Letter on LPG price increases.

This is a copy of a letter I penned to my local Federal Member of Parliament on the increasing cost of LPG.

Dear Mr Alan Tudge MHR, Federal MP for Aston

I write to you today about the recent rise in petrol and LPG prices, but more towards the rise in LPG prices. Within recent weeks we have seen LPG prices rise from 62 cents a litre to 75 cents a litre, within the past two years we have seen it rise from 30 cents a litre to the current 75 cents a litre.

The companies are liking to blame situations overseas and increase demand for the rise in price, the reasons given do not justify the massive increase in price; the reason for this is that many other consumer watchdog groups have all indicated with thorough research that the reasons the petrol companies have given for the price increase would only have on average a 2 cent increase on price. We have a serious situation in recent years with the exploding price in fuel, a commodity in which our society solely relies on for so much, at the current rate of price rises on fuel it will be unaffordable for low income earners, the elderly, students and young people. The petrol companies need to be pulled into line to stop the rort that they are imposing on motorists who have no other option but to pay ever increasing prices.

As a federal member of parliament I would hope that you will be able to call a parliament inquiry into the petrol companies, the service stations, their owners and the petrol industry to find out what the real cause into the ever rising prices that are imposed on Australian citizens on an important commodity.

Best Regards,
Anthony Osborne

Council Approves Measure for Social Housing

It is great to see that Knox City Council has adopted a new measure to calculate the city’s social housing needs.

There is a massive short falling for housing in the community with a waiting list for social housing at about 10 years for some people. It is disappointing at times to hear members of the community calling for social housing to be removed and that they don’t need it in their area. Quite common is that they have social housing on their street and they don’t even know it, it is after all just normal housing with normal members of the community living there. There are two ministry housings on my street alone.

We do need to look at how we can provide more social housing for the less fortunate in our community, and quiet commonly the main residents of social housing are our elderly, physical and mentally disabled, young people and single parents who each day have to fight and worry about where they will be staying the night, or how long they will be staying in their current location. Let us not also forget those who are forced to live on the streets as they have no-where were they can go, they do deserve the dignity of having a roof over their head and to get back onto their feet with support.

To show how important social housing is I have had the opportunity to tour the Women’s Social Housing project that is in Bayswater. For every one resident that got a room there was 10 more on the waiting list, the women and mothers who got a unit there were in tears of joy for finally having a place to live.

Anthony Osborne

The Basin Music Festival

Every March the peaceful quite suburb of The Basin at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges gets disrupted by the by the loud noise and bright lights of The Basin Music Festival.

The Basin Community Festival runs for three days over March in The Basin Triangle and surrounding shops attracting many visitors to the live music and community stalls, heading into its 7^th year the festival has been moved back a week from its usual time due to St Patricks Day so now the festival will be from the 23^rd to the 25^th of March.

Across 7 venues festival goers will be treated to many different styles of music that are found in the local region from Folk music to Rock, Blues to Jazz , and even Death Metal Mongolian Throat Singers as John Mortimore President of The Basin Music Festival association would say to describe the range of music that the festival offers.

Another major component of the music festival has been the Big Break Youth Stage which has offered young musicians an amazing opportunity to perform in a fun professional environment as they start their way into the music world, the youth stage is run with an opt-in competition with past winners going onto performing in a variety of music concerts around Victoria. The Big Break Youth Stage has been moved to its own weekend in July (21^st to 23^rd July) to better benefit young musicians.

The festival is the largest community music festival on the east side of Melbourne, been supported by the local Council (Knox City Council), community groups and local businesses The Basin Music Festival is a music event you can’t miss! Especially with half the stages been free to enter and enjoy, but we would like a donation to help pay for it all!

If you would like any more information about the festival check out http://www.thebasinmusic.org.au/

Anthony Osborne

Youth Coordinator

The Basin Music Festival

Re: Integrate them in the suburbs (Herald Sun Opinion10/1/12)

Ms Savage’s opinion on social housing is based on emotive misinformation; which is unfortunate when the actual situation in Social Housing is completely different.

Low-Income earners do pay tax, so do the people who live in social housing. I myself am classed in the low-income bracket and I pay tax every year on my income so do my retired parents who live in social housing.

The analogy of crime been associated with social housing is like saying all rental properties are grow drugs to sell on the street! The majority of people living in social housing actually happens to be retired seniors who have paid tax and contributed to their community all their life and in their retirement don’t earn enough to live in rental properties so hence social housing is their only housing option available to them, the same goes to disabled members of the community who also heavily rely on social housing as they are unable to earn the massive incomes that “inner-city elites” get due to their disability.

You would also find by doing in-depth research that the “second and third generation on the dole milking the system” is a small minority and most actually live in rental properties.

Social Housing always get the bad knock with misinformation been represented as fact, having met and spoken to a lot of residents in social housing I can tell you that they are nice hard working members of the community and it does upset them greatly to constantly see the housing choice that they live in attacked by NIMBY’s, politicians and councillors who don’t understand the situation that they are in and social housing in general.

I do agree however that the rent-buy scheme should be reintroduced by the Ministry of Housing, but then you need to be able to ensure that the residents are able to afford the Council rates and taxes and that there is more social housing been made available to the those in need, there is after all a two year waiting list.

Anthony Osborne

Advocate for Social Housing

Re: Council, take us seriously

I had been hoping to start my blog off with an article on the Importance of Social Housing, but I'm still writing and reviewing the article before I publish it.
So for the mean time I'm going to post some opinion articles that I have written for the Knox Leader and the Herald Sun.

Re: Council, take us seriously

I thought we elected councillors to be the community leaders? Or are they not up to the challenge?

I don’t believe the council officers are the ones that think only ratepayers get to have a say and get to know information, believe it’s more that certain councillors have the mentality that you can’t have an opinion unless you directly pay council rates.

The mentality that only those who directly pay rates are outdated, every resident pays rates in some form or another for those who rent they pay every rate rise when the landlord has to up the rent.

I believe that every resident and citizen of Knox has the right to have their say and that it be heard, it is time that we end this “ratepayers only” mentality!

Anthony Osborne