community and meet community needs
and I think the City and Docklands will morph more and more.

In terms of big proposals such as the covering of Wurundjeri Way, these are high cost infrastructure developments and they need to be measured up against others and evaluated over time. We have the trams coming down here now and all of these initiatives have happened in the last few years so as the residential and working community grows more things will continue to grow also.

With the announcement that the City of Melbourne will be the responsible authority for the developed areas of Docklands and VicUrban will continue to control the underdeveloped areas; wouldn\'t a joint partnership between local and state governments on all aspects of the second decade of development be a better idea to allow more community input?

You have to go back ten years, and you have to remember that the planners were creating a blueprint for a community that didn\'t exist, they did the best they could do in the context of what they were being asked to do, and considering there wasn\'t a community to consult at that stage.

What we need to do going forward is to make sure that the links between the State Government and the City Council are really strong, Rob Adams from City Council works incredibly closely with the State Government and VicUrban. Working together is the way forward and in terms of community input there is a massive community consultation exercise planned as part of the next ten year process and that needs to continue to happen.

The good thing is that through the local council, residents can attend council meetings and they can have engagement in council decision making and I am also there for them as their local member and representative to give their concerns a voice within the State Government. We have to remind ourselves of what was here to begin with, a wasteland and no people and this community has grown from small numbers to what we have today. Every city constantly needs to evolve, expand and build, it\'s always easy to be critical in hindsight, but there is so much to celebrate here.

What is the most pressing issue that needs to be addressed in the Melbourne electorate area, what are the key challenges Melbourne is faced with?
What characterises my seat is its vibrant, multicultural character, I represent many people from broad socio economic groupings, so what is important to me is that we don\'t become a mono culture and that we live harmoniously, that people can feel safe and happy within their living and working environments.

Getting planning development right but not destroying the historical character of the area, making sure there is still affordable housing for low income people is important, making sure refugees are welcomed, and making sure that schools and services continue to be delivered, all these things are challenges that the State Government will continue to work on.

LUKE MARTIN - LIBERAL CANDIDATE ASKS
How can the voters of Melbourne trust you and the ALP to deliver on any of your election promises after 11 years of bungles, cost blow outs and broken promises, particularly with regard to myki and public transport?

Here we are sitting in Docklands that emerged from the swamp and the broken foreshore of the old dock to a vibrant and creative community and I am really proud what has been done here. Certainly, when people think about the important issues such as health services they will remember the Royal Women\'s Hospital has been completely rebuilt, the Royal Children\'s Hospital has been completely rebuilt, the Royal Melbourne Hospital has been significantly redeveloped, and that St Vincent\'s hospital has had massive redevelopment also. All of these things have happened because this Government maintained our hospitals in public hands and was committed to ensuring people had strong public health services.

It\'s a bit rich for the Liberals who were in the process of privatising the public health system to question the credibility of the Government\'s capacity to deliver. Similarly, every school in the seat of Melbourne has brand new and vibrant teaching facilities and is brimming with kids who perform the best in Australia.

BRIAN WALTERS -GREENS CANDIDATE ASKS
Will you oppose WestLink, which has been shown to have no financial benefits at all for Victoria by the studies provided to Infrastructure Australia, whereby we would spend $3 to get $1 benefit back and which would deliver 5000 cars an hour into the Docklands area during peak hour and cause permanent traffic gridlock, will you oppose that project in Cabinet?

One of the important things about being in Government is that you seek solutions for challenges that face the whole of the city and one of the biggest challenges that faces Melbourne is that we do not have an alternate route across from the East to the West of the City.

This Government understands and cares that this issue is critical for the development of our city and the wellbeing of the citizens in the western suburbs of our city. We roll up our sleeves and develop plans such as WestLink, to provide for the future needs of Melbourne. The recent studies that have been done, not the ones referred to by Brian Walters show substantial cost benefit, and I believe it is misleading to try to scare Docklands residents about car numbers when according to the plan they won�t come anywhere near where the majority of people live in this part of Melbourne. When you don�t have alternatives, it is easy to offer empty criticism.

As the elected representative and member for the area, as well as a member of Government, Bronwyn Pike made a statement that she was happy to answer questions posed but felt that addressing hypothetical\'s to people who do not have the capacity to do anything with the answers was not particularly relevant to this forum.

Bronwyn Pike MP | Member for Melbourne
146-148 Peel St, North Melbourne VIC 3051
T: 03 9328 4637