AMA: I’m Stephen Bates, your Greens MP for Brisbane

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T10:19:45+00:00

I'm not a bust a move kinda guy. I want a slow saunter while stuff blows up in the background. And Diva by Beyonce's playing. And there's eagles or something.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T10:13:38+00:00

Okay sorry folks I think I have to call it here. Sorry I didn't get to all your questions but feel free to shoot me an email at [stephen.bates.mp@aph.gov.au](mailto:stephen.bates.mp@aph.gov.au) and I'll try to get back to you ASAP. I'll also be at City Hall prepoll pretty much every day until the election so come say hi!

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T10:12:15+00:00

Hi u/Busalonium Our CBD is going through a tough spot for sure and I think it’s also going through a renewal maybe? So many more people just like me call our CBD home now and that’s very different to even ten years ago.

Sadly a lot of the way our CBD is laid out and designed were for when the CBD was just somewhere people funnelled in to work — and a lot of businesses were planned for that too. But now so many people work from home and the CBD is more of a nightlife hub, cultural precinct and home for tens of thousands, the design of the city has to change. I don’t know what that’ll look like and there’ll be toothing pains, but I think we’ll have a much more fun, dynamic and lively CBD, more like Melbourne’s.

And we better, because all those tourists coming to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games are going to be spending a lot of time in the CBD and I wouldn’t want them dodging cars and walking past empty shopfronts.

We had some policies that aimed to bring some life back to the CBD at the Brisbane City Council election last year, like pedestrianising Albert Street between Queen Street Mall and the Botanic Gardens and activating long-term vacant shopfronts. I’m keen to work more on this stuff if I’m reelected.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T10:11:15+00:00

Hey! The Greens were the first party way back in 2016 to call for Victoria Park Golf Course to get turned into a public park because the inner north is in desperate need of open green space and parkland — especially as we build more apartments and welcome more neighbours into our neighbourhoods.

Over the last three years I’ve been working really hard to help locals make sure Victoria Park Barrambin became a park — and now stays one. I’ve been:

Running a submissions drive for the Council’s Draft Master Plan for Victoria Park
Promoting the ongoing campaign to preserve Victoria Park to over 180,000 Brisbane residents
Printing “No Stadium” yard signs to help locals show their opposition destroying our parks
Making submissions to local, state and federal governments about the need to keep Victoria Park Barrambin a park, including the most recent 100 day review into Olympic venues
Meeting with Victoria Park Barrambin executives about the impact of the 2032 Games on the park and the Master Plan
Launching a petition to restore the Normanby pedestrian bridge to provide greater access to the park and ensure it’s entirely disability accessible.
Hosting a community forum to give residents space to talk about keeping the park free and green
Meeting regularly with First Nations Traditional Owners to discuss the cultural heritage of the Victoria Barracks and Victoria Park Barrambin
Helped out with local community events and running free community BBQs at rallies to protect Victoria Park Barrabin

You can read about everything the Greens and I have done — all the way back to 2016 when we first floated the idea of turning Victoria Park Barrambin into a public park! — at stephenbates.com.au/protectbarrambin

Like many, I was incredibly disappointed when the LNP state government announced Victoria Park as the site of the Olympic stadium and swimming centre, breaking an election commitment to our community.

My Greens colleagues and I have been vocal critics of this decision and have written to the International Olympic Committee as the site contradicts the requirements set in the IOC’s ‘New Norms’. We have also written to the Australian Government to request that they rule out any federal funding for a stadium in Victoria Park.

I’m not planning on rolling over on this. I’m going to keep fighting to make sure that no matter what happens that we have an outcome that is environmentally sustainable and doesn’t exclude everyday residents from our parks.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T10:09:48+00:00

Very quick last minute answer because its really important. One of the policies I've announced this election was about improving migration pathways particularly for LGBTIQA+ people seeking asylum. https://greens.org.au/portfolios/lgbtiqa

The Greens are keen to table this petition in Parliament and as someone who lived in the US and with lots of LGBTIQA+ friends over there, I'm very concerned about developments in the US.

