Last week I spoke with Harry from Senator Jane Hume's office. I was honest and upfront in saying that we have had a gutful of #Labor MPs either refusing to meet with us, or having met with us, taken no actions to bring our concerns to #CatherineKingMP - and so that is why I am now approaching shadow ministers and the opposition.
Harry was not aware of our campaign or what our concerns regarding the 3rd runway are. I gave him a bit of a background of the project, presented him with our main concerns and advised him of what our keys asks are. For those of you who are new to our campaign, our key asks are as follows:
1. Insist on an independent impact assessment focusing on 4 key parameters; #Environment, #Climate, #Health & Economic impacts.
2. Ensure adequate independent #community consultation, is conducted in all impacted municipalities (as identified by Melbourne Airport); #Darebin, #HobsonsBay, #Hume, #Macedon Ranges, #Maribyrnong, #Melton, #MooneeValley, #MerriBek, #Whittlesea and #Brimbank.
3. Ensure the project proposal application is declined, should the #independent assessments determine that the negative impacts outweigh any potential or perceived benefits of the project.
Harry listened to the concerns I raised attentively, seemed to agree that our requests were reasonable and informed me that he would take all of this to Senator Hume and to all members of her office. He was open to ongoing conversation and advised that we were welcome to reach out at any time, should be have further questions or concerns regarding the runway proposal.
I requested that if it was within his power, to reach out to any mainstream media outlets and call on them to cover this story, whilst we wait for Senator Hume to (hopefully) raise the issue with Catherine King and the Federal government.
By the meetings end, I felt heard and optimistic. I have since followed up with an email to Harry containing further information and a link to our Facebook group. I hope that Senator Hume will be more proactive than our Labor MPs, in representing our community concerns and help us to ensure there is #no3rdtullarunway!
Want to learn more about the campaign? Check out the No 3rd Tulla Runway Campaign's LinTree. Link in bio.
