Geelong Sustainability has been a partner in the Real Deal project for a year now, and what a year it’s been getting to this point. The amount of work that has gone into this project so far, from both individuals and organisations, is truly astounding.
The project is a coalition of community organisations, unions and faith groups, spearheaded by the Sydney Policy Lab. A Real Deal for Geelong seeks to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis and ensure that no-one is left behind in the energy transition, and that every person has the opportunity to determine their best life.
From November 2022 to February 2023 we conducted a community-wide listening campaign. The results of this can be found in the Real Deal Final Report.
The Community Forum, held on Wednesday 10 May at Cloverdale Community Centre, was the culmination of all the hard work of the last 12 months. Over 100 community members and dignitaries attended, and the tone of the night was set with excitement and some truly divine Thai food courtesy of Lotus Kitchen. We heard from the Real Deal project organisers, as well as some of the community members who shared their stories of hardship during the listening campaign.
The event was attended by the following dignitaries:
- Christine Couzens MP, State Member for Geelong (MLA)
- Ella George MP, State Member for Lara (MLA)
- Darren Cheeseman MP, State Member for South Barwon (MLA)
- Sarah Mansfield, Greens State Member for Western Victoria (MLC)
- Trent Sullivan, City of Greater Geelong Mayor
- Anthony Aitken, City of Greater Geelong Deputy Mayor
- Melissa Cadwell, City of Greater Geelong Councillor
- Belinda Moloney, City of Greater Geelong Councillor
- Representative from the office of Gayle Tierney, Labor State Member for Western Victoria (MLC)
We received an apology from the office of Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. After the event, we also received a commitment from a staffer at Corangamite Federal Member Libby Coker’s office to work more closely with the coalition moving forward.
At the conclusion of the stories and project explanation, Ms Couzens, Ms George, Mr Cheeseman and Mr Sullivan were allowed two minutes each to respond to what they had heard throughout the evening. They were then asked two questions:
- Will you work with us to develop solutions to achieve a Real Deal for Geelong?
- Will you come to our next Forum to respond to our proposed solutions?
All four responded with a resounding “Yes” to both questions, and the atmosphere in the room was palpable and positive.
Finally, we asked community members whether they would be willing to volunteer one hour of their time each week to develop positive solutions to the three overarching issues identified in the listening report. These issues are:
Issue 1. Secure Housing
Issue 2. Meaningful Work and Affordable Living
Issue 3. Care and Connection for All
We received more than the minimum number of volunteers required for each topic, meaning that each working group will now be going ahead!
Before we can officially begin the working groups, we are inviting all who volunteered – as well as those who are yet to volunteer – to a Community Training Weekend on June 17-18. If you’d like to volunteer your time to work on any of these issues, you can sign up here.
Now to work together towards the solutions!