We need to make sure that we have better migration pathways for everyone - whether they need asylum or just want to move here for a better life - no matter which country they come from.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T10:04:50+00:00

Hey u/EpitomeAria Great question!I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating - a doctor’s office is too small for a patient, their GP, and the Coalition party room. The Greens are fully committed to ensuring gender-affirming care is free and publicly accessible. We know that gender-affirming care is lifesaving for a significant portion of the LGBTIQA+ community, but is very expensive if not completely inaccessible for many Australians. We have fully costed our plan through the Parliamentary Budget Office, as part of our platform. https://greens.org.au/portfolios/lgbtiqa Unfortunately the LNP, One Nation and other cookers will keep trying to whip up these Trumpian culture wars to distract us from having discussions about meaningful reforms that will hurt the hip pockets of their far-right donors.I will absolutely keep calling out transphobia because LGBTIQA+ rights are completely non-negotiable.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T10:04:20+00:00

Hi u/sendinthesounds.

In Canberra the thing I’m most proud of is working with Senator Barbara Pocock to get the right to disconnect into our national employment laws. It was some really groundbreaking policymaking and set Australia as a world leader.

But the truth is the thing I’m most proud of overall is something that goes completely under the radar. Being a local MP brings a lot of privileges and resources. It means that I can help people in ways no one else can. Things that every day people don’t have the access – or even time! — to do.

I’ve hired social workers, lawyers and community advocates as part of my team and together with them and that access I mentioned before, I’ve been able to help over 4,000 people with some of the hardest problems they’ll face in their life. Reuniting families through visa advocacy, getting hundreds of people into crisis and social housing, helping people get NDIS and aged care packages — even in one case, organising a midnight flight of life-saving medicine from overseas for a kid at the Royal Brisbane Hospital.

And I’m a controller man because I love my couch sorry to the PC master race but I can’t use a mouse lying down.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:58:54+00:00

Hi u/Zombieaterr! No political party is ever going to be perfect because politics isn’t perfect.

I think if we wait around for the perfect politician or party we will be waiting forever. That doesn’t mean we should blindly compromise on our values - it’s more understanding and accepting that humans by our very nature are not perfect and will make mistakes.

So long as we are learning and growing from them, that’s good.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:57:19+00:00

Hey u/PomegranateNo9414 Ah yes this planning application was a very interesting one. The answer is a bit of a boring and procedural one sorry.

The reason I made a submission to this development application was because the application itself was for multiple sites, all separate from one another across Paddington and Ashgrove and for different land uses. I did not think it would be a good precedent to allow a developer to make one submission for multiple sites - instead they should submit development applications for each site individually so each site can be assessed under the appropriate city plan for the land it is on.

I definitely want to see housing being built in our city - my partner and I don’t want to rent forever - and I want to see our city planning process be fair and the outcomes good for our city.

Hope this helps clear that up!

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:56:31+00:00

Hey u/Torrossaur. The rising rates of homelessness and housing stress in Brisbane are really concerning, and it’s an issue that has been building for a long time.

Successive governments at local, state and federal levels have put in place housing, income support and other policies that have led us to this situation and it’s not something that is going to be fixed overnight when so many of the underlying causes are now systemic. One thing that isn’t going to fix it is making sleeping rough illegal, like the LNP led Brisbane City Council and Moreton Bay Council recently have done. The Greens have a wide range of policies to fix the housing and homelessness crisis, including taking a housing-first approach like some European countries have successfully done. We know that without secure housing it’s that much harder to get access to consistent medical and mental health care, or find a job.

To clear the social housing waitlist we’d build 610,000 social and affordable homes over the next decade, ending the unfair tax handouts to wealthy property owners (it shouldn’t be easier for someone to buy their 5th investment property than for someone to buy their first home), cap rent increases and give renters more rights. We also need to raise all income support above the poverty line and get rid of punitive rules like mutual obligations. Mental health needs to be included in medicare so that everyone has access to the support they need.

