Julie O'Brien | Political candidate

Julie O'Brien

Phone: +61 492 801 294

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25.01.2022 Are you 'Primed to Thrive'...? We know many businesses across Darebin are struggling right now as we try to get to a safe place in terms of numbers and virus control. Council has some great services to support locals through its Covid Recovery Package and I encourage you to reach out to see what options might work for you.... Another locally available initiative is this online course that La Trobe Uni are offering to help businesses survive and thrive as we come back, so maybe this is the one for you...? Applications open next Mon 28-Sep and are open until Mon 12-Oct. Good luck if you decide to go for it!

24.01.2022 We love our creeks, parklands and tree lined streets here in Darebin and value what they mean to us and the native animals that call this urban environment home. There's been some great work in improving biodiversity, open spaces, streetscapes and managing urban heat island effects in recent years, but we want to SERIOUSLY ramp this up! Help us get it done - vote for Greens on council to make sure we continue in the right direction!...

24.01.2022 I do not understand how, on any rational basis, this use of taxpayers money can be justified. It doesn’t stack up on any front - economically, environmentally or socially. It’s robbing us all financially right now to rob future generations of a safe climate. ... Please sign and share to show your support for a better way forward.

24.01.2022 Let’s take collective action to protect our native forests. They are our lifeline and are home to the unique animals we are lucky to have.

23.01.2022 Gambling harms our community. Simple as that.

23.01.2022 So happy to be counted as part of this record! This increase in candidacy representation is especially great given all of the challenges that the world is facing right now. Looking forward to it getting to 50% next time! ... In the meantime let’s turn these female candidates into female councillors when we get to vote from next week!

23.01.2022 The Darebin International Comedy Festival is on TONIGHT for one night only, featuring some of Melbourne’s best comedians Last chance for tickets at: http://dicf.eventbrite.com.au

21.01.2022 We need to support all those doing good work to fight the so called 'gas-led recovery' this week. There is a better way! If you can spare some money you can double your contribution right now, so please help if you can. If you can't chip in, then you can still help by sharing with your networks.... Thank you!

20.01.2022 There's been some trash talk flying around recently, regurgitating tired old myths about waste management in Darebin. Let's bin that rubbish and get the facts instead: When the recycling system collapsed in Victoria in 2019, Darebin Council was one of the first to establish a new service with Visy, the state’s most reputable recycling provider. ... Through this service all residents in Darebin can be confident that paper, cardboard, metal and glass placed in recycling bins are being effectively recycled. Given resident concerns about how a four-bin system to separate glass can work, Council has committed to undertaking community consultation to come up with the best solution for Darebin. In recent years Green Councillors have taken steps to further reduce waste going to landfill: Greens leadership has led to the introduction of food waste composting services in Darebin, waste by up to 40%. Darebin Greens Councillors have led bans on single use plastics at council events and venues, helping to stop harmful plastics that often end up in our creeks, rivers and seas. We're closing the loop by using recycled products in local infrastructure: All roads in Darebin are now resurfaced with 90% recycled products, including crumbed rubber from old truck tyres. We're advocating for Victoria-wide solutions to reduce waste and create new jobs: Darebin Council, with the support of Greens Councillors, has advocated for a container deposit scheme, a single authority to oversee waste management in Victoria, and the release of the half a billion dollars which the State government has collected in land fill levies. That advocacy has been effective and the Victorian government announced the establishment of a single authority and the introduction of a container deposit scheme in 2022. As part of their Green New Deal for Victoria, the Greens also want to see a ban on polystyrene and other single-use plastics, 23 new or expanded recycling factories built by 2025, and grants provided to small businesses so they can find new ways to use recycled materials.

18.01.2022 The climate emergency is no joke, but these fab five will have you in stitches. Join us for the Darebin International Comedy Festival, on tomorrow night for one night only! See link below to book your tickets

18.01.2022 From placards to post boxes, the campaign is truly alive now and the excitement is high! With nine new wards in Darebin there will be a lot of candidates in each area for people to choose from, so make sure you do your research to be informed on your options. Part of this can be reaching out to candidates for a chat. My page here and my flyers, that you’ll hopefully see soon, all have my contact details, so please reach out to let me know what’s important to you!... In the meantime, HUGE thanks to all the wonderful volunteers that are hitting the streets this weekend for me and our other eight candidates across Darebin. This is what grassroots politics looks like - people that care, acting at the community level to make things better for others. Who needs deep pockets lined by fossil fuel, gambling and other harmful companies, to bankroll expensive deliveries and mail outs, when you have a team of local legends willing to support and do?! You guys rock!!!

16.01.2022 Add some spice to your life! It's so cold today, but there is a way to warm yourself up later this evening... Brought to you by the residents of Palm St in Fairfield, a Mexican fiesta awaits your taste buds from 6pm!... Check out how to order and pick up below and if you make it along please share your pics here and enjoy!

15.01.2022 Spring is springing (rain, hail, shine and crazy winds!) and there's optimism in the air... Despite the ongoing challenges for creatives in our community, Darebinites are doing what they do best... They are dreaming, developing and delivering a festival by the people for the people and what a feast for the senses it is! ... Truly a festival for our times, there are online gigs, music forums, author podcasts, local history walks and guided art tours through some of our favourite locations. Huge kudos to all the local creatives and council arts staff involved in bringing such a great program to life in these very challenging times. So much to look forward to!

