A Brisbane lord mayor candidate has pledged to ‘pay the rent’ to Indigenous Australians using ratepayer money if he wins the upcoming election.
Musician turned Greens candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan launched his campaign for the mayorship to formally pledge one per cent of the city’s revenue, about $40million, to Indigenous organisations through grants.
He said the money would be given with ‘no strings attached’ if he is elected in March next year.
‘I want to spread this idea of “paying the rent” throughout my campaign,’ he said.
The Greens have nominated candidates in all of Brisbane’s 26 wards in a bid to end the Liberal National Party of Queensland’s 20-year reign over the city.
‘I think people are starting to recognise that the Greens are a serious alternative to Labor and the Liberals,’ he told the audience at Musgrave Park, in the city’s south.
Greens candidate for Brisbane lord mayor Jonathan Sriranganathan (above) wants to ‘pay the rent’ to Indigenous Australians through grants if he’s elected
Mr Sriranganathan believes his party can make Brisbane more ‘liveable’.
‘I’m deeply concerned about how undemocratic our current council administration is,’ he said.
‘And I think we need to rebuild democracy from the bottom up.’
For the top job, he will be running against current Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner and Labor’s Tracey Price, a local business owner and lawyer.
Mr Sriranganathan, who currently lives on a houseboat on the Brisbane River, is largely focusing his campaign on housing affordability initiatives through using vacant land.
‘We’ve announced some big proposals already, such as transforming Eagle Farm racetrack into 25 hectares of parkland and publicly owned housing,’ he said.
‘[As well as] a proposal to crack down on the conversion of residential homes into Airbnb investment properties.’
Mr Sriranganathan also wants to improve the city’s public transport network and run free buses from the CBD to suburban and Indigenous communities.
Mr Sriranganathan (above) has focused his campaign around making Brisbane more ‘liveable’ through affordable housing schemes
‘Brisbane has so much potential, but right now, the city’s leadership is repeating the mistakes of the past and failing to prepare properly for future challenges,’ he said.
‘My commitment to the people of Brisbane is that I will be upfront about what I stand for.
‘I will take the time to listen to people.’