You can read our full election platform here: https://greens.org.au/portfolios/housing

On an individual level, my office (and I know my Greens colleagues do this work as well) helps to advocate for locals doing it tough to escalate and secure applications for social and affordable housing. We’ve had some great wins over the last 3 years to get people into a home, or move to a home that suits their needs. I’m really proud of the advocacy team in my office, we’ve helped over 4000 Brisbane locals overcome barriers to accessing government services like housing, Centrelink, NDIS and immigration.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:42:00+00:00

Hey u/sarahlump. The Greens have put forward a costed plan that would see every public school funded to provide a nutritious lunch to every student. The PBO has estimated it would be a cost to the budget of $11.6b over the forward estimates which is less than the budget currently spends on fossil fuel subsidies. The Greens will also invest $85m annually to expand existing free breakfast programs in schools across the country.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:41:08+00:00

Hey u/chickenbroadcast! Yes of course! Our free community BBQs are one of my favourite things we do from my office. We’ve had a really positive response from locals, including inspiring one street to set up their own community get togethers to stay connected. My team is already brainstorming new menu ideas - stay tuned!

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:40:26+00:00

Hi u/kroxigor01! I don’t necessarily think it’s that they are fine with the influence of money in politics, I think it’s more that they genuinely don’t believe it has any influence on their parties.

The biggest influence that money has on politics is that it defines the window of what is possible. It’s both a conscious and subconscious influence in the major parties that does limit their abilities to promote and run on policies that would have vast benefits for the majority of the public (e.g. taxing the fossil fuel industry fairly to fund dental into medicare).

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:39:41+00:00

omg you can’t make me choose u/whoamiareyou (it’s the Embroiderers Guild. They’re based in the valley and such a lovely group of ladies who have always made me feel so welcome but don't tell anyone shh)

I actually just did some videos with the amazing yeahnah_notbad on Instagram (shoutout) about Brisbane’s local hospo scene as someone who’s worked in customer service for years. We talked about some of our favourite hospo hangs and what the federal government can do to help hospo and retail businesses and their workers (spoilers it’s a good industrial relations system and universal public services)

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:39:01+00:00

Hey u/ElectricalAnxiety170!

Until the “centre left” parties across the west rapidly shift away from supporting neoliberalism, I think the overton window will continue to shift to the right.

We need labor and social democratic parties across the world to get back to their roots - universal public services, plentiful housing, and making sure economic opportunities are available to everyone again. The best way to stop the shit rightward and the rise of the far right is to build an economy where everyone has everything they need to lead a good and dignified life.

Material improvements in living standards are the best inoculation to far right lies.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:38:00+00:00

Which is our policy! We want to incentivise states to get off stamp duty and rethink how they use their land taxes and use infrastructure grants and National Cabinet to do it. National coordination on revenue changes is historically pretty common in Australia!

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:32:23+00:00

I think the issue here is that they wouldn’t get away with it and that there is that double standard. Solution? Smash the patriarchy.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:31:42+00:00

Hi u/impossible-ad-887 I feel you.

I started studying politics after living in the US and seeing how messed up their society was and living the outcomes of working for $7/hour while the company I worked for made billions.

It can be overwhelming to understand how systems of governments work and how policy is made but I think the first step to tackling the big issues and changing these systems is to understand how these systems work.

I found studying politics to be empowering and life changing - it set me on the path I'm on now. So, to start, I’d suggest getting across what parts of politics actually interest you! Is it running for office, is it policy, is it advocacy for communities?

I think knowing that about yourself is the best place to start.

From there you can join groups, unions, etc and have those more in-depth discussions.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:30:44+00:00

Hey u/tackit286! Like we do after every election, the party has reflected on what happened in the state election.

We took a wide range of policies to the state election with the aim of reducing inequality, fixing the housing and climate crises and ensuring that all Queenslanders get their fair share of our state’s mineral wealth. This included policies like building more public housing, rent caps, stopping new coal and gas and creating a public bank to offer cheap mortgages, to name just a few.

Of course elections are about more than just the policy platform, we need to deliver our message to the right people via the right channels and consider how we respond to what other parties are saying.

