A Detailed Greens Plan for Cowper Division, Coffs Harbour to Port Macquarie

Renewable Energy Revolution

Right now, there are 17,700 solar panels already installed in Cowper.
Under the Greens’ plan to make Australia 100% renewable by 2030, an extra 9,900 properties will have solar panels, lowering bills and emissions at the same time as creating jobs and investment.

Increasing Newstart by $75

There are 7,700 people in Cowper who are unemployed and receiving Newstart, a support payment which is so low that it leaves recipients having to choose between eating dinner or paying their bills and hasn't increased in over 25 years.
Our plan increases Newstart by $75 per week to help people as they look for work. This will inject $32,560,000 into local businesses and create 119 new jobs in Cowper.

 

Solving our housing crisis

We all deserve a comfortable and secure place to call home. But instead of ensuring everyone has a place to live, the major parties have sought to criminalise and vilify people who are experiencing homelessness – including approximately 430 in Cowper alone.
Our plan to provide secure housing will build 2,020 safe, affordable homes in Cowper over the next 15 years. It’s an investment that puts a roof over every head, and creates thousands of jobs in the process.

Action on climate change

The science is settled: the world is warming, the #1 cause is coal, and Australia is the biggest supplier of coal to the world.
Climate change will have a big impact in your neighbourhood, with average temperatures set to rise by 3.6 degrees in Cowper if we fail to take action.
Unlike the major parties, we have a plan to end coal and take strong action on climate change. We will replace fossil fuels with clean technology, like solar panels. In Cowper, our plan will put solar on an additional 9,900 homes and reduce your electorate’s carbon emissions by 598,700 tonnes a year.

Affordable and accessible child care

Early childhood education makes a bigger difference to a child’s future than any other type of education. But under the Liberals, child care fees have jumped by nearly 30%, forcing primary carers (who are overwhelmingly women) to give up work and career opportunities.
Our plan to support families and give every child the best start in like makes the biggest ever investment in childcare. In Cowper, our plan makes child care free for 5,100 families and more affordable for 5,700 families.
  

Investing in aged care

Home Care packages are proven to keep older Australians out of residential care and in their homes, where they want to be. They are better for health, better for families and better for older Australians. But thanks to the Liberals’ cuts and chaos, 120,000 Australians are on the waiting list for Home Care packages.
Dignity cannot be drip-fed. That’s why we have a plan to ensure older Australians have safe, affordable aged care. Under our plan, 192 additional Level 3 Home Care Packages and 150 additional Level 4 Home Care Packages will be provided in your community over the next 3 years.

Provide Medicare-funded dental care

If you break your toe, you can get it treated free of charge. But that’s not the case for a broken tooth, and it’s causing millions to skip visiting the dentist when they need help.
All Australians should be able to visit the dentist when they need to. Your health should not be determined by your postcode or your bank balance.
Under our plan, dental care is no longer an afterthought. In the Cowper electorate, our plan provides free dental care for 33,300 children and young people in 2019, 48,700 pensioners & welfare recipients in 2021 and access for everyone by 2025.

Grow the creative economy

Artists make a huge contribution to Australian cultural life. They also power our economy to the tune of $110 billion in 2016-17.
But, thanks to years of funding cuts by Labor and Liberal governments, 98% of Australian artists received Newstart between 2010 and 2015. Our artists create enormous value but are living in poverty.
Unlike the major parties, we have a plan to invest in Australian creativity. In the electorate of Cowper, up to 216 artists will be permanently brought out of poverty.

 

 

Powering small businesses

Small businesses are the engine of Australia’s economy. More than half of us are employed by small businesses but workers are feeling the pinch and businesses are doing it tough because the Liberals have rigged the rules in favour their big corporate donors.
We have a plan to give small businesses, and the millions who work for them, a leg up. Our wages credit policy will reward small businesses who pay their staff more by allowing them to claim 110% of their wages bill as a tax deduction.
12,100 local businesses in Cowper will have more money to afford pay rises, hire new staff and expand their services.

Clear public hospital surgery wait lists

The Coalition government has gutted our public hospitals. In 2013 they ripped billions of dollars out and have failed to return it ever since – causing wait lists to grow and patients to suffer.
We have a plan to clear public hospital wait lists in the next two years. In your Cowper electorate, this means 90 people will have their elective surgery fully funded.

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Like what you see? Here’s who to vote for in your local area:

Your Greens Senate candidate is:

Mehreen Faruqi

 

Your local Greens candidate is:

Lauren Edwards