Hi Allegra

It's been a busy two weeks representing Wentworth in Canberra. Housing and cost of living have been top of my agenda, along with taking action to stop sexual assault on university campuses and pressuring the government to end fossil fuel subsidies.

Read on for an update on how I've been fighting for your priorities, to sign-up for the next Wentworth Housing Forum, and for details on the latest round of grants available for local volunteer groups.

ACTION ON HOUSING AND COST OF LIVING

Housing is one of the biggest issues facing people in Wentworth. Rents and house prices are surging, home ownership is falling, and a generation of young people could soon be locked out of home ownership forever.

We need to see the federal government drive urgent action. And when taxpayers' money is put on the table, we need guarantees that state governments will deliver reforms.

I asked the PM in Question Time to take urgent action on the housing crisis, and I’m pleased to see that the National Cabinet has taken up some of the ideas I’ve been pushing. This includes hard incentives to ensure states deliver on zoning reform and increased supply, as well as measures to support renters by ending no-faults evictions and limiting the number of rent increases per year.

However, there is so much more to do, and the government still isn’t showing enough ambition.

To have your say, join me at my second Wentworth Housing Forum on Thursday 24^th August, from 6:00-7.30pm at Church in the Market Place, Bondi Junction. I’ll be joined by Lucy Turnbull AO, Emma Greenhalgh the CEO of National Shelter, Estelle Grech from Committee for Sydney, and several other special guests to discuss the solutions to the crisis and to hear your views. RSVP NOW!

ENDING SEXUAL ASSAULT ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES

It is shocking that 275 people are assaulted on our university campuses every week. This is simply not good enough.

I was proud to stand alongside survivors, advocates, and my crossbench colleagues and to call on the government to set up a task force to address sexual violence at our universities.

The STOP campaign is doing incredible work to improve the safety of students, and I’m delighted the Education Minister has accepted our plea to act.

Following our pressure, the government has set up a working group to investigate sexual assault on campus. I will continue to push hard to ensure this delivers real change.

You can hear me talk about this issue on ABC News Radio.

RESTORING INTEGRITY AND TRANSPARENCY

At the last election, the Australian public voted to bring back integrity, transparency, and trust in our politics.

But we have so much work to do.

Only 21% of the major parties’ private funding is ever disclosed. Australians are rightly concerned that politicians make decisions in favour of vested interests – not for all of us. And there is an uneven playing field between the major parties and other candidates in elections.

I was therefore proud to stand alongside Kate Chaney to support her 'Restoring Trust’ in politics Bill. This legislation will do three things:

1. Improve transparency.
2. Reduce the influence of big money.
3. Level the playing field so we can ensure diversity in who stands for election.

This is a significant step forward and there’s no reason for any parliamentarian to oppose the reforms. I will be keeping the pressure on the major parties to deliver real change in integrity, transparency and trust during this parliament

Last week, I was also delighted to meet with the Centre for Public Integrity at a roundtable on how we ensure value for money with every taxpayer dollar spent and stop the rorting of commonwealth grants. Watch this video to find out more.

ACTION ON CLIMATE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Switching to all-electric homes powered by cheap rooftop solar is the best way to permanently reduce our power bills and ease the cost-of-living pressures being felt by people across Wentworth. With global temperatures reaching record levels, it’s also a climate imperative. In Question Time, I asked the Prime Minister to show more ambition on our transition to cheaper, cleaner energy and I met with him during this sitting period to discuss what’s needed in more detail.

But despite some positive steps, it's deeply disappointing to see the major parties continuing to make the climate crisis worse.

Earlier this month, the government and opposition pushed through legislation to support unreliable and unproven carbon capture and storage technology, designed to facilitate major new gas projects.

Myself and other members of the crossbench put forward a series of amendments that would have prevented the bill from supporting fossil fuel expansion, but the major parties teamed up to block them. As a result, I voted against the Bill. It was a sobering reminder of how much work we still have to do to protect our environment and our climate.

At a time when households are having to make every dollar count, the government is also still using taxpayers’ money to subsidise new fossil fuel projects. $1.5 billion was recently committed to supporting the Middle Arm Petrochemical Hub, which is central to expanding gas production for export and fracking in the Beetaloo Basin. Last week I, therefore, stood alongside the largest delegation of healthcare professionals ever to visit Parliament – to sound the alarm on Middle Arm and urge the government to end fossil fuel subsidies

WENTWORTH VOLUNTEER GRANTS NOW OPEN!

Over the past few months, over twenty organisations in Wentworth have secured almost $10 million of grant funding, supporting innovative Wentworth-founded businesses as well as many community groups.

These grants have funded projects across the community including Community Health Support’s Community First Response Network, a community garden for Paddington Out of School Care, wheelchair access for the Bondi Bowling Club and a safety upgrade of the turf nets at Waverley Oval for the Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club.

Expressions of interest for the next round of volunteer grants are now open!

Grants of between $1,000 - $5,000 are available for not-for-profit community organisations consisting of a minimum of 40% volunteers to make the work of their volunteers easier, safer and more enjoyable. The intended outcome of this grant opportunity is to strengthen community functioning by supporting and increasing participation in volunteering.

Please refer to the Grant Opportunity Guidelines to assess the eligibility of your organisation and find out more about eligible grant activities, the assessment criteria and the grant process.

Please submit your EOI via this link by 5pm on Friday 8 September.

All Wentworth community groups, not-for-profits and businesses can now register for a FREE account with my Wentworth Funding Finder. This fabulous new tool will help you to find appropriate grants and covers all local, state and federal government grants as well as corporate and philanthropic grants.

If you have feedback or questions, please get in touch by emailing me on [email protected].

Thanks for your support,

Allegra Spender MP