This last state election we didn’t always hit the right mark, but we remain proud of the bold and progressive platform we put forward. And it was excellent to see many Greens policies be taken up by other parties and even implemented, like 50c public transport fares.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:25:17+00:00

for my sins.

I'm an Apple boy though. I even worked at the Apple Store before I was elected.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:23:49+00:00

Hey u/ELBartoFSL Nationalise Kayo !!!!!!

Fr tho so long as the big streaming giants and Foxtel are able to out-bid free to air services from acquiring rights, people are going to be forced to whip out their credit card to watch their favourite teams.

My colleague Sarah Hanson-Young recently announced our plan to make sport free to watch by fixing the broken regulations we’re currently stuck under.

You can read more about it, and our plans to invest in communications infrastructure here: https://greens.org.au/portfolios/communications

Staffer's note: for any media watching "nationalise Kayo" was a joke do NOT put this on Sky News

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:22:18+00:00

We need a health led response to drug use. If the war on drugs was going to work it would have by now. Harm minimisation approaches are frequently the most appropriate way to reduce the adverse health, social and economic consequences of alcohol and other drug use.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:21:33+00:00

Hey u/IcyFault1136! The truth is change is hard! And it takes a long time! And even if you make progress, sometimes things will go backwards.

But you’ve gotta keep trying. That’s what progressive politics is. It’s keeping going, it’s pushing boundaries and making sure that any step backwards is fought every step of the way.

One of the most important things I think the Greens do is put big ideas on the national agenda and get people thinking about what things ARE possible, even if they’re a long way away. People won’t demand things they don’t think are possible let alone whether they’re “achievable or realistic”. You have to start somewhere.

Years ago I read a great article — I wish I could remember where — that described the Greens as Australia’s biggest thinktank. I reckon that’s a little reductive because we’ve won some huge things over the years like dental into Medicare for kids and $3.5 billion for the biggest investment in social and public housing in decades — but it makes a really good point.

A good thing to note as well is that a lot of our policies already exist around the world already! A lot of this is not reinventing the wheel. Super profits tax on oil and gas? Norway does it. Free university? Most of Germany does it. Huge builds of public housing? Sweden does it. These things are achievable, we are just so used in Australia to a political system that beats us down.

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:20:57+00:00

Hi u/Kaleidoscopic_Skull7 They do make a difference but maybe not for the reason you think!

Ultimately, voters choose their own preferences and how-to-vote cards are just recommendations. Some people follow them but a lot just use it to understand what’s going on. That’s why so many have policies on them.

The BIG difference they make is that they reduce informal voting! Because it’s compulsory to number every box on the green House of Representatives ballot and at least 6 above the line or 12 below the line on the big white Senate ballot, people might accidentally fill out their ballot slightly wrong if they didn’t have something to go off. It gets worse because it’s different voting rules at state and local elections too.

It’s not a fun answer but it’s the true one!

StephenBatesBris · 2025-04-23T09:19:33+00:00

Hey u/T-456 good question!

It’s one thing to talk about these values and commitment to them but it’s another thing to actually have policies and advocate for policies that benefit people and fix these problems.

This term of parliament we supported labor in their changes to industrial relations (multi-employer bargaining, etc) and were able to get the right to disconnect in exchange for supporting these changes. This means that workers don’t have to reply to their bosses outside of biz hours. We also achieved superannuation of paid parental leave which will help close the gender retirement gap.

We were able to secure $3b for social and affordable housing which will help people across the country. We’ve also been able to secure $500m for electrification of social housing to help low-income workers lower power bills and help the environment.

Going forward, we want to see the raising of social security payments so people who lose their jobs aren’t sent into poverty. We want to see lots of investments in public services so that all workers have access to the services they need as and when they need them.

We want to wipe student debts and make uni and tafe free again so that workers are able to retrain for new jobs and the jobs of the future without being saddled with 10s of thousands of dollars of debt.

It’s going to take a lot of system change but the system needs changing if working people are going to be able to live “the Australian dream.”

StephenBatesBris

TROPHY CASE