14.01.2022 School Strike 4 Climate events are happening today - over 500 actions across the country! I joined the Darebin Climate Action Now (DCAN) webinar earlier where a group of us older folk stood/sat in solidarity with the younger people as part of their action. There was an amazing young lady from Reservoir that spoke so eloquently about the climate issues facing us all and the madness of adding more fuel to the fire by adding new gas to the mix.... There was also a campaigner from the Philip Island Conservation Society taking about the AGL Westernport project and the disastrous implications that will have for the natural environment there. The kids get it, so why oh why, is it so hard for our State and Federal governments to get their heads around the simple fact that new gas is not good for the environment and not the road to economic recovery...? Renewables for the win! #FundOurFutureNotGas

11.01.2022 It’s been a big weekend for Greens candidates and their supporters in Darebin with placards and flyers going out far and wide! Thanks again to all the wonderful volunteers doing stellar work for all of us! I want to give a particular shout out to Sarah Byrne, my Lead Volunteer, who has given so much time and energy to the campaign this week - what a legend!... Also, huge thanks to Sally Miller who has been peddling around with my pic on a bike as she’s been getting exercise or running essential chores. Today she brought me to the Alphington Farmers Market, and what a fine spot to be on a Sunday! A few more photos from today... It’s really hard to pick a favourite but I think the one of my friends tiny-tot playing postie wins on the heart melting front! And relax!

10.01.2022 Another huge Weekend of Action with lots of amazing volunteers hitting the streets to distribute How to Vote cards for Greens candidates across Darebin. Thanks to all of you amazing people - legends one and all! Extra big thanks go to my Lead Volunteer, Sarah Byrne who helped me coordinate it all for South East Ward. Couldn’t have done it without you, you amazing woman! ... Ballots will start to land this week so please vote wisely. I encourage you to avoid the negative spin and choose people who want to raise Darebin up. We live in an amazing place so let’s keep it that way by delivering improvements for all, but especially the most vulnerable in our community that rely on Council support services. The whole ‘back to basics’ austerity mantra will not deliver positive, progressive community outcomes, so let’s rise above it together and look to the future!

09.01.2022 As we head out of the long lock down we’ve lived through for months now, it is worth reflecting on how we got to here so that we remember with crystal clarity... the mammoth efforts, the hard losses along the way, the trials and tribulations we have all been through, with the vulnerable among us the worst hit of all. To the people who have tragically lost loved ones and to friends and families that have sacrificed so much, let’s remember what we’ve endured and honour what we ...have achieved, and keep safe for ourselves and the collective good. None of us want to be back here again, so let’s ease into this and take care of each other as we go.

07.01.2022 This case will have significant impacts on superannuation in Australia and is a win for people and the environment. Do you know what your hard earned money is invested in...? Is it propping up the dying coal industry? Maybe it’s bankrolling the federal government’s gas-led recovery? It could very well be fueling the next bushfire season.... Take control and choose a fund that supports economic, environmental and socially sustainable options. Future you will thank you!

07.01.2022 Young people of Darebin, lend your voice to shaping our collective future for the upcoming local government election and beyond!

06.01.2022 Below is a lot of information but it is absolutely worth a read if you're serious about choosing council candidates with a positive vision for what Darebin can be. We've all been through a tough year, with vulnerable people, creatives and small businesses among the most impacted in our community. Now is the time to build each other and council services up, not tear them down by ripping millions from the budget through the oversimplified slogan of 'rates cuts'.... Greens councillors and candidates have done the groundwork through new policies, advocacy and investment to ensure our local businesses, and by extension the people they employ, are well supported as we recover. To do this, we need to be leading with other progressive councillors in the next four years. We're serious about maintaining and improving quality services, delivered by caring local government employees, not through privatised services. Greens on council have, and will, continue to deliver for the community, not for vested interests like developers and the gambling lobby. Let's look to the future together and make sure Darebin is the best it can be!

05.01.2022 Council services shape our communities, and that’s why, if elected as your councillor, I will oppose privatising them. I will ensure council invests in world-class services that care for our health and wellbeing, that make our neighbourhoods green and liveable, and that support our local economy, arts and tourism.

05.01.2022 This is a simple and direct way to contribute to an EU consultation piece that could end up creating laws to protect our forests and animals by controlling or banning products that cause deforestation. Please sign and share far and wide!

04.01.2022 The next School Strike 4 Climate is fast approaching so please sign up for this event on Friday and share far and wide. With the federal government selling us all down the river to bailout gas companies and the Opposition struggling to clarify its position, our support for clean energy needs to be stronger and clearer than ever before. For ourselves and for future generations!

03.01.2022 Oh Albo, stop breaking my heart and grow a spine, will you?! If the Leader of the Opposition can't / won't stand up to this shameful, shortsighted 'recovery' plan to raid clean energy funding for the benefit of fossil fuel companies, we are in worse trouble than we thought. For the record, I am absolutely against new gas. ... There aren't enough eye rolling, facepalm or exploding head emojis to express how frustrating this is. We have cheaper and cleaner technologies already available to us that can employ people all over the country in metro and regional locations to deliver the clean energy recovery we need. The time is NOW, but apparently Labor are just going to back Morrison and Taylor in this daylight robbery of future generations. We need the Coalition AND Labor to get out of the pockets of the fossil fuel industry and stop leading us to climate catastrophe. It's time to lead from the grassroots level.

03.01.2022 As we open up, please remember that this will be a differing experience for many people and we need to be kind and respectful of the choices people make for themselves. As a natural extrovert I am torn between seeing all the people in all the cafes as soon as humanly possible, but as someone also managing a chronic health issue I am more vulnerable to the virus so I need to be extra careful. That means when I do venture out, I’m likely to find some locations more challenging ...if people aren’t physical distancing well enough, or it seems that hygiene practices don’t seem up to scratch. If this happens I can definitely see the possibility of not being able to relax properly and enjoy the experience of catching up with whoever I’m with. I hope these incidences are few and far between but many others will be feel similar concerns, so let’s just all do our bit to keep ourselves and others safe and be good to each other.